Strawberry banana bread
Back in what feels like another lifetime, I was a second grade teacher. One portion of our daily routine included an activity we called Writers鈥� Workshop. It was a time of the day devoted towards writing, where my students could work independently or collaboratively on various forms of written expression. While they worked, I鈥檇 meet with individual students to help walk them through the editing process, while weaving lessons about writing technique, language, and grammar into our little discussions. Some students worked on personal narratives, others on poetry, and others on persuasive writing.
And then there was the group of boys who鈥檇 formed a rock band and spent their time during writers鈥� workshop writing song lyrics. Now, this rock band was no casual arrangement. Though not a one of them played a musical instrument, they took the idea of their band quite seriously. These boys waited all day to work on their writing. They put careful thought into their choice of words and worked cooperatively to fine tune their performance. I was feeling like a pretty awesome teacher for being able to get my students so actively engaged in the writing process and so motivated to develop their writing skills. And that鈥檚 right about went things went sour with the band.
You see, Diego kicked Joshua out of the band. It had something to do with not fully committing to his dance moves. Seriously. Joshua was crushed. Willis tried to remain neutral, but it was clear that he was also unimpressed by Joshua鈥檚 moves. I intervened and brought peace back to the band long enough for them to perform the song they鈥檇 been working so hard at.
It went something like this:
Oh, when am I gonna be a man?
I wanna be a man!
I鈥檓 gonna get a wallet.
I鈥檓 gonna go to the gym.
Ooo, when am I gonna be a man?
It was a type of rap song, and was very revealing about a second grader鈥檚 perspective on what makes a man: gym memberships and wallets, of course.
I was reminded of this memory when I walked into my living room to find my 5-year-old giving my 3-year-old lessons on how to be a man. They were as serious about these lessons as my former students were about their rock band. The lessons involved such behaviors as hopping on one foot, not crying, and toasting blueberry waffles. All very important man behaviors.
The kids and I went to the grocery store to pick up fresh strawberries and bananas for this Strawberry Banana Bread. This recipe is the result of not one, not two, not three, but four attempts. (We鈥檝e been eating a lot of banana bread around here). Every batch was delicious in its own right. But, it wasn鈥檛 until the fourth batch that I nailed what I鈥檇 been trying to accomplish.
Doesn鈥檛 seem like making a loaf of strawberry banana bread should be such an issue, right? But here鈥檚 the problem: when baked, strawberries become undesirably mushy. So, in my first attempt, I tried incorporating freeze-dried strawberries to conquer the mushy dilemma. The result was acceptable. The freeze-dried strawberries rehydrated during baking, but there wasn鈥檛 enough strawberry flavor throughout the loaf. So, on attempts two and three, I made a strawberry glaze, which聽I attempted to swirl throughout the loaf using two different techniques. But, the banana bread was too dense to produce my intended result. Both of those loaves came out fantastically sweet and moist with a lovely caramelized crust, but I still wasn鈥檛 satisfied.
On my final attempt, I had the epiphany that I could pur茅e fresh strawberries to replace all of the water and part of the vegetable oil in my normal banana bread recipe. This had the double effect of dispersing the sweet strawberry flavor throughout the bread as well as slightly lightening the recipe. Chopped dried strawberries lend additional strawberry flavor and a nice variety of texture to the loaf.
Strawberries and bananas are a classic flavor combination. And they鈥檝e never been better combined than in this twist on banana bread. This is more than just a banana bread with a few strawberries mixed in. This bread pays equal homage to both the strawberries and the bananas. Definitely worth the four attempts it took to come around to this recipe!
Strawberry Banana Bread
1-3/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup pur茅ed strawberries
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
3/4 cup dried strawberries, chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a loaf pan with baking spray.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the vegetable oil, pureed strawberries, vanilla, and eggs. Stir until well combined. Add the mashed banana and dried strawberries. Stir until well blended. Pour the banana bread mixture into the prepared pan.
Bake for 60-70 minutes.
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