If you love rich strawberry desserts, this recipe is about to become your new favorite. This easy strawberry bread is incredibly quick to make, tender, moist, and packed with juicy berries. It’s made with simple pantry staples and can easily be made dairy-free by swapping in your favorite plant-based butter and sour cream.
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Today’s glazed strawberry loaf cake is a versatile treat, serving as a breakfast, quick bread, snack, and dessert all in one. The rich batter is wonderfully versatile: you can bake it as muffins or mini loaves (see recipe notes) to enjoy at sunrise with a cup of warm coffee, alongside fresh fruit, or topped with a dollop of whipped cream.
Why You’ll Love This Strawberry Bread Recipe
- Tender, moist, with a tight crumb
- The absolute best way to finish off your extra strawberries
- No mixer required
- Made with everyday pantry staples
- Perfect at any time of day
- Delicious with or without the glaze
- Dairy-free if using a dairy-free butter, sour cream, and dairy-free milk to make the glaze
Ingredients & Why They Matter
- Flour: All-purpose flour is best for this cake-like bread.
- Baking powder & soda: You need baking powder and baking soda to lift the loaf up in the oven and ensure it’s not too dense.
- Salt: To balance all the flavors.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar sweetens the taste, enhances tenderness, and helps the bread brown evenly. If you plan to make the glaze, you will also need sifted confectioners’ sugar.
- Butter: Make sure your unsalted butter is very soft before creaming it with the sugar. This is the secret to achieving perfect lift and a sturdy structure. You can substitute the butter with oil, but expect a moister crumb. If using oil, adjust the method by creaming the sugar with the sour cream first before adding the fat, just like we do in this Apple Cinnamon Quick Bread.
- Sour cream: Use a high-fat sour cream (30%+) for the best results. The high fat content provides deep moisture without over-thinning the batter and ensures a very soft and delicate texture.
- Oil: Oil helps the loaf remain moist for days. Stick with vegetable or coconut oil to maintain a soft texture.
- Eggs: Ensure that the eggs are at room temperature so they mix easily.
- Vanilla: 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, sugar, or paste is enough to enhance flavor.
- Strawberries: Use fresh strawberries, not frozen ones, because frozen strawberries can add too much moisture and make the bread overly soggy. Chop the strawberries and toss with flour before adding them to the batter.
How to Make Strawberry Bread from Scratch
This fresh strawberry bread recipe follows the same method used in my chocolate chip quick bread and has a few key tweaks from my lemon bread and my orange bread, which requires rubbing the zest into the sugar before creaming. Let me show you how to make this homemade strawberry bread from scratch:
You’ll need a set of three mixing bowls to make this recipe (I always use this set for my quick bread recipe): a small bowl to toss the strawberries with flour, a medium one for the dry ingredients, and a large one for the wet ingredients. And I use this 8.5×4.5-inch loaf pan to bake this bread, but if all you have is a 9×5-inch loaf pan, you can use it—just expect a slightly shorter loaf.
Chop the strawberries, and gently toss them with 1 tablespoon of flour to prevent them from sinking to the bottom.
Whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside. Cream the sugar and butter, then whisk in the sour cream, followed by the oil. Add the eggs and stir in the vanilla, then combine the wet and dry ingredients. Ensure the mixture is lump-free by the end of this step.
Gently fold in the floured strawberries until just combined, being careful not to overwork the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake.
The bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. This typically takes about 55 minutes, though it may take a few minutes more or less depending on your oven. The key is to tent the loaf with aluminum foil after 30 minutes to prevent the top from over-browning while the center finishes baking.
Topping the Strawberry Bread (optional)
While it’s optional and can be swapped with simple vanilla icing or lemon icing, the glaze on the top of this strawberry bread adds a whole new level of strawberry flavor. It sets after 15-30 minutes, producing a sweet finish you’ll want to save for the last bite. You need 1 mashed strawberry, confectioners’ sugar, and milk.
Simply mash the strawberry in a small bowl, add the remaining ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Pour the glaze over the top of the loaf and enjoy. If you find it difficult to mash the strawberries with a fork, feel free to use a potato masher or even a nut chopper, which is what I sometimes use when I need to put my mind at ease.
Baker’s Tips
- Use room-temperature ingredients to ensure a smooth, well-creamed batter and an even bake.
- Avoid overmixing the batter to prevent excess gluten development, to ensure a tender, airy crumb, and a perfect rise.
- Cover the loaf loosely with foil or parchment paper at the 30-minute mark to ensure the top doesn’t over-brown while the center finishes baking.
- Cool the bread in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before glazing. This ensures the glaze sets perfectly on top, rather than melting into the warm bread.
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Strawberry Bread
Ingredients
Butter
- 2 cups 250 grams all-purpose flour + 1 tablespoon of flour to toss strawberries
- 1 and ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (56 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ⅔ cup (160 grams) sour cream (or Plain yogurt / Greek yogurt), at room temperature
- ¼ cup (60 g/ml) vegetable oil
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (or vanilla paste / vanilla sugar) ()
- 1 and ½ cups (230 grams) chopped fresh strawberries
Glaze (optional)
- 1 fresh strawberry, mashed (about 2 tablespoons)
- ⅔ cup (120 grams) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1 tablespoon Milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Lightly grease an 8.5×4.5-inch loaf pan or line it with parchment paper. (A 9×5-inch loaf pan also works, but the loaf will be slightly shorter / less taller).
- In a small bowl, toss the chopped strawberries with 1 tablespoon of flour to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the loaf during baking. Set aside.
- Make the butter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together. If mixing by hand, stir vigorously for 4–5 minutes until the mixture is light and creamy. Whisk in the sour cream, then the vegetable oil until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then stir in the vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Using a spatula, mix until just combined—make sure there are no lumps but avoid over-mixing. Gently fold in the floured strawberries.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread it evenly with a spatula.
- Bake the bread: Bake for 55-60 minutes. To prevent the top from over-browning, cover the loaf loosely with foil or parchment paper halfway through the baking time. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 10–15 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and transfer it to a cooling rack to continue cooling for about 1 hour.
- Make the Glaze (optional): In a small bowl, mash 1 medium strawberry. Add confectioners’ sugar and milk, whisk until the texture is perfectly smooth. Drizzle or pour the icing over the cooled bread. Slice and serve immediately.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the refrigerator for 1 week.
