Who doesn’t love a big slice of banana bread and coffee for breakfast? I’m not even that into breakfast myself but this is probably my favorite. Simple, flavorful and easy to make ahead of time! The best part about the concept of banana bread is that it can be made as simple as you want or as fancy as you want. Occasionally I like to mix things up and add some different flavors. This time I had a few extra things lying around, namely some frozen strawberries and cream cheese. And of course some over-ripe bananas. As soon as my bananas start to turn I start thinking about the possibilities. Really what other food allows for that other than glorious bananas? It’s the only fruit whose possibilities open when they start to “go bad”… more like “go better” am I right? Frozen strawberries mash better than fresh so these worked out nicely, just thaw them out in a little warm water before using. You can definitely use fresh strawberries but they will show more in the batter. Mashed frozen strawberries will blend into the batter more than the former but the flavor will remain. If you want nice big red berries leftover after it’s cooked, you might want to mash less and use fresh instead.
The texture reminded me of pound cake but with a lot of moisture and richness. I’m guessing this was probably due to the cream cheese which added a little extra something to the flavor as well. The bread’s crust browned perfectly in the oven and didn’t get too dark. I cut back on the sugar on this one. You can always add about 1/2 cup more but I honestly liked it a little less sweet. As spring is getting underway this was a nice recipe to enjoy for this time of year.
Cream Cheese Strawberry Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup softened butter 150 grams
- 8 oz. cream cheese
- 1 cup strawberries thawed and mashed
- 2 ripe bananas about 1 cup mashed
- 1 cup granulated sugar can be increased to 1 1/2 cups
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups all purpose flour or substitute 1 1/2 cups wheat flour if desired
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
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Grease a 9x5x2.5 inch pan and preheat the oven to 350F.
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Cream the butter and cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Gradually mix in the sugar, beating well to combine.
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Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg.
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
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Gradually stir in the flour mixture into the wet mixture until just combined.
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Add the vanilla, mashed banana and mashed strawberries and mix until just combined. Be careful not to over mix.
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Pour into the prepared loaf pan (or several loaf pans if using a smaller size) and bake for 1 hour, shielding with tin foil the last 15 minutes to prevent over-browning.
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Remove when a tooth pick poked into the center comes out clean. Let cool on a rack before slicing. Wrap with plastic wrap and place back in the pan once fully cooled. It should keep for about 4 days on the counter.
