Baking Breads for Dad

It's no secret I enjoy baking and now that I have my brand new, awesome, Kitchen Aid Mixer I will find any excuse to use it. Since Mike isn't big on my baking whenever I go home to Long Island I always bake a ton of stuff to bring home to my Dad (and brother if he's around). My Dad LOVES my baking, he has a huge sweet tooth, so it's the perfect excuse for me to whip out the mixer and try some new recipes. I usually try and bake some breads, he loves breads, those are his favorites and they never go to waste in my parents house, trust me they go quickly!

This time I decided to make two different recipes, one for a Strawberry Banana Bread and one for a Strawberry Jam Bread. The first one was because I had frozen strawberries and bananas in the freezer I wanted to use, and second one I found the recipe because I accidentally bought a jar of strawberry jam, I meant to buy grape, but I knew we'd never use a whole jar of jam for anything so baking with it seemed like an easy way to get rid of it. They both turned out delicious and were a huge hit with everyone, these def go in the make again column!

Strawberry Banana Bread
Source: Blue Bonnets & Brownies

3 bananas, overripe
1 stick (1/2 C or 8 tbsp) melted butter
2 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 c. all purpose flour
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. sliced or chopped strawberries

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl, mash bananas until there are no large chunks left. Add cooled melted butter and mix, then eggs and mix, then sugar and vanilla and mix again. In a second bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt both to combine and aerate. Add flour mix to wet ingredients and stir slowly by hand until just combined. Do not overmix or the bread will be tough. Fold in chopped or sliced strawberries until distributed well. If using frozen strawberries, I suggest bringing them to a complete thaw and then pressing lightly with paper towels to remove some of the liquid so as not to compromise the integrity of the bread. Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

To give this bread an extra sweet punch I decided to add a streusel topping on it and this was a huge hit. I think this really made the bread!!!

Strawberry Banana Streusel Topping
Source: All Day I Dream About Food

2 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 tbsp butter

For the streusel, whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon and chopped nuts in a small bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 

The second type of bread I made I called a strawberry jam/sour cream bread, or strawberry jam bread for short. Since the recipe made two loaves, I made one with nuts and the other without. Both were equally delicious. It was such a moist bread, I loved this one the most!

Strawberry Jame Bread 
Source: About.Com

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon lemon extract

4 eggs

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon soda

1 cup strawberry jam

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup pecan or walnut pieces (optional) 

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 8x4-inch greased loaf pans with waxed paper; grease the paper. Cream butter and sugar until light. Beat in vanilla and lemon extracts. Add the 4 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift together the sifted flour, salt, cream of tartar, and soda. Combine strawberry jam and sour cream. Add jam mixture to creamed mixture alternately with the dry ingredients. Stir in the pecans or walnuts. Pour into prepared loaf pans and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely before slicing.