Strawberry Bread

Here's a different quick bread that came from Everyday Foods a while back. It's one of my favorites. If we buy a ton of strawberries and there's no way we'll eat them all before they go bad, I wash them and cut off the greens, let them freeze in a single layer on cookie sheets, and then bag them up for long term freezing.

Strawberry Bread

5 TB plus 1 Tsp unsalted butter at room temp, plus more for pan
1 pint strawberries, rinsed, hulled, quartered, and mashed with a fork
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter an 8x4 inch loaf pan. In a small saucepan, bring strawberries to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring, 1 minute. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt; set aside. With an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar, and eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture alternately with 1/3 cup water, beginning and ending with flour. Fold in reserved strawberries.

3. Scrape batter into prepared pan, smoothing top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour (tent with foil after 45 minutes if top is getting too dark.) Cool in pan 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges; invert onto a rack. Reinvert; cool completely.

This recipe calls for fresh strawberries, but you can substitute thawed frozen berries. Softened cream cheese is a delicious spread.