Summer strawberry banana bread

Fresh strawberries turn this moist and fruity banana bread into a zingy seasonal treat! Delicious as a snack or with ice-cream as an easy dessert.

Banana loaf cake, aka banana bread, is our standard way to deal with too-ripe-to-eat brown bananas here at FFF towers. I have an ancient recipe scribbled in my notebook in blue crayon which is the easiest, most delicious banana bread ever – although I’ve no idea where it first came from. All I know is, it works, brilliantly, every time.

Rapid ripening

So, when three bananas started to be more brown than yellow, I knew what I had to do. I also knew that as fresh strawberries are now at the peak of the season, and hence cheap as chips, we had a HUGE punnet of them in the fridge. What better way to make the banana bread into a seasonal summer treat than by incorporating some of these luscious red berries?

Banana bread – Full of fruit

I tweaked my tried-and-trusted banana bread recipe a little, to better let the fruit flavours shine through, and added fresh strawberries to some of the cake mixture so I could marble the batter.

Finally, I topped the loaf with halved strawberries. These provide both a beautiful decoration and an intense pop of concentrated berry flavour. 

The end result looked absolutely gorgeous and tasted wonderful too!

My daughter Kipper was delighted to have a slice of this lovely summery banana bread as her afternoon snack. I persuaded myself that it must count towards her 5-a-day… right?

Banana bread ingredients

To make a loaf of this delicious banana bread with strawberries yourself, all you’ll need are the following seven ingredients:

• Ripe bananas – of course!
• Sugar – I use golden caster sugar for its flavour but ordinary white sugar is also fine
• Self-raising flour – for lovely light cake
• Baking powder to give it even more lift!
• Egg to bind the batter
• Sunflower oil – or use any neutral oil that you prefer
• Strawberries – to add that lovely summer berry flavour

What’s the time? Banana bread time!

I’m also happy to confirm that this strawberry and banana bread loaf cake is lovely with a cuppa for elevenses, delicious for afternoon tea, and works particularly well with or without a scoop of ice-cream as an easy dessert.

The fresh fruit makes this banana bread wonderfully moist. However it does mean that it will only keep for a day or two so you’re best eating it straight away. I doubt this will be a problem.

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📖 Recipe

More recipes using ripe bananas

If you’d rather make a healthier banana loaf cake without any added sugar, try my banana bread with streusel topping – refined sugar free! 
Or these delicious and easy sugar-free banana scones. They’re a terrific afternoon tea treat. 
Banana flapjacks with dried apricots and dark chocolate are another lovely, wholesome way to use up ripe bananas and turn them into something indulgent.

For lots of ideas to use ripe bananas, check out the Banana Bonanza! You’ll find dozens of suggestions for bakes, desserts, drinks and treats.

Or if you just want more delicious fruity bakes, how about coconut lemon cake with olive oil & yogurt, plum and almond crumble cake, or Devon apple cake with honey crumble topping.

Strawberry banana bread FAQ