Strawberries & Cream Bread

Lately I've been craving strawberries, am I the only one? I think I've bought 3 boxes from Harmons this week. I may or may not have eaten ¾ of them by myself. Anyway, I opened the fridge and the few that were left were starting to get mushy. Since I'm a big texture person and I have a hard time eating mushy fruit, I decided to toss them in some sweet bread. Instead of making a standard loaf, I got out my mini loaf pan (which I love!) and made a batch of bite-sized minis (and a few muffins too). This bread is incredible versatile and would work really well with peaches or blueberries too. But... if you're going to make some, do it will strawberries first, I think you'll be very pleased! Enjoy ☺

Strawberries & Cream Bread

Ingredients

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. sugar

½ c. (1 stick) butter, room temperature

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

2 eggs

6 tbsp. strawberry yogurt (or plain)

1 tbsp. milk

2-3 tsp. lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon

1½ tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

1¼ c. strawberries, rinsed, dried and chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare desired pan (mini loaf pan or muffin tins) by greasing/flouring it.* Set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, on medium speed, beat together butter, cream cheese, yogurt, milk and sugar (approximately 2-3 minutes).

3. Add one egg at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix until incorporated.

4. In a medium size bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. With mixing speed on low, gradually add dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.

5. Remove bowl from stand, gently fold in strawberry pieces. Scoop dough into prepared pan. Place in oven and bake for 20-22 minutes, or until the top of the bread is golden brown in color. 

6. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and place onto a wire rack to cool completely (20-30 minutes).

*For a 9x5 loaf, bake for 55-60 minutes

Adapted from My Baking Addiction, Fresh Strawberry Bread | Makes approximately 1 standard loaf, 10 mini loaves or standard 24 muffins