Here’s a dessert I really enjoy and is simple to make. While this site usually advocates using produce in season, here’s a recipe that is fairly forgiving if the strawberries are not at their peak – though of course, in season tastes better and costs less. Also remember to clean your strawberries well as they are listed among the fruits with the highest levels of residual pesticides. Beginners: slice off and discard the tops.
This is recipe is a mild variation on another web recipe but this time the changes are few but significant. The original recipe calls for ¾ cup of vegetable oil. Here I cut the oil in half and compensate by increasing the amount of strawberries. Strawberries when they bake give off a lot of water so do not be concerned that your batter will be barely moistened when you add in the strawberries. A note for dieters – even with cutting the oil in half, the entire recipe is about 2700 calories – which per serving (no matter how small you serve) is not slimming.
The other change is that I use an 8×8 pan rather than a loaf pan. The best parts of this recipe are the top and the sides (the rest is very good too). Also cooking in a flatter pan also reduces baking time and you do not get that gooey middle that sometimes forms when oil based breads take a few days to eat. If you want, a 7×11 pan should work well too. I find that many dessert breads turn out better in an 8×8 pan than a loaf pan.
Oatmeal Strawberry Bread – 1 Rolling pin
Ingredients:
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup oats (I have not tried the quick variety)
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- ½ tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 pound strawberries roughly chopped (about 3/8 “ dice +/-)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 glass pan.
- Stir together in a large bowl: flour, outs, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt
- In a smaller bowl, whisk together the oil and the eggs until well mixed
- Stir the oil-egg mixture into the dry ingredients until all the dry ingredients are moist
- Fold (stir) in the strawberries
- Place batter in the pan, spreading it out evenly
- Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 – 60 minutes (check out 45 minutes if using a 7×11 pan).
- Cool on a wire rack.
I love fruit desserts but have never given anything like this a try. I’ll get back to you on this one.