Strawberry Bread

During strawberry season when we pick alot of strawberries I have to get creative. Besides jam we tried a few different bread recipes. This is the ONLY one that worked for us. And we even tweaked it a bit to our liking. We like moist/sweet breads.  Especially if there is fruit in it.

Strawberry Bread

2 cups fresh strawberries  (1 cup pureed 1 cup sliced)
1 1/2 heaping cups of flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons of oil (or heaping 1/2 cup of apple sauce)
2 eggs beaten
1/2 heaping cup of pecans * (optional)
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour one 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
2. Sliced strawberries place in medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle lightly with sugar, and set aside while preparing bread mixture. Puree the other cup.
3. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in large bowl: mix well. Blend oil (or apple sauce), vanilla and eggs into strawberries. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, mixing until dry ingredients are just moistened. Stir in pecans. Put into prepared pan.
4. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until tester inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn loaf out, and cool completely.