This Strawberry Banana Bread is soft, moist, and bursting with fruity flavor in every slice. Sweet ripe bananas, fresh strawberries, and a simple homemade strawberry swirl combine to create a bakery-style loaf that's perfect for breakfast, snacks, or dessert. Once you try this swirled bread, it will become your new favorite way to use ripe bananas.
Recipe Essentials
- 🍽️ Course: Breakfast, Snack, Dessert
- ⏱️ Cooking Time: 60 minutes (1 hour 35 minutes total including prep and cooling)
- 🍴 Servings: 10 slices
- 🧄 Flavor Profile: Sweet, fruity, soft, and slightly buttery with a bright strawberry swirl
- 🍚 Best Served With: Coffee, tea, yogurt, butter, or cream cheese
- 🧊 Make Ahead?: Yes! This bread stores beautifully and can be frozen if needed.
Summarize and Save This Content On
Banana bread is already a comfort food classic, but adding fresh strawberries and a sweet strawberry swirl makes it extra special. The bananas keep the loaf tender and moist while the strawberries add little bursts of juicy flavor throughout the bread. It's simple enough for everyday baking but pretty enough to serve at brunch.
This was inspired by my chocolate chip banana bread on this site, and pairs well with this old fashioned fruit salad and my banana boat ice cream.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Perfectly Moist Texture: Ripe bananas and juicy strawberries combine to create a soft, tender loaf that stays deliciously moist for days.
- Simple Pantry Ingredients: Made with everyday ingredients you likely already have in your kitchen, making it easy to whip up anytime.
- Perfect for Breakfast or Dessert: Enjoy a slice with coffee in the morning, as an afternoon snack, or as a light dessert after dinner.
- Kid and Family Approved: The sweet banana flavor and fruity strawberry pieces and swirl make this bread a hit with both kids and adults.
Ingredients
This recipe uses common baking staples along with fresh fruit to create a moist and flavorful loaf you'll make repeatedly.
- Fresh strawberries: Provide juicy bursts of flavor and create the delicious swirl.
- Cornstarch: Thickens the strawberry mixture for a jam-like swirl.
- Cinnamon: Adds a subtle warmth that complements the fruit.
- Butter: Creates richness and tenderness in the loaf.
- Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and a light caramel flavor.
- Sour cream: Keeps the bread moist and tender.
- Mashed banana: Provides natural sweetness and moisture.
See the recipe card below for the exact quantities of each ingredient.
Variations
- Chocolate Chip Strawberry Banana Bread: Fold in ½ cup white, semi-sweet, milk or dark chocolate chips for small bursts of chocolate flavor.
- Strawberry Banana Nut Bread: Fold in ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans for some crunch.
- Coconut Strawberry Banana Bread: Fold in ½ cup shredded coconut for some tropical flavor.
- Glazed Strawberry Banana Bread: Drizzle a powdered sugar vanilla glaze over top of the cooled loaf.
- Strawberry Banana Muffins: Divide batter into a lined 12 hole muffin tin and bake at 350°F for about 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
This recipe is great when served with my strawberry crunch ice cream.
How to Make Strawberry Banana Bread
This recipe may look detailed, but it's actually very simple to prepare. Prepare the oven and pan: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Line it with parchment paper, leaving a little overhang for easy removal.
Step 1: Make the strawberry swirl. In a small saucepan, combine the chopped strawberries, sugar, and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and jam-like. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
Step 2: Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside. Reserve the remaining ½ cup flour for coating the strawberries.
Step 3: Coat the strawberries. Toss the diced strawberries with the reserved flour until evenly coated. This helps prevent them from sinking in the batter.
Step 4: Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla extract until smooth.
Stir in the mashed banana. Gently fold in the flour-coated strawberries, mixing until just combined.
Step 5: Layer and swirl. Spread half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Spoon the cooled strawberry jam on top and swirl it gently with a knife. Add the remaining batter on top and smooth the surface.
Step 6: Bake. Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with maybe a crumb or two attached. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift out using the parchment overhang and cool completely on a wire rack.
This banana cornbread is great if you like this recipe but want something a little bit more on the dinner side.
Recipe Tips
- Use very ripe bananas: Bananas with brown spots add the perfect amount of sweetness and flavor.
- Toss strawberries: Coat strawberries in flour before folding into the batter so they don't sink to the bottom of your loaf while baking.
- Allow strawberry swirl mixture to cool: Before adding to batter, mixture must be cool or risk half cooking some of the batter before baking.
- Do not overmix the batter: Blend until just combined or risk bread becoming dense and tough.
- Line with parchment: Cover your loaf pan with parchment paper for easy removal after baking.
- If top browns too quickly: Tent the loaf top loosely with foil during final minutes of baking.
- Let the bread cool fully before slicing: Keeps the slices neat.
If you love recipes like this, you may also enjoy my strawberry banana cake or this pumpkin banana bread. My peanut butter banana bread is really good too.
Storage Directions
This strawberry banana bread stores very well, making it perfect for enjoying over a few days or freezing for later.
Refrigerator: Store the cooled loaf in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Freezer: Wrap the loaf or slices tightly in plastic wrap and place in a freezer-safe resealable bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve with yogurt bark and cheesecake fruit salad or fresh fruit.
- Serve slices warm/toasted with butter or cream cheese.
- Serve with a scoop of strawberry banana ice cream.
- Pair with coffee or tea for breakfast/brunch/snack.
- Spread with strawberry jam with jalapenos for extra flavor.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. Plain Greek yogurt works very well as a substitute for sour cream and will still keep the bread moist and tender.
Overmixing the batter or using bananas that aren't ripe enough can lead to dense bread. Mix only until the ingredients are just combined.
Yes. Thaw the strawberries completely and drain off excess liquid before adding them to the batter. Pat them dry with paper towels so the bread doesn't become too moist.
The best bananas for banana bread are very ripe with lots of brown spots. Overripe bananas are sweeter, softer, and mash easily, giving the bread better flavor and moisture.
More Strawberry Recipes
Do you like strawberries? Here some recipes you may also like to try.
If you try this recipe and love it please leave a star rating in the recipe card below or even better, drop a review in the comment section. I always appreciate your feedback. Be sure to follow along with me on Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube for more easy recipes!
Strawberry Banana Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
Strawberry Swirl
- ¾ cup finely chopped fresh strawberries
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon cornstarch
Banana Bread Batter
- 2 cups all-purpose flour divided
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup ripe mashed banana
- 1 cup diced fresh strawberries patted dry
Instructions
- Prepare the oven and pan: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Line it with parchment paper, leaving a little overhang for easy removal.
- Make the strawberry swirl: In a small saucepan, combine the ¾ cup chopped strawberries, 2 teaspoon sugar, and ½ teaspoon cornstarch. Cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened and jam-like. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
- Mix dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together 1½ cups of the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside. Reserve the remaining ½ cup flour for coating the strawberries.
- Coat the strawberries: Toss the 1 cup diced strawberries with the reserved ½ cup flour until evenly coated. This helps prevent them from sinking in the batter.
- Cream butter and sugar: In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Combine batter: Stir in the mashed banana. Gently fold in the flour-coated strawberries, mixing until just combined.
- Layer and swirl: Spread half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Spoon the cooled strawberry jam on top and swirl it gently with a knife. Add the remaining batter on top and smooth the surface.
- Bake: Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with maybe a crumb or two attached. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift out using the parchment overhang and cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes
- Use very ripe bananas: Bananas with brown spots add the perfect amount of sweetness and flavor.
- Toss strawberries: Coat strawberries in flour before folding into the batter so they don't sink to the bottom of your loaf while baking.
- Allow strawberry swirl mixture to cool: Before adding to batter, mixture must be cool or risk half cooking some of the batter before baking.
- Do not overmix the batter: Blend until just combined or risk bread becoming dense and tough.
- Line with parchment: Cover your loaf pan with parchment paper for easy removal after baking.
- If top browns too quickly: Tent the loaf top loosely with foil during final minutes of baking.
- Let the bread cool fully before slicing: Keeps the slices neat.
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