Banana Bread is one of my family’s favorite snacks. We eat it for breakfast a lot and it always makes an appearance on the table at family gatherings. Every once in a while I find myself with a counter full of ripe bananas. It’s not that we don’t eat them, but I swear sometimes they just seem to ripen overnight. I actually like my bananas when they are slightly green, so once they have black spots on them, into a bread they go. I like to make multiple loaves of banana bread at once and then freeze them so I have them conveniently available.
This week when I went to the grocery store, I stocked up on some delicious, juicy strawberries. They looked so good, I just couldn’t resist! Strawberries won’t be ready here for about another month, but these looked wonderful and I knew they wouldn’t go to waste. My children have been adding them to their yogurt and cereal or just eating them plain with some cheese and crackers for a snack. We had been so busy eating strawberries, that the bananas on the counter this week got pretty ripe. When I went to make a few loaves of banana bread yesterday, I decided to throw some of those sweet strawberries into the mix. Oh, and some chocolate too!
This moist Whole Wheat Banana Strawberry Chocolate Chip Bread is absolutely delicious! The ripe bananas mixed with fresh, chopped strawberries and dark chocolate chips made this a really special breakfast and snack. I love that fresh berry flavor in every bite and it went along perfectly with my coffee in the morning. This recipe makes 2 large loaves, so I saved one for Mother’s Day! It will be a nice addition to our brunch!
If you are looking for a simple, but different way to bake with bananas and strawberries give this recipe a try! It’s berry good! 🙂
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3 eggs
- 2 egg whites
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 6 very ripe bananas, mashed
- 3 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 1/2 cups chopped, fresh strawberries
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Sift the flour, soda, powder and salt and set aside.
- In your Kitchen Aid Mixer, beat the butter with the sugars until fluffy.
- Add the eggs and egg whites one at a time and beat well after each addition.
- Add the vanilla and mix.
- Add the mashed bananas and mix until well combined.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients, alternating with the half and half until combined well.
- Don't forget to scrape down the bowl to make sure everything gets blended well.
- Carefully mix in the dark chocolate chips and then strawberries.
- Evenly fill 2 large, greased loaf pans with the batter.
- Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
- Let cool for at least 30 minutes or completely on a wire rack before removing the bread from the loaf pan.
- Serve with fresh butter.
- *If freezing: Let cool completely and wrap well in plastic wrap and store in a plastic freezer bag.
*Linking up at:
Can you substitute regular all purpose flour for whole wheat flour?
May 19th 2014
Hi Grace! Yes, you can absolutely substitute the all purpose flour with the whole wheat! 🙂
This looks delicious 😡 And so easy to make 😡
Cris recently posted…Baigli with nuts and poppy seeds
It is easy, I hope you give it a try Cris! It was a hit at our house:)
Oh, my! My mouth is watering!
Thanks Ann 🙂
Wow! Never thought to add strawberries to my banana chocolate chip bread! It takes it to the next yummy level! thanks for the recipe…pinned!
Thanks Ann Marie! It’s really good! Especially with those ripe, juicy sweet strawberries:) I hope you like it!
Suzanne of Simply Suzannes at Home
Thanks so much for coming by and taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate every one of them.
Your bread looks so yummy! Can you substitute dried strawberries for the fresh ones?
Thanks so much for sharing!
Have a great week,
Suzanne
Suzanne of Simply Suzannes at Home recently posted…a “tea party” with my little girls
Thank you Suzanne! I have never substituted dried strawberries for fresh in this particular recipe, but I don’t see why that wouldn’t work. Usually I find that anything dry, when baked, plumps right up, just like raisins would for example. I think the recipe is pretty forgiving, so I would give it a try. Let me know if you do, I would love to hear how it turned out! Have a great week and thanks so much for stopping over:)
Morning, Shannon,
As soon as I saw the title of this recipe, I had to rush over to check it out and WOW! this is an amazing banana bread and I love that you’ve made it healthy as well.
These are all my favourite ingredients and my mouth is truly watering! Thanks so much for a great recipe. Pinning, tweeting, Google Plusing!
PS. I’m like you – the minute there is a dark spot on the banana, I’m out, lol.
Robyn @ simply fresh dinners recently posted…Kale Salad with Pear, Berries & Walnuts
Thanks so much Robyn! I hope you enjoy it:) Have a wonderful week!
Hi Shannon! This bread sounds just so delicious and I love the addition of chocolate and strawberries. Thanks so much for sharing at Best of the Weekend and pinning! I hope you have a fabulous and Happy Mother’s Day and a wonderful week!
Cindy Eikenberg recently posted…Best of the Weekend Party!
Thanks so much Cindy! I hope you had a wonderful weekend as well!
Shannon, this is really creative how you added some chocolate to the strawberries and the banana! The texture looks insanely decadent! Sure wish I had some black bananas sitting on the counter right now… my ever so loving hubby threw them away thinking they went bad. I usually hide the bananas for that reason… from him! Have a wonderful Saturday!
Gloria @ Simply Gloria recently posted…Show Stopper Saturday #39 ~ Coconut Recipes
Thank you Gloria! That’s funny how you have to hide the bananas. My younger 2 children will eat them when they are really ripe (yuck!), so either way they get used up at our house! 🙂
I love banana bread and banana muffins. I often add chocolate chips, but have never added fresh berries. What a great idea. Stopping in from Best of the Weekend Party.
Julie recently posted…Cranberry Muffins with Crumble Oat Topping
Thank you Julie! It really is delicious:) Have a wonderful weekend!
I’ve made banana breads with chocolate chips, always a hit with hubby.
But, I never thought of adding strawberries into the mix.
We all know strawberries and chocolate are a great combo, so adding it to a banana bread is a great idea! I see no wrong in this mix. 🙂
I might play around with my muffins tins too, the more the merrier!
Thanks Shannon, adding another genius idea into my files.
Pinned!
Thanks Dalila! I’ll have to make some in my muffin tins the next time too! Great idea 🙂 Enjoy!