Strawberries - gotta use them (recipe: Strawberry Bread)

Last summer, we went strawberry picking with some friends. I was able to use a nice portion of them right away but, froze a batch of them to use in the Winter months. Well, as my last post mentioned, it is time to fill the freezer with things I am low on... one, being quick breads. The strawberries had been frozen since the Summer, so I thought it was time to use them before I completely forgot they were there and ended up having to throw them out.

The result is a new recipe that got a huge thumbs up from My Husband and my oldest son. My youngest is not big on quick breads or muffins. This was quick to prepare, but definitely NOT light I may try to tinker with the recipe to lighten it, because at 1 cup of vegetable oil it's not going to be easy to justify eating it too often.


Strawberry Bread
Source: The Junior League Centennial Cookbook

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 cups sugar
3 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable oil
grated rind of one lemon
3 cups chopped strawberries

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and baking soda and stir until the soda is well distributed. Add the cinnamon and sugar. Mix well. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, vanilla, oil and lemon rind. Spoon the strawberries into the liquid ingredients and stir gently to coat them. Add this mixture in batches to the dry ingredients, incorporating by hand. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake 1 hour, or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Allow loaves to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack. Do not slice until ready to serve.

Makes 2 loaves.
Note: I made 1 large loaf and two 6-inch loaves from this recipe.