Uh oh, the bananas on your counter that you’ve neglected all week long have finally browned beyond the point of snacking. Of course, you know what to do: bake banana bread. But before you bust out your usual recipe, consider this summer-inspired take on the treat from Laura Prepon, foodie and actress of That ’70s Show and Orange Is the New Black fame. She adds a seasonal ingredient to the mix that we can’t wait to try at home—strawberries.
Laura Prepon Shares Her Recipe for Banana Bread—with a Summery Twist
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Published Jun 23, 2023
“#GetYourPrepOn with me as I give an old favorite a summery twist—strawberry banana bread!” she captioned the Instagram video. Standing in her kitchen, she starts by saying, “We’ve talked before about what to do when you have overripe bananas. You can freeze them for protein shakes, make them into banana bread...We’re going to bake banana bread because my son asked me for some. I also have strawberries that are overripening. I love banana strawberry, so we’re going to make banana strawberry bread, which I’ve done before for the same exact reason…and it turned out awesome, so I want to share it with you guys.”
The recipe is pretty standard, plus a few unique tweaks. She uses yogurt in the batter to moisten the bread and sweetens it with both sugar and maple syrup. (She’s also partial to farmers market honey when she has some on hand.) Prepon also uses gluten-free flour, but you could easily substitute all-purpose flour if you eat wheat.
As for the strawberries, she recommends drying them a bit before adding them to the batter. “If you just chop up strawberries and put them straight into your bread, the bread can become a little too wet. So…we’re going to chop up our strawberries and lay them in the paper towel and cover them up…You want to get the excess juice off, so the bread isn’t soggy,” she explains.
Prepon also suggests adding chopped walnuts to the batter, which would offer crunch to each slice. We’re betting white or milk chocolate chips would be delicious as well, or peanut butter. Read on for the full recipe.
Ingredients
- 1¾ cup organic gluten-free flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅓ cup chopped strawberries
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- ¼ cup plain yogurt
- 3 bananas
Directions
1. Line a loaf pan with nonstick foil or parchment paper and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
3. Place the chopped strawberries in a dark-colored hand towel or a few paper towels and fold, so it will soak up excess moisture. Set aside.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, butter, vanilla, maple syrup and yogurt. Whisk to combine.
5. In a small bowl, thoroughly mash the bananas. Add the bananas to the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently stir to combine, being careful not to overmix. Fold in the strawberries and softly stir so they don’t get crushed. Pour the batter into the lined loaf pan.
7. Bake for 35 minutes to 1 hour. Check the bread periodically by poking a toothpick through the center. When the toothpick comes out clean, it’s finished baking.
Taryn Pire is PureWow’s associate food editor. A former bartender and barista, she’s been writing about all things delicious since 2016, developing recipes, reviewing restaurants and investigating food trends at Food52, New Jersey Family Magazine and Taste Talks. When she isn’t testing TikTok’s latest viral recipe, she’s having popcorn for dinner and posting about it on Instagram @cookingwithpire.
