Strawberry Jam Quick Bread
This strawberry jam quick bread is a special treat that the whole family can enjoy! Made with honey-sweetened jam, it's the perfect little indulgence. Make mini loaves and give them as gifts!
There a few ways that I know Greyson is my son (apart from my memory of his birth, obviously).
One of those ways is that this kid loves bread.
I'm not even kidding, y'all, we have to make special arrangements when we go out to eat to make sure that Greyson eats a normal meal before bread is brought to our table.
For example, when we go out to breakfast, we sit down and order our drinks and two scrambled eggs for Greyson right away because otherwise he will see my breakfast (which is usually French Toast or biscuits and gravy) and only want that.
So yes. My kid is obsessed with bread and he for sure gets it from his mama.
I've had a major craving for homemade bread lately with summer on the horizon. (It was officially in the 100's already this week in Phoenix — but don't worry it is back down in the 70's next week.
Then I remembered a family recipe from Steven's aunt for strawberry jam quick bread. My kid loves these no sugar added strawberry muffins, so I knew he'd love this bread.
I looked up the recipe again in a really cool cookbook that we have from Steven's grandparents.
It's a collection of recipes from a society that his grandmother was a part of, so it has recipes from Steven's mom, dad, aunts, and grandparents.
I'm all about tried and true family recipes. I looked it up and remembered it has a good bit of sugar in it.
An average amount for an adult, but more than I'd like to give my toddler at this point. (He usually gets no-sugar-added treats like these blueberry muffins when I bake.)
I've made it a few times in the past but wanted to try to make it again without any sugar.
Because I knew it would just be cruel to make bread that he couldn't eat! (Cruel to myself, since I'd have to deal with the upset toddler who couldn't have the bread.)
So I subbed the sugar for unsweetened applesauce and used this strawberry jelly from Smucker's that is sweetened with honey. Still a sweetener, but at least a natural one.
I loved the low sugar substitutes and the bread was plenty sweet with the strawberry flavor!
In fact, we tested the original and this applesauce sweetened version and we all really preferred this version. We didn't feel guilty having a slice of this version because it just felt lighter without the weight of the sugar.
This strawberry jam quick bread is hearty though, it feels like a mini brick in your hands. But it goes perfectly with a glass of strawberry Greek yogurt smoothie.
And when you're making it, you might think the batter is too thick, but it'll be just fine, I promise!
I actually made a similar version to the original with the regular amount of sugar at the same time to send to work with my husband and this version was less thick than the original because of the applesauce.
When I can, I like to use homemade applesauce.
The cool thing about baking with applesauce instead of sugar is that a lot of the time you don't need to adjust the recipe.
Sometimes if there's added liquid to the recipe, you'll need to reduce the liquid by ¼ cup, but in this recipe, I didn't have to make any other substitutions.
I initially thought I would need fewer eggs, so I started with one less but ended up adding the fourth one back in to help the batter be the right consistency.
I made this recipe as mini loaves in this pan, but you could definitely use a regular loaf pan as well.
If you need a playdate snack, homemade gift, or just a fun treat for the family, this strawberry jam quick bread is definitely your solution.
Strawberry Jam Quick Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup of unsalted butter softened
- 1 ½ cups of unsweetened applesauce
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup of strawberry jam or preserves
- 1 cup sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix together butter, applesauce, vanilla and eggs.
- In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
- Slowly pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients, be careful not to over stir.
- Fold in sour cream by hand with a spatula.
- Then mix in strawberry preserves/jam until just combined.
- Pour into four mini greased loaf pans or 2 regular loaf pans, filling about ¾ way full.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes (up to 60 minutes for full loaf) until a knife or toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.
- Allow to cool, enjoy warm with a spread of preserve or butter!
I made this, thinking it would be delicious. Boy, was I wrong. It tastes like dense, greasy cardboard. WAY too much butter, and I think it would have been better to use sugar than applesauce, because of the density. I don't know why it has so little flavor - the only tasty parts are where the strawberry jam bits are.
Sorry to leave such a negative review, but I did follow the directions and measurements exactly. I have been baking for over 60 years, and have won numerous blue ribbons for my baked goods at the Minnesota State Fair, so I do know what I'm doing when it comes to baking!
Hi Kathy, thank you for trying my recipe. I’m sorry it didn’t go well for you.
All of our recipes are tested by me and this one is one of my family’s favorites that originally comes from my husband's grandmother's recipe collection.
However, there can be a lot of reasons for a recipe to turn out differently. As you no doubt already know as a baker, things like oven temperature, over-mixing batter, quality of ingredients and personal taste can all vary.
That said, I designed this recipe to be lighter and without added sugar because I wanted it to be toddler friendly. You can substitute regular sugar for the applesauce in a 1:1 swap if you want the overall bread to be sweeter.
You might also like my blueberry bread (https://joyfullymad.com/blueberry-preserve-mini-loaves/) which is similar, but more of a traditional level of sweetness.
Hello, this bread sounds lovely and I have Strawberry lovers around me. Could you please post the original one with sugar instead of applesauce? Would love to try the original one. Thanks.
Hey Barbara! You can just substitute the applesauce for sugar - it's a 1:1 swap! Hope you enjoy it 🙂
Hi Madison. This looks yum.I'm looking forward to trying this recipe. Just wondering how much sugar I need to use if I decide to skip the applesauce. Thanks sooo much!!
It's been so long since I made this with sugar, but I believe it would be 1 cup of sugar and you may need to add 1/4 cup of milk so that it is not too thick.
My family loved this bread! I adjusted it slightly by using freeze dried strawberries rehydration in 3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lime juice and 1/2 cup of water (8oz of freeze dried, sliced strawberries). As I mixed the ingredients, I let the strawberries soak up the liquid in a bowl in the fridge. Then folded them in last before putting dough in loaf pan. This makes a lovely coffee cake style loaf and a delicious side item with a fruit salad for either breakfast or brunch. Thank you for sharing. Amazing recipe!
Hi Madison, I am in Tucson! Thanks for this lovely recipe. I have leftover jams and this will be perfect. I love how you are minimizing sugar and giving instructions how to successfully integrate substitutes into the recipe. I haven't made this yet, but will this weekend.
Warmly, Ellen in Tucson
Thanks Ellen! I hope you got a chance to make it and enjoyed it 🙂
Yes, I made a few; some with Cheri's chili jelly and these will be superb with a side of Manchego cheese!
E