Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 5”x9” loaf pans with nonstick spray or grease with butter then dust with flour. Set aside.
Place strawberries in a medium bowl and dust lightly with sugar. If using fresh strawberries, I like them sliced or diced. For this recipe I actually diced mine prior to adding to batter. If using frozen strawberries, leave whole, dust with sugar and wait until they are thawed before slicing or dicing.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.
In a medium bowl, combine vegetable oil, whisked eggs and thawed strawberries. Mix well.
Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and blend until just mixed.
Stir in pecans until just moistened.
Divide batter between loaf pans and bake for 50-60 minutes. A toothpick inserted in center should come out clean.
Cool in pans for 10 minutes then turn out on to wire racks to cool completely.
Makes 2 loaves with 12 servings per loaf.
Notes
OPTIONAL GLAZE½ cup powdered sugar whisked together with ½ teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 Tablespoons of cream. Drizzle over bread right before serving.BAKING TIPS
Make sure eggs are room temperature as they will mix better with the batter and rise more easily. Using cold eggs in lieu of room temperature eggs will also take the cake longer to bake.
Make sure to use sweet, ripe strawberries so they stay separated more in the bread instead of changing the color of the bread with the juices.
Use vegetable oil instead of butter to give the bread a nicer texture. The bread will stay moist longer and rise higher.
Don't like pecans? Leave them out or use walnuts or your favorite kind of nuts.