Strawberry Banana Macadamia Bread

This great recipe by John Winkler of San Pedro, California, was a finalist in the 1997 California Strawberry Festival's Berry Off Cooking Contest. Follow this link to learn more about the festival and for more great strawberry recipes.

If you're not using a bread maker to make your dough and you're not familiar with making yeast breads, check out our bread making primer first.

Makes 1 Loaf

2/3 cups warm water 1/3 cup mashed ripe bananas 1/3 cup mashed strawberries 2 T softened butter or margarine (melted and cooled to room temperature is mixing by hand) 2 egg whites 3 1/4 cups flour 3 T sugar 1 1/4 tsp. salt 2 3/4 tsp. active dry yeast 1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts (reserve 2 T for top)

For Bread Machines Place all ingredients except macadamia nuts in your bread machine. Add nuts whenever you should add additions (varies by machine). Set machine to dough only setting. For mixing in a mixer or by hand Sprinkle yeast over warm water. Mix in fruits, egg whites and butter. Sift together dry ingredients, stir in nuts. Mix dy ingredients into dough and mix and knead until smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled. Punch dough down. (See general bread making instructions.) Regardless of whether you're using a bread machine or hand mixing, pick up the instructions here. Preheat oven to 425° F. Grease and flour a 13x9x2 inch rectangular pan. After dough cycle on the bread machine or after your dough has been through one rising if hand mixing, knead dough an additional 2-5 minutes and shape to fit in loaf pan. Sprinkle the reserved 2 T nuts on top of bread. Bake 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. After baking, remove bread from pan and cool on a wire rack.