Strawberry Shortcake Bread (No Mixer)
Developed and tested by Robyn Conley Downs
on May 5, 2025 (last updated Dec 23, 2025) 
This simple one-bowl strawberry bread is bursting with strawberries (fresh or frozen), is made with a touch of Greek yogurt, and is drizzled with a sweet homemade glaze. Think strawberry shortcake, but in bread form, it requires no mixer and is downright delicious!
5 star review
“This is absolutely delicious! This is the perfect spring treat. The vanilla and strawberry flavors are incredible and the texture was perfect. My picky toddler loved it too! Thanks so much for yet another winner! All your recipes are out of this world.”
– Dana
An Absolutely Swoon-Worthy Strawberry Loaf Cake
Loaf cakes and I have been having a real moment lately, because I think they’re truly just the most effortless and elegant way to bring a crowd-pleasing dessert to a party, or to have on hand for dessert or afternoon snacking. Seriously, whenever I make my blueberry lemon bread, it’s usually eaten up within the first day!
And in my style of making delicious recipes as easy as possible, I’ve gotta do this simple strawberry loaf cake in one bowl with wholesome, everyday ingredients & without a mixer. In addition to making this strawberry cake as easy as possible, I also wanted to really maximize that strawberry flavor, so I created the sweetest strawberry glaze to top the cake as well. Seriously, sooo good! All you have to do is mash strawberries until they have as few chunks as possible, add powdered sugar to thicken & sweeten it, then mix in enough lemon juice to make it a drizzle-able texture for that incredible one-two-punch of strawberry lemon flavor.
Of course, this strawberry lemonade loaf can be tailored to what’s in your kitchen. I tested this with both dairy milk and non-dairy milk, and both work just fine. And if you don’t have whole Greek yogurt, you can swap in sour cream. Just don’t use low-fat yogurt, because this cake does need the extra fat. Finally, you can use frozen, defrosted strawberries if you can’t find ripe, fresh strawberries. Thaw them fully in a colander in the sink to drain all the excess moisture (no one wants a soggy loaf!) Then pat them dry and dice them before coating them in the flour to prevent them from sinking into the batter.
Welcome to My Kitchen – Let’s Bake Strawberry Bread!
Strawberry Shortcake Vibes
For a little strawberry shortcake cake moment, no one can resist this cake topped with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. And for an extra-over-the-top-delicious topping, you can macerate freshly sliced strawberries in a little sugar then spoon them on top.
Tips for An Easy Homemade Strawberry Dessert
- Equipment: A heavy-duty, non-stick metal loaf pan will give you the best results to release your cake from the pan without any of it getting stuck. If you’re not sure if your pan is nonstick, line it with parchment paper.
- Best Flavor: You’ll want to use sweet, ripe strawberries; if they’re not good enough to eat plain, then opt for frozen strawberries (which are picked at peak ripeness).
- Less Sweet: Skip the strawberry glaze if you want to simplify the steps & make your cake a little less sweet.
- Make Ahead: The glaze will soak into the cake a bit and soften it, so you can wait to drizzle it over your strawberry vanilla loaf until just before you serve it.
Strawberry Shortcake Bread (No Mixer!)
Ingredients
Strawberry Loaf Cake
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (150 g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup milk (59 ml)
- ½ cup neutral flavored oil, such as avocado or canola (118 ml)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup plain whole Greek yogurt (113 g)
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (218 g) plus one Tablespoon (for coating the strawberries)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup fresh or frozen-defrosted strawberries, diced into ½-inch pieces (148 g)
Strawberry Lemonade Glaze
- 2 fresh or frozen-defrosted strawberries
- ½ cup powdered sugar (65g)
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, divided
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a heavy-duty steel 9×5-inch loaf pan or line it with parchment paper.
- Add the sugar and vanilla extract to a large bowl. Using clean hands, rub the vanilla extract into the sugar until it’s well incorporated. Add the milk, oil, eggs, and yogurt. Whisk until smooth.
- Add 1 ¾ cups of the flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring gently until just combined, being careful not to overmix. It’s okay if there are a few lumps.
- In a separate small bowl, toss the 1 cup of diced strawberries with 1 tablespoon of flour (to prevent sinking), leaving any excess flour in the small bowl.
- Pour ⅓ of the batter into the prepared loaf pan, then gently layer in ½ of the strawberries, followed by ⅓ batter, then the remaining strawberries, then the remaining batter, smoothing the top.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool for an additional 10 minutes.
- While the loaf cools, in a small bowl, make the glaze by mashing the strawberries with a fork until a smooth paste forms. Add the powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of the lemon juice, stirring to form a glaze. If the glaze is too thick, add more lemon juice, 1 teaspoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
- Drizzle the glaze over the top of the loaf, allowing some to drip down the sides. Allow to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- Moist Cake: To prevent your cake from dying out, be careful not to overmix or overbake. Gently mix the batter with a silicone spatula until you no longer see clumps of dry flour. And remove your cake from the oven as soon as a toothpick inserted into the center comes out free from wet better.
- Perfect Rise: Use room temperature ingredients (especially your eggs, yogurt, and strawberries) for the best rise on your cake.
- Accurate Measurements: For the most accurate baking, you can use a kitchen scale. But if you don’t have one, make sure you spoon and level your flour so it doesn’t get compacted in your measuring cup.
Oh my goodness-this is absolutely delicious! This is the perfect spring treat. The vanilla and strawberry flavors are incredible and the texture was perfect. My picky toddler loved it too! Thanks so much for yet another winner! All your recipes are out of this world.
Dana, yay, so happy to hear this one was a hit all around! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and for leaving a review. 🙂
This was so good! Do not skip the glaze. I stored this in the fridge and really appreciated the cool temp, nice texture. Hopefully my next slice will have a bit of whipped cream.
Lauren, yay, so happy to hear you enjoyed this one! I think it almost tastes better the next day after being stored in the fridge. Here’s hoping for another slice with extra whipped cream!
Robyn,
If I want to use a Bundt pan, what are the changes and will it work?
Hi Claudia! For a Bundt pan, I’d recommend: 1. Thoroughly grease a 6- to 8-cup Bundt pan with baking spray or softened butter, making sure to get into all the crevices. Lightly dust with flour and tap out any excess. 2. Pour about ⅓ of the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Sprinkle in ½ of the strawberries, then pour another third of the batter, layer the remaining strawberries, then finish with the rest of the batter. Gently smooth the top with a spatula. 3. Bake for 35–45 minutes, or until the top is golden and a toothpick or skewer inserted into the thickest part comes out clean. (Bundt pans often bake a bit faster than a deep loaf pan, so start checking around 35 minutes.) 4. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15–20 minutes — this helps it firm up so it doesn’t stick. Gently loosen edges with a small offset spatula if needed, then invert onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Glaze per instructions, above. Let me know how it turns out!
OK, this is my second time making this and I absolutely love it! It’s super simple. You can just mix it all in one bowl. The berries are exchangeable. I once made it with strawberry and then the next time made it with blueberry.
Super yummy. The next day was a couple morning coffee 🤍
Wonderful to hear you enjoyed this strawberry bread, Christina! I love the idea of having a slice with a cup of coffee. Yum! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and for leaving a review!
My children are constantly requesting these muffins ( bake at same temperature for 18-20 min). They call them the best muffins ever. This recipe adapts really well to other types of ripe fruit ( eg. Blueberries, peaches, I have even used leftover homemade cranberry sauce). I make them dairy free using unsweetened soy milk and silk vanilla yogurt. They freeze alright if you want to use them for lunches later in the month but they do lose some of their appeal. I have made them with gluten free flour and they were great out of the over but after sitting overnight the texture wasn’t quite the same. I will try again with a different gluten free blend.
Thank you so much for all these tips and notes – so very helpful! I’ll have to try subbing cranberry sauce next time I make these. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and for leaving a review!