Long before the age of the internet and social media, Jeanne Jones amassed a large following of home cooks hungry for healthy recipes. Jones wrote 32 cookbooks related to this style of cooking, starting with “The Calculating Cook: A Gourmet Cookbook for Diabetics and Dieters,” published in 1972. Her nationally syndicated “Cook It Light” column, which ran in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in the early 1990s, took a Dear Abby approach: Readers submitted their favorite recipes to Jones, hoping she could doctor them to fit a healthy diet.
Betty Seckinger of Winter Haven, Florida, sought Jones’ help with a strawberry bread recipe, whose before and after published in the AJC on June 20, 1991. “Dear Jeanne,” Seckinger wrote, “This recipe is one I have been using for years, and everyone loves it. Could you please help me by converting it to a recipe with less fat and calories?”
Jones accepted the challenge.
“Dear Betty,” Jones responded, “This bread is indeed delicious. However, I think you will like my revised version even better, especially if you truly like strawberries. With less fat and sugar, the bread is lower in calories but higher in strawberry flavor — another example of less equaling more.”
Jones went on to explain other aspects of her recipe makeover. “I used egg substitute to eliminate the cholesterol, and by adding buttermilk, the bread remains moist even when the fat is reduced. Toasting the nuts enabled me to use half as many without noticing any difference. I hope you like this More Strawberry Bread recipe as much as I do.”
Archival research contributed by Pete Corson.
Credit: AJC archives
Credit: AJC archives
More Strawberry Bread
This recipe calls for a liquid egg substitute. Store-bought cartons such as Just Egg brand are readily available in grocery stores. Another reliable swap is aquafaba, the liquid in a can of chickpeas. According to the AJC’s longtime nutritional consultant Betsy Mann, the main difference between these two egg substitutes is that aquafaba has no fat, while Just Egg has 3 grams of fat per 1/4-cup serving. However, there is little discernible difference between the two substitutes in the overall nutritional content of the strawberry bread recipe.
A can of chickpeas typically contains between 1/2 cup and 3/4 cup of aquafaba, so you will need 2 cans of chickpeas to prepare this bread recipe. Simply drain the cans of chickpeas, reserving them for another use.
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided
- 3 cups whole fresh strawberries, or 3 cups frozen strawberries, thawed and drained
- 1 cup liquid egg substitute
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3 cups unbleached flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Place walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown. Watch carefully; they burn easily. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sprinkle 1 tablespoon granulated sugar over strawberries. Gently mash to start juices flowing. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour.
- In a second bowl, using an electric mixer, blend egg substitute, oil, buttermilk, remaining 1 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Add strawberries and mix well with a spoon. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Stir well with a spoon, add walnuts and stir to incorporate.
- Pour into two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans generously sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Tap pans on flat surface to remove bubbles, then bake in the 350-degree oven for 55 to 60 minutes.
Makes 2 loaves, 8 slices per loaf.
Per slice, using aquafaba: 250 calories (percent of calories from fat, 34), 4 grams protein, 39 grams carbohydrates, 18 grams total sugars, 2 grams fiber, 10 grams total fat (1 gram saturated), 1 milligram cholesterol, 163 milligrams sodium.
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