I’m telling you – if you are a raspberry lover, then this is IT. Look no further, as this Raspberry Dream Bread is what … well, it’s what dreams are made of. Mine at least, and my daughter’s, as we are massive raspberry fans. This is like the eighth or ninth fruit bread I’ve shared here, and it’s tied for first place with my banana bread (which is INSANE if you’ve never made that one). This bread is filled with fresh raspberries and topped with a crushed raspberry icing. A little olive oil goes a long way in creating a moist (sorry) crumb that is truly something else.

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Why this is the very best Raspberry Bread

So again, I share lots of fruit breads and muffins here on MKL. I suppose this means I’m a big fan. I like the ease of them and the low intimidation factor of these sorts of baked goods. They honestly eat like cakes but are a whole lot simpler and faster to whip up. This is lovable to me! This Raspberry Dream Bread is very special, and it’s got a few little tricks that make it so.

OLIVE OIL. This is a good one. Okay, so olive oil has such a naturally fruity flavor that it just makes sense to use it in baking applications that also feature fruit. For whatever magical, mystical reason – the raspberry has an especially strong affinity for the lusciousness of olive oil. The two flavors just go really well together, and I love them in this bread. You could even be extra about it, and swap olive oil in for the milk in the icing and do a crushed raspberry and olive oil icing. AH! I just thought of that right as I was typing this, and now my mind is blown all over again.
Anyway, ahem. HALF AND HALF. The moisture in this bread comes from not only the oil and egg, but also the half and half. You could totes use milk or coconut milk (would be super good, actually), or even almond milk if you’ve got it. Heck, cashew milk! You get the point. But. The richness of half and half helps to give the bread the absolute best chance of not being dry as a bone. This, as we all know, is goal numero uno with these fruit breads.
Hella VANILLA. I give you a “measurement” in my ingredients list for the amount of vanilla you should use. But please know that, just as with garlic, this is a MINIMUM amount – not the max limit. No way, no how. Just as with garlic, you should, as they say, measure that stuff with your heart. Glug it in until your heart tells you to stop.

Raspberry Dream Bread: What You’ll Need

This is a very standard fruit bread, but I have swapped in two sort of unique things here that are of note. Perhaps most conspicuously the olive oil. It’s gorgeous in any fruit bread, as olive oil has such a naturally fruity flavor. Plus? You’ll notice there’s half and half here. You could definitely use milk, no harm no foul. But the added fat and richness of half and half provides the greatest, softest texture to this bread.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

½ cup olive oil

1 cup half and half (milk and coconut milk also work)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 egg

2 cups fresh raspberries

For the Crushed Raspberry Icing

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons milk (plus more as needed)

½ cup fresh raspberries

Raspberry Bread with Olive Oil: How To Make It

This is so easy guys – truly. Grab a few bowls, a whisk, and maybe a wooden spoon. The three dry ingredients go in one bowl (flour + baking powder + salt), and the wet (and also the sugar) go in another. Combine them into one bowl without over-mixing. Toss the berries with a little extra flour, add those to the batter and pour the whole lot into a loaf pan.

Bake until nice and golden on top and a tester comes out clean as a whistle. You need to cool the bread before trying to remove it (as it could stick) and also before you glaze it. The glaze will run off if the bread is at all warm. Then, dig in!

DIRECTIONS

Butter or spray a standard loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, whisk 2 cups of the flour, the baking powder and the salt together.

In a second bowl, whisk together the sugar, olive oil, half and half, vanilla, and egg. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir just until fully incorporated.

Toss the raspberries and the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour together and add those to the batter, folding to mix them in. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake just until a tester comes out clean; about 50 minutes. Cool completely before removing and covering with glaze (see below).

To make the glaze: combine the glaze ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth and pourable. The raspberries will naturally break up as you stir, both coloring and flavoring the glaze beautifully.