Foodie Non-Friday: Lemon Blueberry Bread

So I truly don’t know what’s up with all the cooking (ok, mostly baking) I’ve  been doing lately but aren’t you lovely folks fortunate to reap the benefits of it?

Well, actually my family is b/c they get to eat whatever is tasty (it’s not ALL been tasty…lest I lead you on about my cooking overall).

But you get kitchen-tested, Always Random Family-approved recipes.

And this lovely little number is no exception.

And you can totally trust us because we have eaten about 2 loaves of it in the past 24 hours.

Don’t judge.

So I am certain you all are asking: “What prompted this foray into blueberry bread…because I thought you had an aversion to whole blueberries in baked goods?”

And yes, you are correct I do have an aversion to whole blueberries in baked goods. (And don’t worry…I realize that most of you, perhaps all of you, have no idea what I am talking about, so I shall explain):

When I was a child, my mother made fresh blueberry muffins, utilizing fresh blueberries. Well, apparently I could not wait to eat one and bit into a piping hot blueberry, whose lovely juice burned, dare I say SCALDED, my tongue.

Totally my fault…I blame my mother not at all.

Now…I know, I know, you are all surely thinking, “Get over it, Dude!” but I could not completely get past it.

For years, I would only eat those crappy blueberries muffins which had used dried blueberry powder (or whatever they use)…chopped up bits of blueberry? I don’t even know, but it was how I got by.

Until yesterday…when I realized that all those pints of blueberries I bought last summer and diligently washed and froze on cookie sheets (you know…so they wouldn’t all stick together in one big pile of mush upon defrost) and then lovingly collected and placed in baggies…all those blueberries were sitting in the freezer…mocking me.

I had thought I would make some lovely cobbler or something like that…but then I remembered that I don’t care much for cobbler. Or pie…another viable option.

Disgusting, but viable.

So…I Googled “easy blueberry recipes” and much to my chagrin, the top response was for blueberry bread.

Argh…

But I decided to forge ahead. Conquer my fears. Look at all this growth, right?

I looked at several recipes, but decided on this one…it had the addition of sour cream or yogurt (which I got to use my crockpot yogurt, so that was kind of fun).

Also, you may be wondering how we have eaten almost 2 loaves…because this recipe only makes one loaf. Clearly, I doubled it…I could just tell that I would love it and trust my instincts (and also, I seriously have a lot of blueberries to use too).

NOTE: I did not, however, double it when I listed it below, so you’ll have to do that higher math if you want two loaves.

Please feel free to contact me for assistance with this; I don’t mean to brag, but I am a trained professional.

So…without further delay, I give you Lemon Blueberry Bread:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup oil (vegetable or canola)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream, or homemade yogurt!)
• Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons if you have the bottle…I don’t judge that)
• NOTE: I also added a tablespoon of lemon extract, but did NOT use the glaze…I wanted more lemony flavor without the additional sugar…clearly I’m watching my caloric intake…
• 1 cup blueberries
• Lemon Glaze (¾ cup powdered sugar and 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, vanilla, eggs, sugar, yogurt, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
• Combine the wet and dry ingredients, just until smooth. Do not overmix or your bread will come out tough.
• Fold the blueberries into the batter.
• Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. The bread will be finished when a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. NOTE: If bread begins to brown too much on the top, tent with aluminum foil. I used some foil for the last 15 minutes of baking.
• Once bread is finished, remove from oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes in the pan. Run a butter knife around the inside edge of the pan to loosen the bread and then remove it from the pan; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Once bread has cooled, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Start with one tablespoon of lemon juice and whisk well. If your mixture is too thick, slowly add up to one more tablespoon of lemon juice. You want the glaze to be thin enough to drizzle, but thick enough to set up on the bread.
• Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze on top of the bread. The glaze should harden up a little more after about 15-20 minutes.

Will store in an airtight container on the counter for up to five days (supposedly, but who would really know...by my estimation it is more like 24 hours on the counter...), or freeze well for up to two months.