Blueberry Bread

Ok, here's the deal... I sort of have a tiny obsession with breads... Ok, maybe it's a major problem. But here's the thing, I can make it myself and I'm pretty decent at it, so why not? It's much cheaper than buying fancy bread from the grocery store, and I KNOW what's in mine. I found this recipe online while trolling the net for new things to try, I believe I found it on about.com. Basically I googled Blueberry recipes, and it happened to be one of the options that popped up. I am so glad that it did! I'll give you the base recipe, and then I'll note any changes that I'll be making in the future.

First off, this is soooooo simple. I mean, it really is. No mixers needed, nothing fancy. I mixed mine by hand, and had absolutely no issues with it lumping or anything randomly odd. It also doesn't take much to come together, so there's no strain on your arm and shoulder to mix this. It's a quick bread, so no yeast, and no kneading. If you want a change from the standard banana, or zucchini bread, this is worth a shot. :D

You will need:
3 c. all purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg, beaten
1 2/3 c milk
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 1/2 c fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 c chopped pecans

Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan. (If you want to make multiple loaves go ahead, just watch them for baking time)
In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
In a large mixing bowl combine egg, milk, oil, and vanilla. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Stir until batter is moistened. Fold in lemon zest, blueberries, and chopped pecans.
Spoon into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 75 minutes, until a toothpick comes out of the center clean. Cool bread in pan on rack. For best flavor, wrap and store overnight.

Ok, here are my changes. I ended up using all whole wheat flour... because I had run out of all purpose... and my DH had the car at work. I wouldn't recommend using all whole wheat flour, it tends to be a bit more bitter than the all purpose. Hence, my bread is slightly bitter. If you want to use the whole wheat go ahead, but I would just sub half the AP flour with the whole wheat. I am going to add some nutmeg/cinnamon next go around and see if I can bring some flavor to the bread itself. There is lemon zest, and you can taste it....but it's just missing something for me. I'll also be adding more blueberries to my next batch. I'm also planning on smushing some of them up to get the berries more integrated into the batter. I also added pecans sprinkled on top of the bread. Next time I'll get a little sugar on the top of the loaf as well. I like that slightly crusty sweet texture.










I added a little honey ginger glaze to see how it was... SO GOOD! Super easy too...
Take about a TBSP of honey, a little melted butter, and a pinch of ginger powder mix it all up, nuke it for a few seconds to get it really nice and liquidy.... there you go! :D

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