Blueberry Lemon Bread

The first time I made this bread, I licked the beater (yes, I eat raw eggs in the form of sugary bliss) and I knew that I must share this recipe. It is simple and straight forward. We had a quite a stock of blueberries that we had picked earlier this summer and I needed a creative outlet to use them up. This recipe was mentioned by a friend and knowing that I had tried it before at another friend's house, I was excited to try it myself.  (Rest assured, these blueberries had now been frozen so don't feel pressured to run out and buy fresh berries. Frozen work fantastically!)

The batter, all whipped up, is heavenly in and of itself. And the bread is simply divine. It is sweet enough to be desirable, but not so sweet that you feel like you probably shouldn't have eaten it. The crust is a bit crisp, while the inside is light and soft. The touch of a lemon glaze on top puts the bread into the irresistible category. The combination of blueberries and lemon are the tangy delight that your taste buds have been hoping for all night.

So just go try it.

Also, I promise I make things besides blueberry bread type things. I just can't help that they are so good!

Blueberry Lemon Bread

Yield: 1 - 8 x 4 x 2.5 inch loaf pan

Bread
2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C butter at room temperature
1 C sugar
1/2 C milk
1 1/2 C blueberries (fresh or frozen)
2 large eggs

Lemon glaze
1/3 C sugar
1/4 C lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease your loaf pan.

In a mixing bowl beat butter and 1 C sugar until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating until light and creamy.

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together in separate bowl and add to the creamy mixture alternating with the milk.

Gently stir in blueberries.

Bake 1 hour 5 minutes, or until the bread no longer jiggles when you give it a little shake. You can also do the tooth pick test. The crust will brown.

Prepare lemon glaze. I suggest heating up the lemon juice in the microwave or over the stove so the sugar will dissolve.

Let cool in loaf pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and place on rack. Poke with holes on top and sides and coat with lemon glaze.

Cool completely (if you want it to retain loaf shape).

Recipe received from Emily S., though Katherine W. and Amy H were also mentioned upon receipt

Bodacious Blueberry Muffins

It is my mission to share the best things I know in life with others. These muffins are near to the best thing, so I had to share! I like a good muffin in the morning. I always have. When I was in 5th or 6th grade I would make a box of Jiffy blueberry muffins before I went to school as often as our supply would allow. I have to admit, I love the little purple sugar ball blueberries in those muffin mixes. Mmm. They were so good.

Times have changed, though. I don't always have the muffin mix in my pantry, (and, truth be told, they may not be the best muffins in the world) so sometimes I have to improvise. A little internet searching along with a few additional personal preferences have lead me to these babies! They are delightful, my friend, and so so simple to make. In fact, if you just skip down to the recipe, I won't be offended because you really should try to make them as soon as possible. You can have them out of the oven for an after-school snack before I can say "Bob's your uncle"!

Anyway, a secret to much of our breakfast making is the usage of self-rising flour. My dear Erik served a mission in Argentina and learned about the glorious self-rising stuff and he has been pretty insistent throughout our marriage that we have some on hand. I grew up with Bisquick and it took me a while to be persuaded, but alas, I am convinced (mostly because of cost). 

So here's the thing, for smaller batches of things that are bready like coffee cake, waffles, pancakes, biscuits and muffins, SRF is just the ticket if you don't really like to follow a precise recipe (as in you don't like to measure salt and baking powder). For Erik, it allows a measure of good tasting creativity in the kitchen, which is exactly what he prefers - no recipes for him. I, personally, follow recipes, but I still find it quite convenient to use SRF every now and again and these muffins are such an instance. 

If you aren't convinced that SRF is for you, that's ok. I have added the actual baking powder and salt measurements at the bottom. But by the time you are done reading my blog and you witness the plethora of ways to make delicious food with SRF, I am sure you will skip over to Kroger and by some for yourself!

Blueberry Muffins

Yield: ~ 9 bodacious muffins

1 1/2 C self-rising flour*
1/2 C sugar

1/3 C oil
1 egg
1/3 C - 1/2 C milk
1 tsp vanilla

1 C fresh or frozen blueberries (or raspberries or blackberries or all 3)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line muffin tin with 9 muffin liners or grease the tin well.

In a mixing bowl mix self-rising flour and sugar.

In a measuring cup that measures at least 1 C add oil, egg, vanilla, and enough milk so that it fills 1 cup. Mix these ingredients together with a fork.

Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and scoop and fold until only a few small patches of flour remain. Add the fruit and fold in, completing the mixing process of the flour as well.

Scoop into muffin tins. Each muffin tin should be full.

Sprinkle the top with sugar because it makes them ohhh sooooo delicious and beautiful.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Adapted from inspiredtaste.net

*If you do not have self-rising flour, then do not fret! You can add 2 tsp of baking powder and 1/2 tsp of salt to the dry ingredients.