Blueberry Lemon Loaf

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Every spring and summer, I want to make this blueberry lemon loaf on repeat. Lemon is so fresh and summery, and I usually have more blueberries that I know what to do with in the summer. I’ve also been missing the lemon loaf from Starbucks, so I make this instead! I love a nice thick slice of this with some dark roast coffee! This bread is a dense, rich, soft loaf with LOTS of yummy blueberries. It has a punchy citrus lemon flavor from some sloth secret shortcut ingredients that make this a quick and easy bread.

Blueberries

I’ve made many versions of this over the last few years – fresh blueberries, frozen blueberries, and my verdict is BY FAR…

Use frozen blueberries!!

Not only is this easier – hello freezer stash – but it is SO MUCH EASIER to mix up. I always toss the frozen blueberries in a spoonful of flour before adding them to the batter. The flour and the frozen state of the blueberries helps them stay dispersed throughout the batter instead of all sinking to the bottom. Also, if they’re frozen when you mix them up, they don’t get all squished and smashed when you’re trying to ever so gently fold them in. Also, fresh blueberries are a hot commodity at my house, as they usually get devoured standing at the refrigerator door. So, frozen blueberries it is.

The only thing to remember about frozen blueberries is that… ummm they are cold.

Wow thanks Kitchen Sloth, no one knew that. No really- what I mean by this is that the batter will take longer to bake if you’re using frozen solid blueberries (which is what I recommend). You’re basically putting little tiny blueberry ice cubes in your batter. Being frozen helps them stay put in the batter instead of all falling to the bottom and stay in a mostly unsmashed state, but they are just that- frozen little ice cubes! It usually takes a little over an hour to bake. So if you test it at an hour and it seems like it has miles to go – this is why! Give it a little more time.

Lemons

Mmmmm sweet and sour lemons. I have a big thing for citrus. Maybe it’s that I don’t love desserts that are too sweet, so anything lemon or lime brings a little tartness that I love.

However, while I love lemons, I don’t always feel like or have the time to juice and zest a bunch of lemons. Ok maybe I have the time, I just don’t feel like it. Or maybe I’m feeling a little bit accident prone and like I might grate my finger tips off, and it’s best to stay away from the grater today.

Whatever the reason! Two things you can do to BRING THAT LEMON FLAVA but not shred your finger tips or get lemon juice in your paper cut are:

Bottled lemon juice. Really it’s fine, no one will judge you because this bread is delicious!

This lemon zest. I love love love this stuff. Even though it’s dried lemon peel, it tastes FRESH, and it brings so much flavor. It doesn’t taste processed or weird, and it adds so much more lemon flavor than lemon juice alone.

Now, of course if you feel like grating and juicing a bunch of lemons, more power to you. That will also work. But these two shortcuts save me lots of time, and this bread is none the wiser that you didn’t slave over the juicer and grater for it.

The final place to add some lemon flavor is in the glaze. Just two simple ingredients – powdered sugar and lemon juice. When you add the lemon juice to the sugar, it will seem like you need more liquid. Powdered sugar is this weird ingredient that seems like it disappears when it gets wet though- 1 T of lemon juice is more than enough!

Mix it up

Time to mix it up! Whip together the butter, sugar, and eggs until the batter is light and fluffy. This is the time to go nuts- mixing these three ingredients adds lots of air and lift into the batter that will give it a fluffy texture.

After mixing, add in your vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and baking powder. Yummyyy it’s tasting good now.

Alternate adding the flour and milk until the batter juuuust looks like it’s mixed. Even if there’s still a little flour left to combine, that’s ok.

Next, toss your FROZEN blueberries in a spoonful of flour, and gently, ever so gently fold them into the batter. Actually, you don’t really have to be that gentle, because they’re frozen, but whatever. It’s ok if a few of them break- they’ll look pretty in the batter.

Pour that beautiful lemony, blueberry-y, buttery batter into a parchment lined loaf pan and bake for about an hour. It might be a little more than an hour because our batter is COLD (those blueberry ice cubes!). When it is FINALLY done (check it with a toothpick), let it cool completely before you add the glaze.

Sometimes / usually, I’m too impatient, and I add it while it’s still warm because I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE. IT SMELLS SO GOOD. I just want you to know that this is not the end of the world. It will still taste amazing and you will be so happy. The glaze just sinks into the bread more if it’s warm.

Slice it up, and have a slice of your blueberry lemon loaf with some coffee! Perfect for breakfast or a snack. Or dinner? I would say this freezes well, because I’m sure it would, but I don’t think I’ve ever had any left to freeze. Maybe I should double it next time… hmm…

Sloth Shortcuts

Follow these sloth shortcuts for this quick and easy blueberry lemon loaf:

Sloth Shortcut #1: Frozen blueberries – Straight. Out. Of. The. Freezer. No thawing. Being frozen helps because: a) you have them, they’ve been hanging out by themselves hiding in the freezer, b) they don’t fall apart in the batter, and c) they stay suspended throughout the batter instead of all sinking to the bottom. WIN WIN WIN.

Sloth Shortcut #2: Bottled lemon juice and dried lemon zest. It’s yummy, I promise.

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