Blueberry Bread

If you follow The Well-Fed Newlyweds on Facebook (and if you don’t, you should!), you will likely recall the blueberry-buying extravaganza I went on a couple of weeks ago.  For those of you who didn’t see my thrilled/horrified posts, let me fill you in…

Whole Foods had a 1-day sale on organic blueberries – they were selling pints for less than the non-organic berries at my local supermarket.  Clearly an excellent deal, right?  So I went and I bought… a case. A case contains twelve pints.  In my defense, two pints were purchased for a friend, but the other ten, those were all mine.

Since I didn’t know what to do with them, I turned to you, my helpful, recipe-suggesting readers.  And like always, you came through.  I came up with a plan for how to use those blueberries – and then I completely abandoned my plan and made different recipes instead.  (Not to mention the massive amount of berries consumed by the handful.)

Today’s recipe for blueberry bread is one of the healthier ways I used my blueberries.  The loaf is made with white whole wheat flour and oatmeal so it is hearty and a little dense.  It’s a quick bread, so it’s easy to make.  And the entire loaf is filled and topped with fresh blueberries bursting with sweet juice.  It’s the perfect breakfast bread, snack bread, dessert bread… It’s also the perfect way to use up some blueberries.  You know, in case you’re like me, and sales make you go a little shopping-crazy.

One Year Ago: Grilled Chicken Salad with Chipotle Lime Vinaigrette and Oatmeal Blueberry Applesauce Muffins

Blueberry Bread

Adapted from Buns in My Oven

Ingredients: 

2/3 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup unsweetened/natural applesauce

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups white whole-wheat flour (you could also use all-purpose)

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, divided

1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl), beat together the sugar, milk, oil, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

Gently stir in 1 cup of the blueberries and the walnuts, if using.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and top with the remaining blueberries.

Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove the bread from the pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.