Friends Food Family

Delicious Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Blueberry Zucchini Bread - Quick, Easy and Delicious - Great for breakfast, as a snack or as a dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Where do I begin? I have been MIA for a number of weeks, not because I haven't been cooking or baking but because I have been working to launch a new website for the company I work for FUN Enterprises. It has taken a while but the end product is amazing. This is probably why I have been a bit burned out, especially when it comes to my personal blog.

From the Friends Food Family side - Our garden has seen more produce this season than we could have ever imagined and we have done quite a bit of canning with many of the vegetables. I feel like for the first time we didn't lose any of our produce. In years past, we have lost a portion of our garden to timing. Too much, too soon and not enough people to use it all. This year was perfect and for as much as I haven't been blogging, I have made so many new recipes with our fresh ingredients, including 25 loaves of zucchini bread in various varieties.

This Blueberry Zucchini Bread has become my go-to summer recipe because it is so easy. Within 15 minutes I can have 3-6 loaves baking in the oven and the flavor is amazing. It's very moist and not too sweet. The first time I made it I didn't have blueberries so I used raisins. The next few times we had freshly picked blueberries to add to the mixture. The last time I made it I made three variations (swapping out the blueberries for the following ingredients):

1. 1 cup of chopped dried cherries and 3/4 cup of chopped pistachios.

2. 1-1/2 cup of raisins and 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts

3. 1 cup of mini chocolate chips

And I must say, every batch was delicious! 

If you are looking for an easy zucchini bread recipe that everyone will enjoy keep, this at your finger tips. Start with the basic recipe and then experiment from there. Add some orange zest or lemon zest. Maybe some nutmeg or a little brown sugar instead of all white sugar. This recipe is fairly versatile so feel free to bring some creativity to the table.

Now - go forth and bake...zucchini bread!

Blueberry Zucchini Bread (adapted from Allrecipe.com)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 2-1/4 cups of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla
• 2 cups (packed) of shredded zucchini
• 3 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
• 2 cups of fresh blueberries

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pans if using glass or metal. I always use aluminum pans because I can freeze them in the pan and pass them out as gifts. I don't grease the tins.

2. In a medium bowl, add the dry ingredients of flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir together and put aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, using a hand whisk, add the vegetable oil and eggs and beat until a pale yellow color.

4. Add the sugar and vanilla, beat until well incorporated. 

5. Using a spatula, stir in the zucchini.

6. In two batches, add the dry ingredients and mix until blended.

7. Add the blueberries.

8. Place 2/3 full in three loaf pans and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

9. Remove from oven when golden brown and a tooth pick comes clean when inserted into the bread.

10. Place on racks to cool.

11. These freeze really well and fit perfectly into a 1 quart freezer bag.

Enjoy!

 

Blueberry Oatmeal Quick Bread - It's Easy, too!

Home Economics, better known as Home Ec.

There were two sides to home economics back when I was in school. You either had cooking or sewing. Half the year you spent working on a "McCall's" pattern and trying to figure out how to sew it together. The other half of the year was spent in the kitchen creating, what our teacher called, Recipe of the Week. 

Near the end of the term, our teacher always let us bring our own ingredients to the class so that we could make our own recipe. I'm not sure why I remember this, but I brought in the ingredients for a blueberry oatmeal bread. I remember baking it and how good it was, and that was the last time I made it. 

Last week, I noticed we had some frozen blueberries and I have been wanting to make some quick breads. I decided to go in search of a blueberry oatmeal quick bread recipe. I checked out a few different sites and arrived at The Kitchn. They had a great recipe for Blueberry-Oat Quick Bread. I looked at the ingredients and it was perfect. It called for buttermilk and I had a bottle in the refrigerator and knew if I didn't use it, it would be part of my next food funeral. It had cinnamon and nutmeg which are perfect when oatmeal and blueberries are involved. Grab the bowls, it's time for a trip down memory lane.

Two cups of blueberries and four cups of buttermilk were waiting for me, so I decided to double the recipe. Two bowls and 10 minutes later, I had blueberry oatmeal bread in the oven. Half way through, the house smelled amazing. I couldn't wait to get them out of the oven.

While they were cooling, my son, Stephen, said, "How about a lemon icing on top?" I said, "How about an orange icing instead?" We agreed to an orange icing which we had together in minutes. Amazing what you can do with some confectioner's sugar and a fresh orange.

The bread was still warm when we sliced it and it was delicious, very moist and chock full of blueberries. As you can tell, even with the flour, my blueberries sank to the bottom. But, mine were frozen, fresh blueberries may do better. Stephen had two pieces and cut a third as he was heading out to his dad's house. I enjoyed mine with the remainder of my morning coffee and two slices went next door to Jeff's mom. 

Not a bad morning for Home Ec 101. If you are heading to the supermarket later today, grab some buttermilk, blueberries and aluminum foil bread pans. I'm sure you have the rest of the ingredients on hand. You can make some quick bread loaves to enjoy now, and then you can freeze the rest for later...that's what I'm doing. It's nice to end the week with some homemade treats as a breakfast or mid-afternoon snack. Kick back, enjoy the afternoon and cut yourself a piece of blueberry oatmeal quick bread.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees - 

Wash and dry -
2 cups of blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Then toss with 1/2 cup of flour so they won't sink in the bread.

In a large bowl, mix together the following dry ingredients -
3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup of rolled oats, old fashioned, not quick cooking
4 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

In a second medium bowl - mix together until well blended -
2 cups of sugar
4 eggs
2 cups of buttermilk
2 teaspoons of vanilla

Pour the sugar mixture into the dry ingredients and blend until
there is no dry flour present.
Add the blueberries (with the flour).
Mix until incorporated.

Place in 3 aluminum foil bread pans (or two large bread pans). I find the foil pans much easier for getting them out of the pan as well as freezing.

Bake for 50-60 minutes until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

We frosted ours with -

1 cup of confectioner's sugar with 2+ tablespoons of orange juice and a 1/2 teaspoon of orange rind. 

 

Lemon Glazed Blueberry Cake

Now that farm season is in full swing, atleast in New England, there are great opportunities for strawberries, zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes, raspberries and soon blueberries. As you enter the supermarkets, there are plenty of blueberries to be had...locally we will be able to pick our own in about a month. So, now is the time to test some amazing blueberry recipes which you can enjoy for the remainder of the summer. 

The Boston Globe recently ran an article on 6 delicious blueberry cakes. After reading the ingredients of each, I decided to go with the Glazed Blueberry Cake. Why this recipe? First, it had a lemon glaze for the cake. I love when blueberries and lemons are showcased in a dessert. It gives a refreshing flavor to the dish. Second, I had a container of buttermilk which I wanted to use and the recipe called for milk. Perfect substitution.

The cake came together quickly and I was really intrigued by the separation of egg yolks and egg whites. I was wondering if it would make a difference in the lightness of the cake, especially if I was adding buttermilk which can be heavy.

Well, the results were delicious. The cake was very moist and even though there was a denseness to the cake, it was light. Jeff thought it was one of the best cakes he has ever eaten. The sweet and sourness of the glaze with the moist cake with flavors of buttermilk and fresh blueberries was melt in your mouth AMAZING! Because it is made in a 9 x 13 baking pan, it allowed for everyone to grab chunks of blueberry cake for breakfast all week long. This is definitely on my short list of recipes to make again. It is perfect for breakfast, snack time or dessert, but I enjoyed it best when it was still warm from the oven. Probably might taste good as a cupcake, too...just a suggestion.

Ingredients:

1 pint (2 cups) of fresh blueberries
3 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, at room temperature
2 cups of white sugar
1 cup of whole milk (we used buttermilk)

Preparation:

Set the oven at 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Dust it with flour, tapping out the excess.

In a bowl, toss the blueberries with 1 tablespoon of the flour.

In another bowl, whisk the remaining flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a third bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff.

In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the yolks, one at a time.

With the mixer set on its lowest speed, beat the flour mixture into the batter alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with flour.

Remove the bowl from the mixer stand. Fold in the whites, then fold in the blueberries.

Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes or until it pulls away from the sides of the pan and the top springs back when pressed with a fingertip.

GLAZE

1/2 cup of confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind

In a bowl, sift the confectioners’ sugar. Stir in the lemon juice and rind. Add enough additional lemon juice to make a mixture that pours easily.

Drizzle the glaze over the cake.