Blueberry Bread

              I must admit I fall victim to farmers’ market deals. I know I live with only 1 person yet I buy enough produce to feed 4. I just can’t help myself when peaches, pears, apples, corn, and say, eggplant are selling for ½ the price of what the supermarket is charging. Maybe it is my way of rebelling against the big store chains or maybe it’s just maternal to want to feed more mouths at dinner  or perhaps it’s just because I feel a sense of achievement when I can use up lbs upon lbs of fruits and veggies in one week while also allowing us to reach our  fiber quotas! Well, anyway I look at it, the fact remains the same- This teacher can definitely use a lesson in buying for 2, not 2 X 2!

                And since I have yet to learn that lesson, another week has arrived where I have too many blueberries to use up. I’ve been adding them to my yogurt, topping them with cool whip, tossing them in our salads and yet I still have about a pint to go. Blueberries with pasta anyone?? Haha,  I may have thought about it but even I can’t go that far. What I finally decided to do is bake something that might provide us, or hopefully you, with a morning, afternoon, or nighttime treat. I found this recipe by just searching “blueberry bread” on the internet and clicking on the first site I found attractive. Luckily, it appeared simple, I had everything on hand, included good reviews, and contained a fun ingredient: orange juice. Funny how I just bought Mr. OJ this weekend and figured we’d drink it over the next few weeks. I never thought I’d be adding it into any one of our meals. I love ingredients like that, ya know the ones that you could quiz your guests about or the ones that allow you to use up odd items you have lurking around. I think this one takes the former here but either way, it made for a subtle citrus flair in the bread.

                The only way I adapted this recipe was by making the walnut, sugar and oat topping. It was something I thought would set this bread apart from other breads I’ve tried. I’ve seen toppings on many muffins but rarely do I see them on breads. And now that I’ve dappled in this trick, I vow to never go back to topless breadJ I can only hope you vow the same, enjoy…..

Blueberry Bread

Servings: 12 slices

Slightly adapted from: Taste of Home

OBJ: TCW be able to use up her blueberries so that they don’t go bad

Ingredients:

2 C plus 2 TBS  flour, divided

¾ C sugar

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp baking soda

1 egg

 2/3 C orange juice

2 TBS unsalted butter, melted

1 C fresh blueberries (or frozen that are not thawed)

Topping:

¼ C walnuts, crushed

¼ C old fashioned oats

1 ½ TBS sugar

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees

2. In a large bowl, mix 2 cups of flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda together

3. In a smaller bowl, whisk the egg, orange juice and butter together (note: add butter slowly as you don’t want your egg to cook and also note this mixture gets lumpy)

4. Add wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until just moistened

5. Toss the blueberries in the 2 TBS flour then fold the blueberries into batter

6. Pour into greased 8 in. x 4 ½ in. loaf pan

7. In a small bowl, combine walnuts, oats and sugar, sprinkle on top of batter

8. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until toothpick placed near center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove from pan to cool completely on wire rack (when getting bread out of pan, you will lose some topping, it's okay though, enough will remain on bread, no worries!) 

9. Slice and enjoy