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healthy blueberry lemon bread

Name: Healthy Blueberry Lemon Bread
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 2 h 20 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 1 cup whole-wheat flour, preferably white whole-wheat; 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder; ¾ teaspoon baking soda; ¼ teaspoon salt; 1 cup blueberries; 1 egg yolk; zest from 1 lemon plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice; ¾ cup turbinado sugar; 2/3 cup avocado oil or organic canola oil; 1/4 cup orange juice; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; ½ teaspoon almond extract; 2 egg whites; 2 tablespoons sliced almonds

Jump To Recipe by Katie on June 25, 2018 (updated 3/12/20) // 25 Comments »

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If you’ve been blueberry picking, then this Healthy Blueberry Lemon Quick Bread is an absolute must-bake recipe! It is sweet and lemony and bursting with blueberries.

Every summer when we go blueberry picking I love collecting ideas for what to cook with the berries we bring home. Of course we freeze the vast majority for our blueberry smoothies all winter, but there are so many yummy things to do with the fresh berries. Like making Blueberry Maple Jam, or blueberry pie or even adding them to savory recipes like in this Kale Salad with Blueberries or the Blueberry Tabbouleh I love to make.

But my kids always want to bake blueberry bread. That’s when I realized I didn’t have a blueberry bread recipe here on Healthy Seasonal Recipes! Gasp! I decided to quickly remedy the situation.

I now can (almost) laugh at my ignorance thinking it would be a quick process!

You guys, this Blueberry Bread brought me to my knees. Developing this recipe was a feat! I am so glad I stuck with it though.

The science of baking never fails to humble me. I struggle to not take it personally when a recipe takes a bit longer to get to publish-worthy-status. I guess I am just an optimist.

When I slide that baking pan into the oven with the expectation that the resulting quick bread will be nothing short of blue ribbon material, I am surely setting myself up for disappointment. Yet, I do it. Nine times in a row.

And when the bread gets worse before it gets better, it is hard to not be down on one’s self.

That was me while working on this bread! To think that I could have solved the problem(s) by adding more sugar or fat to make the bread moister and sweeter! Or I could have solved the fact that the bread wasn’t rising correctly by eliminating some of the blueberries. Or taking out the whole-grain flour. But that’s not okay with me.

Tips For This Healthy Blueberry Lemon Bread

Less Fat and Sugar

In order to keep this Blueberry Lemon Bread on the healthy side, I made sure that I didn’t just pour in the fat and sugar. Instead I made some other adjustments to the bread, and kept the total added sugar to under a cup, and the fat as well.

Sweeten with Turbinado Sugar

Why Not Honey or Maple: Originally I tested this with honey as the main sweetener. But even baking it at 325 degrees, the bread was getting way too dark. Honey (and maple syrup) cause baked goods to darken, so even though the flavor is delicious with the blueberries and lemon, the honey had to go. I switched to turbinado sugar, also sold as sugar in the raw, and the darkening problem was resolved.
Substitutions: You can use evaporated cane juice instead of turbinado sugar, which as far as I can tell is just slightly finer granules than turbinado. I like Sugar in the Raw brand of turbinado because, while not organic, it is GMO-free and lighter in color, and keeps the bread nice and yellow. If you like the flavor of coconut sugar, you could use that instead but it may overpower the other flavors.

Light Texture

Beating the egg whites was one of the keys to the texture and rise of this bread. When beating egg whites, make sure there are no traces of yolk or oil in the bowl. Any fat will inhibit the foaming process.
The beaten whites get blended into the batter at the very end, just to lighten it.
Fold in Whites: Use a silicone spatula and take gentle swipes through the batter (also known as folding) only until the whites are incorporated. The goal is to keep as much air as possible in the whites, as this lifts the bread and keeps it from becoming too dense.

Whole Wheat Flour

The bread is made with a blend of white and whole-wheat flour. I like to use King Arthur Flour White Whole-Wheat flour because it is milder in flavor and lighter in color than regular whole-wheat flour. They act almost the same in baking recipes.
I also had some problems with the center of the bread collapsing. Ultimately, after many tests, I deduced that was due to the fact that there was not enough gluten formation to hold up the center of the bread to allow it to set and bake all the way through. I added a couple tablespoons of flour to the blend, and the problem resolved itself.

Fresh Blueberries

I used fresh blueberries in this recipe. In a couple tests, I tried using frozen berries, but they did not set up in the center. In one of the tests, I used frozen berries that were thawed and drained, and they worked fine, but I preferred the texture and juiciness of the fresh berries, so I prefer them while they are in season locally.

Lemon Zest and Juice

When zesting and juicing the lemon, zest first then cut in half and juice the lemon. I like to use a microplane zester to get the zest. It makes lovely fluffy zest that blends into the recipe well. It looks like a lot of zest, but it actually really doesn’t taste overly lemony when mixed into the batter.

Almond Flavor

I love lemon, almond and blueberry together so I added in a touch of almond extract and almonds on top. If you don’t do nuts, just skip them. The bread will work fine without them/the almond extract.

Baking Tips

Though it may be tempting, try not to check on the bread too many times before the cooking time gets into the range. If you start checking it early you can end up collapsing the bread in the center if it is still liquid inside. Also you’ll let the hot air out of the oven, which will make it take longer and the rise won’t be as good. This would happen because the structure isn’t set inside. So my suggestion is to set the timer for 55 minutes and then check it. If a toothpick comes out with batter on it, keep baking for another five minutes. Then check again.

Ingredients for this Healthy Blueberry Bread

The full ingredient list and method is at the bottom of this post.

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour, preferably white whole-wheat
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries
1 egg yolk
zest from 1 lemon plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice
¾ cup turbinado sugar
2/3 cup avocado oil or organic canola oil
1/4 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons sliced almonds

How To Make Blueberry Lemon Bread Step By Step

: 1. Juice and zest a lemon

: 2. Combine dry ingredients and stir in blueberries.

: 3. Stir the wet and dry ingredients together.

: 4. Whip egg whites until soft peaks form.

: 5. Fold the whipped egg whites into the batter to lighten the batter.

: 6. Top the batter with blueberries and almonds before baking.

More Healthy Bread Recipes

If you love baking, here are a couple more of my favorite bread recipes for you to try.
This recipe for Healthy Banana Bread with Dates and Walnuts, is naturally sweetened from the dates and only a quarter cup of syrup!
This Healthy Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chips has been a fan favorite since its inception many years ago.
This Healthy Zucchini Oat Bread has raisins and a secret ingredient so that very little additional sweetener was needed. It’s perfect for lunchboxes!
Along with this bread today, this Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread is on my must bake list every summer. I adore it!!
If you like the almond flavor in this Lemon Blueberry Bread today, then this Almond Cranberry Bread is for you!
This healthier Carrot Cake Banana Bread sounds so good to me. It sounds more like dessert than a snack!! Yum!
You can get more healthy bread recipe inspiration here. There’s 30 ideas in total!!

Thank you so much for reading. If you like this recipe, please come back and leave a review and star rating! And if you are new here, you may want to sign up for my email newsletter or join the conversation over on Instagram.