Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt Loaf

I'm not a huge fan of fresh blueberries.  Until this summer, I never bought them but my kids love them, so I've seen a lot of blueberries go through my kitchen.  I came across this amazing recipe on pinterest.  I pinned it months ago but thought of it recently.  I am so glad I did.  I've never used lemon zest before...  Weirdly enough, I always omit it in recipes I make.  I definitely won't be doing that again because through this recipe I realized the amazing 'lemonyness' it brings to this moist loaf.

Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt Loaf
(adapted slightly from Sweet Pea's Kitchen)

For the loaf:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup canola or olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
*In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
*In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil.
*Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
*In a separate bowl mix blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour.  Fold them into the batter.
*Pour into prepared pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
*Let cool in pan 10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack over top of a plate or cookie sheet.
*While the loaf is cooling, prepare the lemon syrup.

For the Lemon Syrup:

• 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/3 cup sugar

*Stir lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Cook until dissolved, then boil 3 minutes.
*Poke top and sides of cooling loaf with a toothpick.
*Brush with lemon syrup.  Repeat.
*Let the loaf cool completely.
*Prepare glaze.

For the Glaze:

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

*Once loaf has cooled, whisk together icing sugar and lemon juice.  Glaze should be thick but pourable.
*Drizzle over cool loaf and let drip down the sides.
*Let glaze dry for approximately 15 minutes before serving.

This was the best thing I have eaten in a long time.  As soon as I tried it I made the same recipe into a batch of muffins.  They were equally as good.

Enjoy!
-C :)

Cherry Coconut or Cherry Almond Muffins

Sorry for the long silence!  I hope that I can make it up with some good recipes!

Nothing says summer to me than a big bowl of cherries.  I have always eaten them fresh but this year decided to experiment with baking them.  What a great discovery!  I love the tartness of the cherries with the sweetness of baking.  Today I'm going to post one muffin recipe with two options - either cherry almond or cherry coconut.  Both are delicious!

Cherry Almond (left) & Cherry Coconut (right)

Cherry Muffins
(adapted from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice)

• 2 cups white, unbleached or white whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 heaping cup pitted cherries, coarsely chopped
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar or 1/2 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt
• for Coconut version: 1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
• for Almond version: 1/2 cup slivered almonds & 1 teaspoon almond extract

*Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare a muffin tin.
*In a small bowl whisk flour, baking powder and salt.
*Toss cherries with 1 tablespoon flour and set aside.
*In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla (and almond extract if making the almond version).  Beat 3 minutes.
*By hand alternate mixing in flour and milk.
*Fold in sour cream, cherries and coconut or almonds.
*Spoon into muffin tin, filling almost full.  Sprinkle with coconut or almonds.
*Bake 18-22 minutes.
*Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then put on wire racks to cool.

I also made a batch of mini muffins with no coconut.  The kids loved them.

Enjoy!
-C :)