Tasty Tuesday: Blueberry Oatmeal Bread

Do you like blueberries as much as I do? I love love love blueberries and this time of year is heaven for blueberry lovers like me.

I decided to try something different today, and post a recipe. Apparently, across the ‘net, Tuesdays are the day to post about cooking. Personally, I much prefer baking to cooking. Baking is one of those things that adds to my happiness. It’s not that I mind cooking so much, it’s just something that has to be done, like laundry. But baking, well, I would bake every day if I could. I made two loaves of Blueberry Oatmeal Bread last night, and they are delicious! I hope you enjoy.

Due credit: this recipe is based on one from The Frugal Girl. If you are new to baking, you may want to check out her version of the recipe since she also posts step-by-step instructions. (I’ve made a few tweaks to her recipe, as I usually do. Just can’t help it. I always tinker with recipes.)

Sorry about the dark photo. It was late by the time the loaves came out of the oven. Photos are not the same without natural light.

Blueberry Oatmeal Bread

Batter:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup oats
¾ cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
1¼ cups milk
¹/3 cup applesauce (or use oil if you prefer)
1½ tsp. vanilla
1 cup fresh blueberries (I haven’t tried using frozen blueberries, but I think you could. Don’t thaw them, just use them frozen)

Topping:

¼ cup oats
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
¹/3 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350° F and grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan generously.

In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well with a fork or a whisk.

In another (smaller) bowl, beat together the two eggs. Add the milk, applesauce, and vanilla. Blend very well with a fork. Be sure these wet ingredients are very well combined, and then add them to the dry ingredients all at once.

Now I will let you in on a secret. For lighter quickbreads (breads made without yeast), do not overmix. This goes for muffins as well. The more you mix, the heavier your bread will be. Instead, mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Then, fold the blueberries in gently, again being careful not to overmix.

Pour the batter into the greased pan.

For the topping, combine the oats and brown sugar and mash them together with a fork. Add the blueberries. Using your hand, gently sprinkle the topping onto the batter in the pan. This adds blueberries to the very top of the bread. If you don’t do this step, the bread will still be good but will have more blueberries on the bottom than on the top of the loaf.

Here’s a photo of my loaves just before I put them in the oven:

Bake for 50 minutes, or longer, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool for 10-15 minutes, then remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack (or on a cold baking sheet if you don’t have a wire rack).

Makes 1 loaf of Blueberry Oatmeal Bread. Yum!

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This post is linked to: Tasty Tuesdays at Beautiful Mess and at Beauty and Bedlam, Tuesday Tastes, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, and Tuesdays at the Table