Lemon Blueberry Bread Recipe
This is a classic recipe for yummy breakfast bread, or dessert bread, that we make every year after picking blueberries from the farm. Lemon blueberry bread is my go-to blueberry recipe.
Every July in South Carolina we head to the local blueberry patch to pick, and eat, to our hearts delight. If you know anything about South Carolina, you know we are also sweating our picking hands off in July!
As the kids get older they complain that their free time is “wasted” picking berries, after all why not just head to the grocery store? But to anyone that has tasted the sweetness of freshly picked, sun-ripened, juicy blueberries knows…it’s all about the taste! (And I would say the experience too!)
My husband is somewhat of a master picker. He tends to out-pick the entire family, which is just fine with me and the kids. We peter out after our bucket is filled and enjoy all that the blueberry farm has to offer while he continues to pick the morning away.
So what do you we do with so many berries? Well the first thing we do is set aside enough berries for this amazing bread. It’s moist and delicious and irresistible when warm and fresh out of the oven.
For the other berries, we make blueberry jam with a box of SureJell (and a lot of sugar!), refrigerate several that we will eat fresh for a couple of weeks, and freeze the rest in gallon Ziploc bags.
Frozen berries can be enjoyed in smoothies, pies, can be made into jam, or warmed up for a quick and healthy sweet treat.
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Bread
Start by creaming the butter with a whisk attachment on a mixer or with a hand mixer. Gradually add 1 cup sugar, beating at medium speed until well blended.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. It’s best when baking to use room temperature eggs, and at our house, if they are available, we always use fresh duck eggs when baking. They are perfect for use in most baked goods.
Next combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
Then add the grated lemon rind and stir to incorporate it fully. My favorite tool to add lemon rind in recipes is a microplane grater.
Fold in blueberries than pour the batter into a greased standard loaf pan (8 x4 x 3 inch pan).
Bake at 350° for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
For the icing combine 1/3 cup sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Heat this sugar lemon mixture until sugar dissolves. Puncture the top of the bread in several places with a toothpick and pour the lemon juice mixture to soak into bread.
Cool the lemon blueberry bread in the pan for 30 minutes before releasing it. Slice the bread and serve immediately or wrap in aluminum foil to keep moist for later.
To freeze, place aluminum wrapped bread in a gallon Ziploc bag and place in the freezer when cooled. Fully thaw before serving. If you plan to enjoy the bread in the morning take it out of the freezer and leave it on the counter the night before.
Lemon Blueberry Bread Printable Recipe
Lemon Blueberry Bread
Ingredients
- ¼ cup plus 2 tbs butter or margarine, softened
- 2 eggs
- pinch of salt
- 3 tbs lemon juice
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup milk
- 2 tsp grated lemon rind
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
Instructions
- Cream butter; gradually add 1 cup sugar, beating at medium speed until well blended.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
- Stir in grated lemon rind; then fold in blueberries.
- Pour batter into a greased 8 x4 x 3 inch pan. Bake at 350° for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- For the icing, combine 1/3 cup sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan; heat until sugar dissolves.
- Puncture top of bread in several places with a wooden pick; pour lemon juice mixture to soak into bread. Cool bread in pan for 30 minutes.
More Recipes you will love:
Grandma Shirley’s Chocolate Zucchini Cake
For the entire library of recipes check out the Vittles Page.
Starting a Backyard Blueberry Patch
To learn more about how we started our own backyard blueberry patch head to the Farm to Fork Blueberry Page.
