One of our favorites is Blueberry Banana bread. Whether mid-summer with fresh picked berries (like today) or thawed berries from the freezer, it is delicious.
Today we tried a new variation substituting apple sauce instead of the shortening. The result was even more flavorful AND the blueberries were evenly distributed, rather than weighted towards the bottom. Contrary to popular belief, coating them with flour does not make much of a difference.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 c apple sauce (original had 1/2 c shortening)
- 1 1/2 c sugar
- 2 jumbo eggs
- 3 large ripe brown mushy bananas, mashed (if you can’t smell them from across the room, they are not quite ripe enough for optimum flavor)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 T vanilla extract (the good stuff)
- 2 1/4 C flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 c buttermilk, sour cream or Greek yogurt
- 3/4 chopped nuts (optional – Teal is allergic)
- 1c fresh blueberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter & flour 2 loaf pans. Place parchment paper (or brown paper like my grandma did) in the bottom of the pans. This helps the loaves come out cleanly without sticking
Mix ingredients until blended. Fold in the blueberries and the last 1/4 cup of flour at the end (if you mix them early they get smashed and the color is just plain wrong).
Pour the batter into the 2 loaf pans. Sprinkle the tops with 1 T Turbinado sugar per loaf.
Bake for 40-45 minutes. Check after 40 but make sure the center is getting done. Don’t be afraid to extend the cooking time by another 5-10 min.
Cool for 10 min in the pan, run a knife around the edges to loosen, and then turn out onto a rack to cool. Teal can do this neatly ending up with the loaves upright and intact, me not so much.
Compared to the original recipe with shortening, the edges are not as crunchy initially, but after a day or so it does not matter anyway as this is a very moist and dense bread. These will keep for a week or better in the fridge and freeze well.
Blueberries work well in many batter/ quick breads. We use them in zucchini, lemon poppy seed, rhubarb & apple breads. With fresh berries mix them in and extend the cooking time by about 10%. Try the applesauce vs. fat in other recipes as well. Typically a 1 for 1 substitution by volume for quick breads and cakes works well.
Mark Bronkalla