Yay! Another new recipe!
Well it’s not exactly “new-new” because it’s actually a spin off from a recent cake recipe that I made.
You know the one, The Cake That Shagged Me
Wait, what? You don’t know about the Cake That Shagged Me?? LOL
I just love saying The Cake that Shagged Me.
But in all seriousness that cake was made by adding lemon zest, lemon juice and blueberries to my Super Easy Vanilla Cake recipe from my cookbook!
That cake was so good that I decided to make it again sans all that buttercream and I turned it into a Lemon Blueberry Bread!
Cake, Bread?
Who are we fooling? It’s all just feel good words for sugar-y, butter-y goodness baked into a loaf pan.
But this time I decided to take out half of the oil in the recipe and wowsers!
What a great score that was!
As many of you may already know applesauce and bananas and even pumpkin are great oil replacers in many recipes.
Some people like to say they are great egg replacers too, but I beg to differ.
I will not use those ingredients as egg replacers but often use them as oil replacers.
Check out this in depth article I wrote on egg replacers in general and how to think about replacing the eggs in vegan baking as you go forward on your baking journey.
So here today I am doing exactly that.
Leaving this entire loaf with just four tablespoons of oil total!
That means that if you cut this loaf into eight slices it’s less than 1½ teaspoons of oil per serving!
Of course if you eat all eight slices that’s another story, but actually it’s still not so bad!
Compared to all that buttercream on The Cake that Shagged Me??
You’ll be in great shape with this lightened up version for Lemon Blueberry Bread!
Some variations to consider for this recipe just in case you don’t have applesauce, you can totally use a banana in the same quantities listed.
I prefer to freeze my super extra ripe bananas (in their skins) so when I need one for baking I simply take it out, let it thaw and it will literally squeeze out of that skin in puree form!
Ready for baking!
Additionally you can switch out the berry too.
If you don’t like or don’t have blueberries you can pretty much use any berry in it’s place.
I use frozen berries in all my baking but you can use fresh just the same.
I do not thaw my berries more than the time it takes from measuring them out to adding them into my batter; which is usually not more than 10 minutes.
NOTE: The recipe listed below is for 2 loaves, so if you don’t want to make 2 loaves be sure to carefully divide all the ingredients in half and then double check your math!
the most common reason for baking failures is incorrect math and measuring!
CHECK OUT THE FULL YOUTUBE TUTORIAL ON HOW TO MIX THIS CAKE/BREAD!
If you do not want to make 2 loaves of this bread just divide all the ingredients by half and double check your math! The most common reason for recipe failure is incorrect math & measuring!
I decided to use applesauce to replace some of the oil/vegan butter in this recipe but I know some people don't have it or can't get it, so you can always replace the applesauce with more oil or vegan butter melted
- For the bread/cake batter:
- Soy Milk 1½ cups (355ml)
- Lemon Juice 3 Tablespoons (90ml)
- Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon (5ml)
- Lemon Zest from 2 large lemons (approx 4 teaspoons zest)
- Vegan Butter or Coconut Oil 8 tablespoons (113g)
- Applesauce ½ cup (113g) *see note above
- All Purpose Flour 3 cups (375g)
- Granulated Sugar 1¾ cups (275g)
- Baking Soda 2 teaspoons
- Salt 1 teaspoon
- Fresh or Frozen Blueberries 2 cups
- For the optional sugar glaze icing:
- Confectioner's sugar 1 cup (120g)
- Lemon fresh squeezed Juice 1-2 tablespoons adjust as need for consistency
- Lemon Zest 1 each *optional for garnish
- Melt the vegan butter or coconut oil and reserve
- Combine the soy milk with the lemon juice and then add the vanilla extract and the lemon zest, let stand to thicken for about 5 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt and whisk together to incorporate all the ingredients very well.
- Add the liquids: the mock buttermilk, vanilla and the melted vegan butter or oil and the applesauce and whisk smooth.
- Fold in the blueberries and then divide the batter evenly between your prepared pans.
- Bake immediately in a preheated 375°F oven for 10 minutes then turn the oven temperature down to 350°F for another 25 minutes.
- The loaves should be almost baked by 35-45 minutes but definitely check them at the 30minute mark just to be sure, as all ovens bake differently.
- I like to do the "toothpick" test to make sure there is no raw batter, if there is you will want to turn the oven down even farther to 300°F to continue baking all the way without risking over browning or drying of the edges of your bread.
- Cool the loaf pans on a wire rack until you can safely touch them with your bare fingers and then flip them out carefully to cool the rest of the way.
- Once the breads are completely cooled, whisk together the confectioner's sugar with the lemon juice to smooth.
- Pour over the bread and then zest a lemon over top.
If it last longer than 2 days put it in the refrigerator loosely wrapped for up to 1 week
can you freeze the extra loaf (like most baked goods)? Please advise
thx
pat
yes definitely, wrap well airtight for about 1 month (longer if you have a better freezer than me, which I kinda think EVERYONE has a better freezer than me LOL)