This quick and easy-to-make blueberry bread is a delicious way to use up extra summer blueberries. Get the full recipe here!
If you’re looking for something new and different to bring to your breakfast table, this fresh homemade blueberry bread is the recipe you’ve been looking for.
David and I fell in love with breakfast-style bread like this blueberry loaf last year when we stayed at a B&B near Charlottesville, VA. Each morning the innkeeper served fruit bread as part of the large breakfast they prepared. The bread delighted us both so much. It was soft and warm—the perfect comfort food to wake up to.
This blueberry bread is moist and soft, studded with juicy blueberries with a crisp sugar crunch on top. It comes together quickly without fancy cooking gadgets, and there is no waiting for the yeast to rise.
What is Blueberry Bread?
Blueberry bread is like a blueberry muffin but in a loaf form. This bread is a quick bread recipe made entirely from scratch without yeast.
Quick bread is a type of bread that uses a leavening agent such as baking powder or baking soda instead of yeast. Quick breads include many different types of cookies, cakes, and bread. Brownies, scones, coffeecakes, and this blueberry bread recipe are all examples of quick bread.
Equipment Needed to Make Blueberry Bread
This is an easy blueberry bread recipe. No need for fancy gadgets. Not even a mixer.
- 1 each large, medium, and small mixing bowl
- Silicon or Rubber Spatula
- Whisk
- 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½ Loaf Pan – If you don’t have a loaf pan, you can purchase a disposable one at most grocery stores.
- Or two 5¾” x 3¼” Mini loaf pans. You can use a muffin tin if you want muffins.
Ingredients Needed to Make Blueberry Bread
(and substitutes)
A detailed list of ingredients is provided in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Dry Ingredients
- Flour: All-purpose flour
- Sugar: Regular white granulated sugar
- Baking Powder: Leavening, what makes the loaf rise.
- Salt: To offset the sweet. I always use Kosher salt, but regular table salt works fine.
Wet Ingredients
- Liquid: Whole milk. Can use half-n-half, yogurt or
- Oil: I use canola oil because I had it on hand. Can substitute with vegetable oil or an equal amount of applesauce instead.
- Egg: what binds everything together.
- Vanilla Extract: adds flavor and brings out the taste of the other ingredients too.
The Star Ingredient of the Bread
- Blueberries: fresh or frozen blueberries – (see tips)
Topping
- Turbinado Sugar: used for topping the loaf to give the loaf a crisp crunch. Turbinado sugar gives baked goods a unique texture because it does not melt and dissolve into the batter as regular or brown sugar does. You should be able to find it near the regular sugar down the baking aisle of your local grocery store.
How to Make Blueberry Bread
Detailed instructions are provided in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Preheat the oven and grease the loaf pan.
- Combine the batter until just blended.
- Stir in the blueberries.
- Turn the batter out into the prepared loaf pan
- Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
- Bake.
- Cool, slice, and serve!
Storage
For best results, store this bread wrapped in wax paper sealed inside an airtight container on the kitchen counter for up to 3 days. Store this bread in the fridge to keep it longer. Refrigeration can cause the bread to dry out.
Tips for Making Blueberry Bread
- Too much flour can make the bread dense. When measuring flour, scoop a heaping cup of flour and level it off with a knife.
- Don’t overmix the batter! Mix just until the dry ingredients are moist and come together. Overmixing can cause the bread to be chewy and dense.
- Coat the blueberries with flour before adding them to the batter. This will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the bread.
- A silicone or rubber spatula works best for stirring the ingredients and folding in the blueberries. Be easy when adding the blueberries so they won’t burst and streak.
- For moist bread, avoid using low-fat milk. Whole milk works best.
- For best results, bring the eggs and blueberries up to room temperature before mixing the bread ingredients together.
FAQ’s
Yes! Seal tightly with plastic wrap and wrap in aluminum foil or put into a freezer bag, pressing out as much air as possible. Freeze for up to 6 months.
Yes! You don’t even have to thaw them. Add the frozen berries directly from the freezer to the batter. Frozen blueberries may cause the baking time to be slightly longer.
If the edges of your bread are browning quickly, tent the bread with some aluminum foil. Try to use a glass or light-colored metal pan. Dark metal pans absorb more heat.
Recipe Variations
- Lemon Blueberry Bread: add lemon zest and a tablespoon of zest to this recipe or create a glaze using powdered sugar and lemon juice to drizzle over the bread.
- Strawberry or Raspberry Bread: swap out the blueberries for strawberries or raspberries.
- Orange Cranberry Bread: Add orange zest and 1 tablespoon of orange juice with fresh cranberries.
- Cherry Almond Bread: instead of blueberries, add fresh cherries with ½ cup of sliced almonds.
Serve this blueberry bread as a dessert or as a quick on-the-go breakfast. We like it best served with morning coffee on a lazy Sunday morning. It’s feel-good food.
Making blueberry bread? We’d love your feedback. Leave us a comment and a star rating below. We value your opinion and appreciate your time.
See ya on the mountain!
Blueberry Bread
Useful Equipment:
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Small Mixing Bowl
- Loaf Pan (1) 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½ or (2) 5¾" x 3¼" mini loaf pans
Ingredients
- Cooking spray or melted butter for greasing pan
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour + 2 teaspoons for blueberries
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¾ cup milk half-half, sour cream, or yogurt
- ¼ cup canola oil or vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 12 ounces fresh blueberries washed and drained. Can use frozen (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the loaf pan lightly with cooking spray or butter.
- Whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the milk, oil, egg, and vanilla extract in a small bowl.
- Create a well in the center of the flour mixture. Gradually stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture with a spatula until the batter is just blended. The batter is very thick.
- Combine blueberries with two teaspoons of flour, then fold them into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan with a spatula to smooth the batter into the corners of the pan. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top of the batter.
- Bake the bread in the preheated oven for about 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove the bread from the oven; let it cool inside the loaf pan for 15-20 minutes, and turn the bread out onto a wire rack. For best results, allow the bread to cool completely before serving.
Notes
- Storage: For best results, store this bread wrapped in wax paper sealed inside an airtight container on the kitchen counter for up to 3 days. Store this bread in the fridge to keep it longer. Refrigeration can cause the bread to dry out.
- Freezing: Freeze wrapped in plastic wrap inside a freezer bag pressing out as much air as possible for up to 6 months.
- You can use frozen blueberries. No need to thaw them. Add the frozen berries directly from the freezer to the batter. Frozen blueberries may cause the baking time will be slightly longer.
- Too much flour can make the bread dense. When measuring flour, scoop a heaping cup of flour and level it off with a knife.
- Don’t overmix the batter! Mix just until the dry ingredients are moist and come together. Overmixing can cause the bread to be chewy and dense.
- Coat the blueberries with flour before adding them to the batter. This will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the bread.
- A silicone or rubber spatula works best for stirring the ingredients and folding in the blueberries. Be easy when adding the blueberries so they won’t burst and streak.
- For moist bread, avoid using low-fat milk. Whole milk works best.
- For best results, bring the eggs and blueberries up to room temperature before mixing the bread ingredients together.
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