Every May 17th, people around the world celebrate by making home-baked goodies and sharing them with friends and family. Baking brings people comfort and happiness, and there’s no better way to show someone you love them than baking them a special treat.
If you’re looking for a better-for-you option, I’ve got you covered. My Blueberry-Lemon Quick Bread is made with wholesome ingredients, including fiber-filled whole-grain flour and protein-packed dairy foods, like real cow’s milk and Greek yogurt. In addition to protein, milk also provides 12 other essential nutrients–calcium, vitamin D, phosphorus, vitamin A, riboflavin, vitamin B12, pantothenic acid, niacin, zinc, selenium, iodine, and potassium–giving this baked treat the ultimate nutrition boost.
Blueberry-Lemon Quick Bread
Greek yogurt and fresh lemon juice make this blueberry bread extra moist, while its lemon-sugar crust gives each bite an unexpected and refreshing crunch. I recommend making a parchment paper sling to remove the baked loaf from the pan. This extra step will ensure its beautiful topping stays intact.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 70 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours and 40 minutes
Serves 8 to 12
Topping:
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
Bread:
3 cups white whole-wheat flour plus 1 teaspoon
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup avocado oil
1 cup plain 2% Greek yogurt
½ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup 2% reduced-fat milk
3 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups fresh blueberries
1. For the topping, stir sugar and lemon zest together in small bowl. Set aside.
2. For the bread, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk sugar, eggs, melted butter, and oil together in separate bowl until combined, about 30 seconds. Whisk yogurt, lemon juice, milk, lemon zest, and vanilla in a separate bowl; stir into sugar mixture until combined.
3. Stir sugar mixture into flour mixture until just combined. Gently toss blueberries with 1 teaspoon flour until coated. Stir blueberries into batter until incorporated. Let stand 20 to 30 minutes while oven preheats.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Make a parchment paper sling by cutting a 9 x 12-inch piece of parchment paper. Grease pan with butter and line with parchment paper to allow excess parchment paper to hang over edges of pan (trim if too long). Grease parchment paper with butter.
5. Fill pan with batter and sprinkle batter with lemon-sugar topping.
6. Bake 70 to 75 minutes or a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in muffin tin on wire rack for 10 minutes. Use sling to remove bread from pan and transfer to wire rack. Discard parchment paper and let cool 2 hours before slicing and serving.
Muffin Variation:
Prepare topping and batter as instructed above. Using a spoon or ice cream scoop, divide batter equally among 12 muffin cups greased with butter. Sprinkle evenly with lemon-sugar mixture. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool 10 minutes longer on a wire rack.
For more recipes to celebrate World Baking Day, visit The Dairy Alliance desserts page.
Andrea Kirkland, MS, RD, is the Owner and Founder of Culinary Med. Ed., an online continuing education service that offers culinary courses to health professionals. She’s on a mission to equip Registered Dietitians and other practitioners with the skills they need to teach patients how to cook to meet their personal needs. As a former food editor and recipe developer for print and online media brands, including Weight Watchers, Cooking Light, Diabetic Living, and eMeals, she wants to pass along all the cooking techniques and meal planning strategies she’s learned from working with directly chefs, test kitchen professionals and other culinary experts.