This past Friday morning, my parents and I woke up at the crack of dawn, grabbed our gift bags and cameras, and dashed out the door by 7 am with caffeine in hand. After driving nearly an hour on the freeway and hiking around hilly city streets, we arrived with plenty of time to spare at our destination…
My younger brother’s college graduation ceremony!
Eventually, the ushers opened the doors to the theater, and we hurriedly rushed inside, quickly claiming 10 spots for various friends and family members by draping jackets, scarves, and purses across the plush seats. We chatted and caught up with them as they trickled in, but when Pomp and Circumstance began playing through the speakers, we all turned to the aisles to watch for my brother as the graduates filed in.
We easily spotted him, thanks to a plethora of cords and stoles hanging around his neck, and waved like crazy people as he followed the procession down the aisle. He smiled and waved back at us, probably laughing a little on the inside at how funny we looked!
But we had a good reason to be so excited…
Halfway through the ceremony, just before calling up all of the students to walk across the stage, the Computer Science department recognized a few of the graduates for their outstanding achievements. My brother walked to the podium last, and we cheered loudly as the professors explained that he had earned a near-perfect GPA, including 18 A+ grades—the most in the entire history of the CS major!
I’m so incredibly proud of my younger brother. Not only is he one of the smartest, most talented people I’ve ever met—both in computer science and music—but he’s also the sweetest, most supportive brother I ever could have asked for. He always answers every text, phone call, and email from me, no matter how small or insignificant, and he continues to inspire me to do bigger and better things. I love this guy!
So in honor of him, I’m declaring this Lemon Week on the blog because it’s his favorite flavor! And to start, I created this Lemon Blueberry Breakfast Loaf, a clean-eating quick bread bursting with fruity flavors. It was the perfect healthy way to open the day, especially for nibbling on in the car on the way to the ceremony!
To keep the loaf as light and tender as traditional quick breads, I used whole wheat pastry flour. It has all of the health benefits of regular whole wheat flour, but it produces a texture and flavor similar to regular all-purpose flour. It’s the best of both worlds!
Greek yogurt creates the extremely moist interior. It’s my secret weapon in healthier baking! I’ve used it in countless recipes, including frosting for cupcakes. Greek yogurt provides baked goods with the same moisture as excess butter or oil, but without the extra calories. It also adds a protein boost!
Although this recipe includes both juice and zest, the lemon zest actually provides the majority of the sunshiny citrus taste. The oils in the lemon peel pack in quite a flavor punch, much more so than the juice inside, so don’t skip it! If you can find them, I highly recommend Meyer lemons because they’re slightly sweeter than traditional ones.
And of course… The blueberries! I used fresh blueberries because (a) they’ve been on sale at the grocery store for the past few weeks and (b) they don’t bleed like frozen ones. I hate it when frozen blueberries turn my baked goods a murky gray, especially when they should really have a pretty pastel yellow hue from the lemons!
I also add in a lot of blueberries, probably more than most recipes, because it’s so disappointing to bite into a muffin or loaf and just taste… Bread. What’s the point?? Call me crazy, but I want at least one berry—if not two!—in every bite, and this quick bread definitely delivers.
P.S. If you seal the cooled loaf in plastic wrap and can wait to slice into it until the next day, it develops that thin soft, sugary coat on the top like with banana bread… Pure bliss!
But with my family’s self-control… Half the loaf disappeared in just 10 minutes!
| Lemon Blueberry Breakfast Loaf | | Print |
- 2 cups (240g) whole wheat pastry or gluten-free* flour (measured correctly)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1-2 tbsp lemon zest (about 1 medium or large lemon)
- 1 tbsp (14g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120mL) agave
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup (60mL) lemon juice (about 1 medium or large lemon)
- ¼ cup (60mL) nonfat milk
- 1 ¼ cup (175g) fresh blueberries
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and lightly coat a 9x5” loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg white, and vanilla. Stir in the agave and Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps remain. Stir in the lemon juice. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and milk to the egg mixture, beginning and ending with the flour, and stirring until just barely incorporated. Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Gently spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°F for 37-41 minutes, or until the top feels lightly firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack.
For the gluten-free flour, I recommend as follows: 1 cup (120g) millet flour, ½ cup (60g) tapioca flour, ½ cup (60g) brown rice flour, and 2 teaspoons xanthan gum.
I recommend using fresh blueberries since frozen tend to bleed and turn the batter gray. However, if using frozen, the bake time may need to be increased.
{clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
More blueberry quick bread loaf recipes from other food bloggers…
♥ Low Fat Blueberry Pecan Banana Bread by Recipe Runner
♥ Blueberry Quick Bread by Crunchy Creamy Sweet
♥ Blueberry-Coconut Banana Bread by Bakers Royale
♥ Blueberry Vanilla Bread with Lemon Glaze by Julia’s Album
Can I use regular oil or apple sauce instead of the margarine/coconut oil?
Yes, regular oil will work just fine Shuly! I think we already went over why to avoid substituting applesauce in our email exchange. 🙂 I hope you enjoy the loaf!
Ha! Ha! I can see why the majority of this loaf would have disappeared in 10 minutes flat. It looks absolutely scrumptious. Your brother sounds like an amazing guy. Best of luck to him in whatever the future has in store.
Thank you so much for your sweet words Lynn! We really appreciate it! 🙂
I want to try this NOW! But I don’t have agave or honey. Could sugar be used instead?
Yes! Use ½ cup of brown sugar plus an additional ¼ cup of milk to replace the agave. I hope you enjoy the loaf Jaime!
This was delicious! Looking forward to sharing this with my family. I made a few modifications (Because I am out of agave so just subbed organic sugar) added a 1/4 cup of flax powder and even more blueberries but only 2 tbsp of half and half and this came out wonderful. Oh I used a bundt pan and sprinkled a little bit of sugar in my greased pan and this is scrumptious!!!
Looking forward to trying your other lemon chia recipes. Thank you for posting this one!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Nova! Your modifications sound delicious. Thanks for sharing them, and I hope you enjoy the other lemon recipes that you try!
HI, I waS planning on making this loaf tonight but I don’t have any milk on hand. Could I just use more yogurt? Is the milk absolutely necessary for a specific texture or taste? Thanks so much and this looks absolutely delicious!
I’d recommend a combination of additional yogurt and water. This will help ensure your loaf has the proper texture! Try 2 tablespoons of each, and add a little more water if the batter seems really dry. It should be fairly thick, similar to really thick muffin batter. I’d love to hear how that turns out for you Ashley!
This was great! I ended up just running to the store and buying milk because I am relatively new at baking and was worried about messing it up. Great recipe and I love your website! I can’t wait to try more!
I’m so happy you enjoyed the loaf Ashley, and thank you so much for your kind words about my blog! I’m really excited to hear what you try next!
I feel like I must have done something wrong. I baked it for 39 minutes (any longer and the top would have come out too dark/burnt), and the center 4 inches of the wasn’t cooked all the way through. :/ On the plus side, it smelled lovely, and the parts that were done tasted great. 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor of the parts that fully baked through! Did you make any substitutions or alter the recipe in any way? That will help me better address the issue that you saw so it doesn’t happen again! 🙂
Hi Amy! 🙂 I’m so happy I found your blog.
I can’t wait to try this recipe. However, I have some questions,
1. If I skipped the agave, will it affect the texture?
2. my loaf pan size is 30cm x 11 cm, which is 7cm longer than yours.. Is this okay? Do I have to adjust the temperature and the time of baking?
Thank you Amy! I’m excited to try it ??
You’re so kind Stefie! Do not omit the agave; the loaf will be too dry without it. The pan that you have should be fine! The loaf may finish baking slightly sooner, so just keep an eye on it in the oven. (The temperature should remain the same.) 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of it!
Hi Amy, I wonder if I could substitute lime juice and zest for lemon in this recipe (and/or your other lemon recipes!), as that’s all I have at home at the moment. Thanks in advance! 🙂
Yes, that should be just fine Julie! What a fun idea! 🙂 I’d love to hear how that turns out for you!
I’m going to sour some milk with lemon juice since I don’t have any yogurt. Should I decrease the amount to, say, 1/3 c. instead of 1/2 c.? Thanks!
I don’t know how well that substitution will turn out because the Greek yogurt provides the majority of this loaf’s tender texture since there’s so little butter/oil. You are correct in thinking that you’ll need to use less, and it would probably be around ¼ cup or a little more. I’d love to hear what you think of the loaf Colleen!
This was a great recipe! One alteration– I would bake this in a larger pan. I did a double batch and baked 1/2 in a loaf pan and 1/2 in a 8inch cake pan and the cake came out perfect! The loaf, however, was too soggy to eat on the bottom– I had to cut the bottom half of the loaf off and throw it away. Other than that, amazing moist and flavorful cake! Love it.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Sara! I appreciate your tip about the cake pan. 🙂 How long did you bake the batter in the loaf pan? And did you use fresh or frozen blueberries? If you’d like to try it in the loaf pan again, I’d recommend covering the top with foil after the first 40 minutes and baking it for an additional 10-15 minutes like that. The foil will prevent the top from burning while allowing the bottom to continue cooking through — so no soggy bottoms as a result!