I have a few exciting things to share with you today!
I got a kitty! Her name is Milly and she’s the sweetest little soul. She loves to snuggle, watch movies and sit on Tony’s lap while he plays video games. She follows me around and purrs constantly. I am so in love with her!
Next! Tony and I are going to Cancun next week. YES! I’m thrilled. We’re so excited to relax and enjoy the warm sun. Seriously it’s -14 degrees out right now. You read that right. NEGATIVE FOURTEEN. I feel like my toes might fall off.
Anyway I wanted to ask if you guys have any recommendations of things to do in or near Cancun? We thought about going to Tulum or Chichen Itza for a day, but is there anything else that’s cool to see or do?
Lastly, I made you this lemon blueberry loaf for a treat this week! I know many of you are trying to start the year off healthy, but remember to make sure you still have a little moderation in your diet. Don’t worry, I’ll bake you all the healthy treats.
I should mention that I adapted this recipe from Isa Does It
, one of my favorite cookbooks these days. I think I’ve mentioned her book before, but seriously — it’s creative, wonderful and simple! The recipes are all vegan, but I haven’t missed any type of meat since I started cooking some of her main meals.
This bread recipe of hers used white sugar and regular flour, but I opted for brown sugar and white whole wheat. Please don’t use regular whole wheat in this recipe – the loaf will turn out very dense. Instead, I recommend white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour; they should carry it at your local grocery store.
Check the notes below on sugar and flour substitutes! Happy New Year! xo
Vegan Lemon Blueberry Loaf
Ingredients
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1/4 cup light olive oil
- 2 tablespoons applesauce
- 2/3 cup brown sugar*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 heaping cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x5 or 8x4 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
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Whisk together flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl.
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In a large bowl, whisk milk, lemon juice, zest, and olive oil together. Let sit for a few minutes. Next stir in applesauce, brown sugar and vanilla extract.
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Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, stirring until just combined. Gently fold in blueberries.
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Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Test loaf by inserting a toothpick into the middle; it will be done when toothpick comes out clean with only a few crumbs attached.
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Remove from oven and cool loaf in pan for 10 minutes, then invert loaf, place on wire rack and allow to cool for 1 hour. Cut into 15 slices.
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Bread should be wrapped in plastic or in an airtight plastic bag. Bread will keep at room temperature for 3 days.
Recipe Notes
On subbing sweeteners: You should be able to use regular sugar or coconut sugar instead of brown sugar in the recipe. I have not tried honey so I'm not sure if it works, but if you do, I would stick to 1/2 of a cup.
On substituting flours: If you would like this bread to be gluten free, I recommend an all-purpose gluten free flour, such as King Arthur's or Bob's Red Mill. Do not try to substitute coconut or almond flours.
Feel free to use orange juice and zest instead of the lemon for a unique twist on this recipe. You could also try fresh cranberries instead of blueberries!
You can use coconut oil instead of olive oil in this recipe. If you do use coconut oil, I highly recommend adding in a 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes!
Recipe adapted from Isa Does It.
25 comments
Ahhh have so much fun in Cancun im jealous!! I went there when I was 10 and I remember we went to the Isla Mujeres one day and it was beautiful! They have a cool aquarium known for their seaturtles! 🙂
Aw what a cute kitty you have! So exciting! :3 The loaf sounds awesome too–I trust anything that Miss Isa makes 🙂
I tried this recipe with Bob’s Red Milll 1:1 GF baking flour and it came out very gummy and not very good. Just an FYI, not angry at all. I still love your recipes 🙂 Thanks, Monique!
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that Lauren. I haven’t tested the recipe with either of those flours but thanks for letting us know that Bob’s Red Mill doesn’t work well. I have a feeling it might if there was less liquid (example: 1/2 cup of milk instead of 2/3 cup.)
Such a cute kitty! This loaf could not have come at a better time…I’ve been trying to think of healthy/healthy-ish ways to use up the blueberries in my freezer (smoothies are a bit unappealing at the moment, since it’s so cold out!). Looking forward to trying this!
Yum! This looks amazing! Have the best time in Cancun, I bet it will be the perfect place to relax!
Mkay so many things. I can’t wait to meet your kitty. I have one but our new apartment doesn’t allow pets, so we have been living apart for the last 6 months and I miss having a snuggly one around all the time! So excited. Second, what an awesome trip! I would recommend spending a day in Playa del Carmen and potentially Cozumel. They’re still touristy, but less than Cancun. Tulum is awesome, and there are a TON of incredible cenotes around the area. You have to have to rent snorkeling gear and swim in cenotes.
Last, delicious looking loaf. Lemon + blueberry = match made in heaven.
Congrats on the kitty and the vacation!! This loaf looks very yummy!
Yours is my new favorite food blog. I love it here!
Thanks so much, Nicole! 🙂
Can you substitute almond flour or coconut flour?
Instead of applesauce, would this work with Greek yogurt?
Hi could I add ground flax seeds for extra fiber? If so how much, 1 cup ?? 1/2 a cup??
Thanks.
You probably could, but stick with like 1/4 cup at maximum. If you put any more in, it would likely compromise the texture of the loaf entirely.
Does the applesauce and almond milk have to be included, I’m out of both and want to make this bread without having to go out and buy those things.
instead of whole wheat flour, does it works with rice flour?
can i use other natural sweetener such as rice malt instead of apple sauce?
It would probably work with an all purpose gluten free flour. I’m not sure about rice malt and wouldn’t recommend it.
I used 200g of whole wheat flour + 50g of amaranth flour and also added some wild strawberries along with fresh blueberries and it came out super delicioussss. Thank you for the recipe!
Made this last night and it was delicious!
Glad you enjoyed!
Hi Monique! Do you think spelt flour would work here?
Could I use spelt flour?
Made this today with orange juice, orange zest and frozen strawberries. So yummy!
Amazing! Love the orange flavor.
lemon + blueberry = match made in heaven