Zucchini Bread with Blueberries and Lemon

If you grow zucchini in your garden it’s hard to bypass zucchini bread in late summer . This recipe adds blueberries and lemon to the mix. I find that blueberries bring a sweet flavor and lemon a brightness to the bread. To enhance the lemon essence I first mixed the sugar with lemon zest and spread it out on a small jelly roll pan to dry. It smelled heavenly. Fresh lemon is one of my favorite scents. This method produced a stronger lemon essence in the bread than adding the lemon zest directly to the batter, though you could try that if you don’t want to make lemon sugar.

I have lemon verbena growing on my front porch this year and it made its way into this bread too. I used white whole wheat flour for most of the flour, upping the fiber content, and I added ground flax-seed as well. Fresh blueberries, fairly economical this time of year, are a wonderful addition to the bread. If you don’t have fresh blueberries try adding frozen. They should work just as well.

It took a few tries but I’m pleased with how this bread turned out using the lemon sugar and blueberries. It makes a nice breakfast bread but also works for an afternoon snack with almond butter or a dessert bread after lunch or supper. If my zucchini plant keeps producing I may have to make more, or maybe make muffins, or the Zucchini Bread with Dried Cherries and Dark Chocolate. That’s one of our favorites here too.

Do you have a favorite zucchini bread recipe? What do you like to add to make it interesting? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

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Print Recipe

Zucchini Bread with Blueberries and Lemon

This zucchini bread has a bright lemon essence and is studded with sweet blueberries for a delightful twist to the traditional zucchini bread.

Prep Time35 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Course: Breads, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12

Author: Marie

Ingredients

• 1 lemon
• 3/4 c. granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 c. coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1/2 c. Greek yogurt
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh lemon verbena optional
• 1 3/4 c. white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 Tbsp. ground flax seed
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom
• 2 c. shredded zucchini
• 1 c. fresh blueberries

Instructions

• To make lemon sugar zest the whole lemon over the measured out white sugar (in a bowl). Let dry for about an hour, then gently break apart any larger pieces that have dried together.
• Prepare 9 x 5 bread pan by spraying with non-stick pan spray and lightly dusting the bottom and sides with flour. Prehead oven to 350° F.
• In a separate bowl mix the 2 eggs, coconut oil, 1/2 c. plus 2 Tbsp. lemon sugar, lemon juice, honey, lemon verbena, and Greek yogurt using an electric mixer until all ingredients are evenly disbursed – about 30 to 60 seconds.
• In a larger bowl combine white whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, kosher salt, baking soda, ground flax seed, and cardamom. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the egg and lemon mixture in all at once. Stir together with a wooden spoon until moistened.
• Gently fold in zucchini and 3/4 c. blueberries. Reserve 1/4 c. blueberries to press in on top.
• Spread batter into prepared pan, press reserved blueberries on the top of the batter, and sprinkle with 2 tsp. of the remaining lemon sugar
• Bake at 350° F for 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean (no batter sticking to it). Remove from oven and let rest 10 min. in the pan. Then remove the bread from the pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.
• Slice and serve..

Thank you for sharing!