Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt Bread

It's no secret, I'm in love with all things blueberry...

...and lemon dessert related. 

Bonus points if they happen to be in the same dish, like this recipe for lemon and blueberry yogurt bread that I found on Pintrest.  I love the combination of flavors - the tartness of the berries, the sweetness of the lemon zest.  The recipe also seemed really easy (like this Cooking Light Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread) using ingredients I had on hand. 

As expected, it was very easy to put together!  And it was so hard to sit still and let it cool like the blogger said it would be.  But it was worth the wait. 

I've never baked a bread with yogurt before and it was an amazing addition!  The bread turned out super moist and dense, almost like a moist pound cake.  Only with less of the bad stuff, and more of the better stuff, like non-fat yogurt.  This came out of the oven at 12:30 on a Sunday afternoon and by 3pm, half the loaf of bread had mysteriously disappeared.  Pretty impressive considering Roy doesn't really like blueberries and would prefer non-lemon flavored desserts. 

Despite coating the blueberries in flour, they still sank once they hit the batter and most of them ended up on the bottom, as you can see from photos.  Regardless, it was wonderful!

This is a great choice if you're hosting family or friends for brunch and it would be a fantastic hostess gift. 

*****

Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt Bread
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from Ina Garten
20 mins active, 70 mins total
Makes 24 skinny slices or 12 regular slices


1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries


Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9x5 loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper.

Sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil.

Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

Mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 (+) minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping out onto a cooling rack. Carefully place on a baking rack and allow to cool.

Lakedale Granola

In 2008 Roy and I took our first official vacation - aka our first trip together that wasn't to a football game or wedding.  We'd only been dating for 4 years at this point, no big deal.  It was a quick trip to Seattle.  We spent a day driving around a Mt. Rainier that was so socked in with fog we never actually saw the mountain and then spent the majority of our time in the San Juan Islands with a quick stop at the Space Needle and Pike Place Market before heading to the airport.

The highlight was the time we spent on San Juan Island.  In contrast to our experience at Mt. Rainier, the sun came out and the weather was perfect for exploring the town, eating lunch on a rooftop patio with a beer, and wine tasting ($1 a pour on the honor system, amazing!). 

Per some recommendations from a coworker, we stayed at the Lakedale Resort, situated a few miles from town on three lakes.  It was incredible!  A beautiful and welcoming log cabin building puts you instantly at ease, inviting you to sit down and relax like its your own living room and deck.  The staff showed off a well stocked pantry for late night snacking (again, honor system).  The rooms were gorgeous, each with their own fireplace and a view of the lake.  They even offered something called glamping (glamorous camping).  It was amazingly peaceful and relaxing. 

Getting to the point of this post (sorry about all the reminiscing, can you tell I need a vacation??), breakfast the next morning was somewhat magical.  I'm sure part of it was eating outside on a chilly fall morning right next to a lake, which is a pretty good departure from my normal routine.  But I'm convinced that another part of it was this granola. 

It's easily the most flavorful, delicious granola I've ever had.  It's a mix of Special K cereal, rolled oats and a ton of nuts and dried fruit.  All capped off with a mixture of brown sugar, butter and honey (just think about how good THAT will make your house smell, spoiler alert = it's amazing).  The shredded coconut seems like an odd ingredient but gives it a nice sweetness.  I absolutely love eating this over sliced bananas with milk like cereal.  But this is so good you can eat it plain too, or over yogurt if that's your thing. 

What you see below is the hotel's original economy size recipe.  I cut it in half the first time I made it but since then I've been making full sized batches twice a year and polishing them off each time (this only takes about 15 minutes to make, plus an hour or so to let everything dry once you pour the mixture over the dried ingredients).  I usually give a big freezer-sized bag to my Dad when I see him around the holidays and it takes me about 6 weeks to get through the rest of it with Roy nibbling on it as well (although he doesn't eat it every day like I do).  Store it in an airtight container and it will easily last for 2-3 months.

All the dry ingredients, minus the dried fruit

Making the "glue" that holds it all together - brown sugar, honey, butter and corn syrup

Dry ingredients looking golden with the addition of the liquid mixture

Dried ingredients are completely cooled, adding in the dried fruit

If you're concerned at all about how much it's going to cost you to buy the laundry list of ingredients or you're freaking out about something that includes so much protein by way of the nuts plus a bottle of honey and half a stick of butter... remember how many servings its stretched across.  And think about how much you pay for a box of cereal and how fast you go through it.  Basically I'm saying that for me it's been easy to rationalize.  The ingredients cost me about $43.  This time around I used blueberry infused Crasins because they were half the price of dried blueberries.  Feel free to switch it up with the dried fruit and use your favorites!

Homemade granola tricks of the trade

If you do decide to make the economy size version of this, I highly recommend you pick up a Rubbermaid container for the mixing.  Large pasta pots just don't give you enough space to get in there and get everything coated and mixed.  I mix mine in the large container you see in the photos and then store the granola in smaller, more reasonably sized containers.  And when I don't need it for granola, the bin stores kebab skewers and grill tools in the closet.  ("Duh alert": obviously you should clean the container before and after you make granola)

I love this recipe and hope you guys fall in love with it too.  For me, it evokes wonderful memories of vacation and how peaceful and relaxed it all was.  It's the perfect way to start my morning.

Enjoy!

*****

Lakedale Granola
15 minutes hands on time
1-2 hours to let the mixture dry and set on the dried ingredients
Serves A LOT
6 oz Brown Sugar
12 oz Honey
1 cup Corn Syrup
4 oz Unsalted Butter

1 LB Special "K" Cereal
8 oz (1 cup) Rolled Oats
1 LB + 4 oz Shredded Coconut
12 oz Sliced Almonds – toasted
4 oz Pecans
4 oz Macadamia Nuts
4 oz Cashews

4 oz Currants
8 oz Dried Cranberries
8 oz Dried blueberries or apples
8 oz Golden Raisins

Place sliced almonds on an ungreased baking sheet in a single layer and bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 mins, stirring occasionally.

In a large container - combine all the dry ingredients except the dried fruit (Special K, rolled oats, shredded coconut, toasted sliced almonds, pecans, macadamia nuts and cashews).

Bring to a boil the first four ingredients, making sure that the sugar crystals are dissolved.  Pour over all the dry ingredients (except the dried fruit).  When cooled completely, mix in the dried fruit.


Ingredients for a Half Batch
3 oz Brown Sugar
6 oz Honey
1/2 cup Corn Syrup
2 oz Unsalted Butter

1/2 LB Special "K" Cereal
4 oz (1/2 cup) Rolled Oats
10 oz Shredded Coconut
16 oz Sliced Almonds – toasted
2 oz Pecans
2 oz Macadamia Nuts
2 oz Cashews

2 oz Currants
4 oz Dried Cranberries
4 oz Dried blueberries or apples
4 oz Golden Raisins

Follow the same steps as above.

Banana Nutella Toast

I've recently started making this banana Nutella toast concoction as an afternoon snack.  I'm actually a wee bit obsessed with it and I've started craving it for breakfast as well! 

The idea stems from the food I ate when I backpacked through Europe after college. It was a pretty standard trip... Eifel Tower, cheap wine and museums in France... beer and brats in Germany... singing on the Sound of Music tour in Austria... history and wine in Italy... and extreme sports and gorgeous mountains in Switzerland. 

Like all cheap college-grads, my travel buddy and childhood friend Liz and I got creative with meals.  We ate crepes from the street vendors in France, brats from the German version of 7-eleven (yes, I'm ashamed of that in case you're wondering), loads and loads and loads of pizza in Italy.  And a bunch of picnics in between.  Usually made up of a baguette, some sliced meat, cheese and fruit that we bought fresh each morning.

At some point in Italy, we got creative and picked up a whole loaf of bread and a bunch of bananas to go along with the jar of Nutella we'd been toting across the world.  I don't remember how it happened, but all of sudden we were spreading Nutella on bread, adding banana slices and calling it dinner (I'm pretty sure Liz was the mastermind behind the idea).  Now I make it a few times a year when I'm craving chocolate but in need of something healthier (hey, there's grains and fruit, it counts!). 

This latest version includes toasting the bread and adding in peanut butter in place of some of the Nutella.  I've also swapped out the white bread we used in Italy for some whole grain bread to make it more filling.  I use Brownberry 12 grain (Brownberry goes by Arnolds in some parts, just an FYI). 

I'm not posting a recipe because it would only insult your intelligence.  All you do is toast the bread, add a thin layer of peanut butter followed by a thin layer of Nutella and then slice up a banana and lay it over the toast. 

Make sure you pause to give your begging dog a few slices of banana as well.  It's the least you can do after accidentally exposing him to bananas which turn out to be the 4th love of his life right behind you, squirrels and bacon.  Seriously, that dog can hear me peel a banana from 3 rooms away.  

Once your four-legged friend has been appeased, go enjoy your snack!

My New Favorite Snack

I have a new obsession these days when it comes to food - yogurt and berry parfaits with Cascadian Farms oats and honey granola.

Let me tell you, that granola is life changing.  The little clusters of granola have a light coating of honey.  When you add the granola to the yogurt, the honey coating mixes into the parfait and it's amazing!  You can see the beginning of what happens when the yogurt and oats and honey granola start to mix in the bottom of the picture above.  It's so sweet and delicious it's hard to believe it's actually healthy for you (just gotta watch the serving sizes!)  And it's surprisingly filling.

More proof:  Blogger Amanda calls it her favorite desert, snack, and lunch (really, insert any meal here).  She specifically describes it as an every day alternative to cupcakes.  I'll try anything that's described as a fix for supersized sweet tooth cravings.

So in case you're keeping score at home, we've got...
      Delicious
      Healthy and guilt-free
      Filling
      Something that satisfies even my enormous sweet tooth craving 

All that adds up to a winner in my book.  Here's Amanda's original blog post about the parfait.  I switched it up and used Stonyfield organic non-fat vanilla yogurt (trying to avoid the high fructose corn syrup). 

There's really no recipe... just a suggested ingredient list.  Mix it together in a bowl or layer it in a glass.  Below are pictures of everything I use but switch things up so it works for you.  I love it equally with blueberries and raspberries. Enjoy!

Happy Eating!