Lemon Blueberry loaf

I'm a lover of bread. Anywhere from sourdough to banana bread, I like it all. Carbs keep me happy (my wasitline - not so much). Since the Spring is quickly approaching I decided to make something more suited for warmer months, even though it sure doesn't feel warm yet!

This lemon blueberry yogurt loaf is delicious. I eat it for breakfast actually. You may prefer it as a snack or dessert though.  Perfectly tangy, made with fresh squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest. The blueberries complement the lemon perfectly. It bakes up beautifully then brush on a lemon syrup, then on top of that is a delicious lemon glaze. Are you drooling yet?

Ingredients:

For the Loaf:
1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed

For the Lemon Syrup:
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar

For the Lemon Glaze:
1 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of one 9 x 5-inch loaf pans; dust with flour, tapping out excess. I personally like to use baker's joy.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.


3. In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. 3. In a separate bowl, mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing loaf to a wire rack on top of a baking sheet.

5. While the loaf is cooling, make the lemon syrup. In a small saucepan over medium heat stir together the lemon juice and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once dissolved, continue to cook for 3 more minutes. Remove from the heat; set aside.

6. Use a toothpick to poke holes in the tops and sides of the warm loaf. Brush the top and sides of the loaf with the lemon syrup.If you pour the syrup on top, rather than brush it on, your loaf is likely to fall apart. Let the syrup soak into the cake and brush again. Let the cake cool completely.

7. Make the lemon glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of the lemon juice. The mixture should be heavy, but thin enough to pour. Add up to another tablespoon of lemon juice if the mixture is too stiff. Pour the lemon glaze over the top of each loaf and let it drip down the sides. Let the lemon glaze harden, about 15 minutes, before serving.

Bon Appetit!
Recipe originally from Sweet Pea's Kitchen

Gold Bars

Do you remember celebrating Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day in grade school? To me, it meant Winter was finally ending and Spring was coming. I could finally look forward to Summer break! Back to reality, these peanut buttery treats always evoke the feeling of shedding Winter and welcoming Spring.

This is a delicious treat for St. Patrick's day. They kind of resemble a bar of gold, but are rich and tasty.

Not only are these delicious, they are terrifically easy to make. These are NO BAKE!




Best served chilled, can serve 9-12.

Ingredients

1 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
4 tablespoons peanut butter

Mix together butter or margarine, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners’ sugar, and 1 cup of peanut butter until well blended. Press mixture evenly into bottom of ungreased pan, or you could line bottom of pan with foil. I used a 9×13 in. pan. Chill in fridge while preparing chocolate layer

In a double boiler or in microwave melt chocolate chips with 4 tbsp peanut butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Be careful not to burn it! When smooth, spread over chilled crust. Chill an additional hour before cutting into squares.

Yum! I Hope you enjoy them as much as I did and still do!

Intro!

 I can pretty much describe my life in 3 words: Cooking, exercising, and driving. Yeah, I've got my family and my boyfriend, but those are the things I probably do the most often. I will usually cook 3 meals a day and also provide snacks. I exercise when I'm home alone (oh and blog too). And I'm always driving around running errands. So I guess you could say I'm pretty average. Oh except I love to bake. I'll attempt to make any kind of delicious oven sweet. I started off with basics - cakes, cupcakes, and cookies back in high school. High school for me was also the start of some cake decorating - the pictures you see here are from high school (I'm 21 now). I've slowly expanded into bread and also into specialty cakes. I would love an opportunity to work in a bakery - my dream! But alas, since I don't I'm keeping my baking skills in my own kitchen, where I can be experimental and try new things and have my boyfriend and family be my taste testers. In the pictures here I have a chocolate strawberry cake for my mother's birthday, one of my favorite treats called a gold bar. I used to get them in elementary school and it was almost like a sign that Spring was here, school was almost over, and the pool was almost open! I'm also showing here my "homemade samoas". To me, nothing can trump a real Samoa from a girl scout. These were still pretty tasty though, and with the right ingredients can be amazing. The other picture is of sunflower cupcakes! They are all hand decorated by me, and again this was something I did in high school! I'm going to be doing a lot more decorating and baking now to get a lot more practice, and of course that means sharing my techniques, recipes and everything else!