Lemon Blueberry Bread

Krista Lyons, a colleague of mine in the MBA program at Boise State University, shared her AMAZING bread recipe with me.  This moist, decadent lemon bread studded with blueberries is drizzled with a quick homemade syrup at the end which gives it a little extra lemony "punch."  She would often make this batter into muffins and bring them to our late-night accounting study groups.  You may need to double this recipe because I guarantee you'll devour the first loaf in no time.  This recipe is DELICIOUS!  Thanks, Krista, for sharing!!!

BREAD:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
Grated Zest of 1 medium lemon
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup fresh blueberries* (I would actually increase this to about 1/3 cup - delicious!)


LEMON SYRUP:
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Grated Zest of 1 medium Lemon

Preheat oven to 350, and spray a loaf pan (could use mini loaf pans or muffin tins also - adjust bake time accordingly) with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bown, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until fluffy.  Add the lemon zest and buttermilk, beating until smooth.  On low speed, blend in the dry ingredients until just combined, careful not to overmix.  Gently fold in the blueberries with a spoon until just mixed.

Spoon batter into prepared pan(s), smoothing the top.  Bake for about 1 hour, or until tester comes out clean.

While bread is baking, stir sugar and lemon juice together in small bowl until sugar is dissolved, then set aside.  When the bread is done, immediately turn out onto a large piece of foil, or onto a cooling rack with wax paper or foil underneath.  With a toothpick, pierce the top of the bread in several places.  Re-stir the lemon syrup mixture and then slowly drizzle over warm bread.  Sprinkle the top with the grated zest, and let cool completely before slicing.


*To help prevent the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the loaf, dust them with a bit of flour before adding to batter.


Yield:  1 loaf