Glazed Lemon Blueberry Loaf

 

I can't believe it's already September? Really? 

It's the beginning of my favorite time of year. I love fall. LOVE IT! Football, cooler temps, pumpkin EVERYTHING, I could go on. Speaking of pumpkin, have you been to Bath & Body lately? Oh. Em. Gee. I went bonkers over all the pumpkin candles, pumpkin soaps, pumpkin room sprays, and pumpkin plug-ins (called wall-flowers, if you want to be technical).  Good-Bye paycheck! :)

Anyhoo - with all my obsessive behavior over all things pumpkin and fall, I still think it's slightly too early to bring it all out. Oh yes, I'm pinning all those wonderful pumpkin recipes I see on Pinterest and I've got my pumpkin candles in my hall closet ready to be lit. But I can't bring myself to bring them out yet. I mean, it's still 88 degrees outside. Yuck.

I'm still enjoying finishing up all the great summer fruits and goodies. A couple of weeks ago, my family and I were out and about and found a great deal on some local blueberries. While I'm not a huge blueberry fan, I couldn't pass them up. They were so juicy and flavorful, better than any blueberry I've ever had. We bought a lot, since I knew I wanted to bake with them. One of the things I made was this Glazed Lemon Blueberry Loaf. I cannot stress enough how well lemon and blueberry go together. It's like magic. This loaf (c'mon, it's cake) was super moist and the perfect blend of tart and sweet, especially with the lemon glaze.

So if you have blueberries to use up, make this. And then join me in pumpkin overload preparation, 'cause you know it's coming.

Glazed Lemon Blueberry Loaf 

Recipe barely adapted from Tina's Chic Corner

1 cup sour cream

1 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

Zest of one lemon

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup oil

1 1/2 cup PLUS 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

For glaze:

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the blueberries and the 1 tablespoon of flour. Make sure all the blueberries are coated with flour and set aside. (Coating the blueberries in flour helps to ensure that all the blueberries don't sink to the bottom)

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sour cream, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla extract, oil, and stir until combined. Set aside.

In another large mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining flour (1 1/2 cups), baking powder, and salt. Then, slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until smooth. 

Next, carefully stir in the blueberries until they are just mixed into the batter. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a cake tester, or toothpick, inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. (I baked right at 50 minutes).

Let the loaf cool in the loaf pan for about 15-20 minutes, then place on wire rack to cool further. While it is cooling, you can make the glaze.

In a small bowl, add the powdered sugar and lemon juice and stir until combined and smooth. I like my glaze a little thicker, but if you like thinner, you may need to add more juice; it's totally your call here. Spoon the glaze over the top of the loaf. Remember to have some parchment paper or a baking sheet under your wire rack so you won't have glaze all over your counter tops! :)

I stored this loaf wrapped in plastic wrap on my counter for a few days, but you might want to store in an air tight container as the blueberries kind of leaked a little and left some stickiness on my counters. I haven't tried freezing this loaf, but I don't see why it wouldn't freeze well, just wrap tight in tin foil and place in a freezer bag. 

Enjoy!