There’s nothing I love more than waking up in the morning knowing that I have something delicious waiting in the kitchen for breakfast. After a week filled with oatmeal and cereal, I wanted something else to start my day. I decided to make a Blueberry-Lemon Bread figuring it was just what I needed. Simple, tasty, slather it with some melted butter and enjoy a cup of tea and it’s the perfect start to any day, in my book. Plus, I just love the blueberry/lemon combo!
Blueberry-Lemon Bread (makes 1 loaf)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• zest from 1 medium lemon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 1.5 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 packet of Sugar in the Raw (for topping, optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) combine eggs and sugar. Add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and lemon zest and whisk gently until all ingredients are nicely incorporated.
In separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Now, in batches, slowly begin to incorporate the flour mixture into the egg mixture, making sure to blend between each pour.
Lightly toss the blueberries in flour to prevent them from sinking while they bread bakes.
And carefully fold them, using a spatula, into the batter.
Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan (5×12 works). I topped the batter with a packet of raw sugar just to add some extra crunch and texture to the top of the bread.
Bake for an hour or until the bread is nicely browned or until a toothpick comes out clean.
I love a simple baked good, especially for breakfast. And this would also be a great bread to wrap up all pretty to bring if you’re someone’s house guest or to just have around your own house if you have people visiting. It’s so quick. It took only about 15 minutes to prep, then just baking time. Plus, my apartment smelled like pure delight. I couldn’t help myself and had three slices with butter right when it came out of the oven. Ooof.
Speaking of delicious baked goods. A couple weeks ago, while I was at Paper Source, I met a gentleman named Carltaro, the owner of Baby Sistah Cookies. This chance encounter pretty much happened based on the simple fact that I’m just nosy. I saw Carltaro and his wife looking at treat bags and ribbon, so naturally I asked what they were working on. He ended up telling me all about his company, how people can order them from his website, what types of cookies he bakes, etc.
The next part of the conversation is where I obviously got excited. He asked me if he could bring me some of these special treats to try out. Long story short, I was out to dinner with my friend Rebecca last weekend, when I saw that he emailed me about dropping the cookies off. I wrote back, said I was at dinner in Washington Square, and about 40 minutes later, he appeared at the restaurant with a bag filled with cookies. Definitely a “You know you’re a food blogger when…” kind of moment. He baked me a special nut-free batch and another batch for Sues. He even made us each our own sweet potato cookie that had a delicious frosting on top. It was more like a cake. And I loved it. It reminded me of my grandmother’s sweet potato pie, which struck a cord and brought back all kinds of memories 
There was also a lemon glazed shortbread cookie with a creamy lemon icing that I couldn’t walk away from and the ginger molasses cookies are my new everything!
The “motto” of the company is “gourmet taste with a family touch”. These cookies aren’t pretentious. They taste real but fantastically homemade which, to me, is the whole appeal!
For the Boston readers, word on the street is these cookies are on sale at the newish Render Coffee Bar in the South End! For all of you out-of-towners, you can purchase the cookies online at www.babysistahcookies.com.
[Chels]
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