Blueberry Banana Bread |Cooking With Amanda

There are many reasons why banana bread is the perfect snack. First, it contains fruit, a lot of it, which instantly makes it healthier than cake or cookies. Second, it appeals to people of all ages, and it is even a great soft food for toddlers.

It is a snap to prepare and it freezes beautifully if you want to save some for later, or double a recipe and keep an extra loaf for the weeks when you just don't have time to bake.

Another thing I love about banana bread is how it is infinitely adaptable. When I am in need of a healthy boost, I reduce the sugar and add a cup of wheat germ to the batter. For a sweet touch, it is easy to add chocolate chips or top it with a cinnamon streusel. If you need a more formal banana bread, toss in some walnuts and dried cranberries and you've got a terrific tea cake to serve guests.

The other day I decided to add some blueberries to my banana bread because I had some leftover from making jam after blueberry picking. I also topped it with a simple dusting of cinnamon sugar because I wanted an extra touch of sweetness to make it almost coffee cake-like.

It turns out that the blueberries were the perfect addition to the delicious banana bread. They were sweet, but not overly so, and paired beautifully with the soft banana flavor of the bread.

I doubled the following recipe and froze the second loaf for later. There is no question that I'll be pulling it out for brunch when we have guests come to visit. I also will make two more loaves next week to put in the deep freeze for September. It will make the ultimate delicious snack for the lunchbox this fall!

Print Save

Blueberry Banana Bread Recipe

Embed

Ingredients

8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoon, divided
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9x5 loaf pan.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla and mix until fully combined. Add the bananas one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a separate bowl, mix 2 cups of flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Turn the mixer on low and add the dry ingredients slowly, mixing until just combined.
Toss the blueberries with the remaining flour and stir them carefully into the batter with a spatula.
Spread the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until the center is set and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.