Julie Clark
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Blueberry Bread
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Moist quick bread stuffed full of fresh blueberries! This easy blueberry bread recipe is made extra special with the addition of a buttery sugar streusel baked on top.
It’s been too long that I’ve been holding onto this recipe idea. Our quick breads are some of our most popular recipes. Every time I share a picture of one on social media everyone says “Can I make this with blueberries?”
So today we’re making Blueberry Bread with a crumble topping. It’s like a blueberry muffin bread. And it is worth the wait.
Table of Contents
- About this Blueberry Bread Recipe
- What are the health benefits of blueberries?
- Is there a difference between fresh and frozen blueberries?
- Ingredients
- How to Make Blueberry Bread
- Blueberry Bread with Crumb Topping
- Why did my blueberries sink?
- Storage Instructions
- Recipe Variations
- Blueberry Bread Recipe
- Other Quick Bread Recipes
About this Blueberry Bread Recipe
- Flavor: Although it might seem like this bread is overly sweet, it is not. The bread itself doesn’t have a lot of sugar in it, but the crumb topping adds a lot of flavor. You can leave the topping off, but it won’t be as sweet of a bread.
- Texture: This bread is soft and moist, but loaded with texture. The berries soften in the bread and the buttery crumb streusel on top adds just a slight sugary crunch.
Why is this called bread? It’s cake.
Well, true. This is definitely like a blueberry loaf cake. However, this type of dessert is also called a quick bread. Call it whichever you’d like!
What are the health benefits of blueberries?
Is blueberry bread healthy? Not really at all, but blueberries themselves are a super food. They are zero cholesterol and are full of fiber, both of which are good for the heart. They have potassium, Vitamin C and Vitamin B6.
Eat those fresh blueberries by the handful without any guilt, but save a few for this delicious bread recipe that is great for breakfast or brunch. (source)
Is there a difference between fresh and frozen blueberries?
Nutritionally, there is no difference between fresh and frozen berries. Both have the same nutrients. For this recipe, we normally use fresh berries, but you can use frozen berries if you’d like.
If you choose frozen berries, you do not have to defrost the berries before you bake with them unless the recipe you are using calls specifically for defrosted berries.
Ingredients
- Friends have made this with gluten free all-purpose flour and it works well.
- I use canola oil, but vegetable or melted coconut oil work well, too.
- Non-dairy milk can be substituted for 2% milk.
For best results, use a kitchen scale to measure out ingredients when you can.
How to Make Blueberry Bread
This bread has 5 simple steps.
- Mix the wet ingredients.
- Mix the dry ingredients.
- Combine the dry ingredients into the wet. It’s important not to overmix the batter. It’s ok if there are a few lumps. See the picture below!
- Make the streusel and top the bread.
- Bake. The bread will take about 55-70 minutes, depending on the type of pan you use. I use a 1 pound metal loaf pan and it took about 65 minutes.
Blueberry Bread with Crumb Topping
What makes this bread over-the-top is the buttery crumble baked onto the top. It’s just three ingredients: flour, sugar and butter. It gives the top of the bread just a little bit of a crunch and extra sweetness.
The butter should be soft, but not melted. Simply mix the 3 ingredients together. Don’t worry…the mixture will be very crumby but that’s just how you want it. Sprinkle it over the batter before baking.
Why did my blueberries sink?
If you’ve ever baked with blueberries, you know that sometimes the blueberries sink to the bottom of the muffins or breads. That often happens when the batter is not thick enough. This quick bread batter is thick enough to support the blueberries so they should not sink.
If you have trouble with sinking berries, some say you can toss the blueberries in a few tablespoons of all-purpose flour before adding them to the batter. We haven’t found this to be 100% accurate every time, so we found another solution.
Whether you are making bread or muffins, spoon some of the batter into the prepared pan before adding the blueberries to the batter. Then mix in the blueberries to the remaining batter and scoop as you normally would. This is the most foolproof way we’ve found to fix sinking berries.
Storage Instructions
This bread is safe to store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. After that, refrigerate to keep the bread fresh.
Can you freeze blueberry bread? Yes! This bread freezes well. Wrap in plastic wrap, then place the loaf in a freezer bag or another airtight container so that it is double wrapped.
Allow the bread to thaw completely before you open the package. This will keep it fresh.
Recipe Variations
- Make an amazing lemon blueberry bread. Add a tablespoon or two of fresh lemon juice to the measuring cup, then fill the rest of the way with milk. Add lemon zest to the batter when you add the blueberries.
- Love glaze like I do? Drizzle a powdered sugar glaze over the top of the bread.
Blueberry Bread
Moist quick bread stuffed full of fresh blueberries! This easy blueberry bread recipe is made extra special with the addition of a buttery sugar streusel baked on top.
Servings 10
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Ingredients
For the Bread:
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar 150 grams
- 1/2 cup 2% milk 4 ounces
- 1/2 cup canola oil or vegetable or coconut oil, 4 ounces
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 5 grams
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 260 grams
- 2 teaspoons baking powder 8 grams
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
For the Crumble:
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar 100 grams
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 65 grams
- 3 tablespoons salted butter softened, but not melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, milk, oil, egg and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not over mix!
- Fold the blueberries gently into the batter.
- Pour the bread batter into a greased and floured 9"x5" loaf pan. (You can line the pan with parchment paper if you'd like to ensure it removes easily.)
- Make the crumble by mixing together the flour, sugar and butter in a small bowl. This mixture will be crumbly.
- Sprinkle the crumbs evenly on top of the bread batter in the pan.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes. The exact time will depend on the type of pan you have and your oven. If it is a smaller pan, it may take up to 70 minutes in the oven. A toothpick inserted in the center of the bread should come out clean.
- Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the bread to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Video
Notes
- I do not recommend using an electric mixer for this recipe as it would be too easy to overmix the batter. Simply mix by hand with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
- If the bread looks like it is getting too brown on top, cover it loosely with a piece of aluminum foil for the remainder of baking.
Nutrition
Calories: 373kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 102mg | Potassium: 160mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 170IU | Vitamin C: 2.9mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 1.7mg
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Bonus!!! We’ve included our top 5 tips for making any type of quick bread. These will be sure to give you success every time!
Other Quick Bread Recipes
Love quick bread? Try one of these delicious recipes.
Hello,can I make it into muffins instead of bread?
This was so tasty! The staff at my work place have asked me to make it again!
This recipe is wonderful, only blueberry bread I’ll ever use. Followed recipe would change anything.(Baking my 3rd loaf as I write this.) Looking forward to trying this as a 9×13 cake.
I must have done something wrong. Mine was so dense. It didn’t stick together at all like a bread or a cake. Maybe I didn’t mix it enough? Otherwise the flavor was good. We are just eating it with a fork.
This is a very easy yet deliciously impressive bread. Definitely a keeper!
Bread was very tasty. Crumble on top seemed like way too much, next time I’d cut it in half. The biggest issue I had was a 350° oven was nowhere near high enough. I baked it according to the directions and after about 70 minutes I had to crank the oven up to 425° and it still still took another 35 minutes. Not sure what was going on there, but 105 minutes to bake a loaf for breakfast is a mighty long time. Next I’ll use the higher temp or a 9×9 baking dish. But, yes, everyone loved it once… Read more »
I love this recipe. I have made it several times. I wonder if it can be adapted for muffins?
topping makes the loaf way to hard nice flavor but the topping needs work maybe brown sugar in the topping would help not a recipe I will be repeating
Very easy to make but definitely needs more sugar and probably butter instead of oil. I split recipe into four mini loaves and baked for about 38-40 minutes – came out perfect. I also used brown sugar in place of white in the crumble.
I had purchased fresh blueberries on sale and was looking for a good recipe to use them. This is it. So moist and flavorful. Very quick and easy to put together. I don’t think I will have to worry how to store it, it will be gone by tonight.
This is the ONLY blueberry bread recipe I use and I always get loads of compliments on it. I am a seasoned baker and this is one of the few recipes that I make that I do not alter at all. It is simple and comes out perfect every time.