Storey, my daughter, and her blueberries.

Princeton’s Terhune Orchards grows over 35 crops on 185 acres, and this past weekend the Baldwin family made quite a dent on the farm’s blueberry bushes. (And had I known my daughter, age 8, had such a penchant for blueberry picking, we would have started this practice YEARS ago!)

While at the farm, we were handed a flyer featuring the Blueberry Bash Bake-Off contest winners for 2009. Janis Fang finished first with her Blueberry Rhubarb Galette (get that recipe here) and Allison O’Brien took home second for Vegan Blueberry Bread. I’ve never baked blueberry bread let alone a vegan variety, so I immediately knew how to put our first batch of blueberries to use.

Vegan Blueberry Bread
By Allison O’Brien

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

1 1/2 cups applesauce

1/4 cup canola oil

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon vanilla

Handful brown sugar

Procedure
1. Boil some water in a shallow pan. Drop the blueberries in for no more than 2 minutes. When you notice some of the blueberries softening, quickly pour them into a colander and bathe with very cold water until they are warm or room temperature. Set aside. 


2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

4. In a small bowl, combine applesauce, oil, spices and vanilla. Combine well. Throw about half of the blueberries into this mixture.

5. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until just mixed. Fold in the rest of the blueberries, taking care not to break all of them.

6. Separate the batter into two greased bread pans, and sprinkle as much brown sugar as you like over the tops.

7. Bake in a preheated oven at 325 for 40 minutes. Do a toothpick test in the middle when done, and if need be, bake another 10 or 15 minutes. Cool completely in the pan.

This bread does not rise as much as other breads due to its high density. This also means that it freezes exceptionally well, for up to 2 months. 


Have another blueberry recipe to share? Love picking your own at Terhune's? Add a comment below.