Have you met my awesome intern Helen yet? She’s been working with me (mostly virtually) since this spring and has been a huge help with developing client handouts and doing research and writing for our Medical News Today articles. Helen hopes to own her own nutrition practice one day and wants to learn the ropes of running a business. She recently started helping me with the social media aspect of Nutrition Awareness and we started playing with the idea of having her write a few guest blog posts. Since she has been experimenting a lot in her own kitchen, we decided that as her first post she would share one of her favorite recipes, Blueberry Almond Bread.
From Helen: I came up with this recipe when I was home for the summer transitioning between my sophomore and junior year of college. I had finally made the switch from dorm to apartment life, which meant I had to start cooking for myself on a regular basis. I was so excited to start trying out recipes that I could take back to my new apartment kitchen! My mother, having been a vegan for much of her life, rarely had the opportunity to eat many baked goods (the poor woman!), so I decided to treat both her and myself to a homemade blueberry bread with sliced almonds for added protein and texture.
One of my favorite summer fruits are blueberries — and this past summer, they were particularly fresh and irresistibly sweet. Now that it’s winter, I skip the bland-tasting, sour, out of season berries from the fresh produce section and head to the freezer aisle. Surprisingly, frozen berries can have just as much nutritional value as fresh. Of course, seasonal local produce is always the best option but when in-season produce isn’t available, frozen fruits and vegetables can be a viable, healthy alternative. Frozen produce is often picked at its peak ripeness, blanched and frozen within a few hours of harvesting, allowing it to maintain the majority of nutrients. When choosing frozen produce, make sure the only ingredients listed are the type of produce you intend to purchase. Avoid added sugars, salt, sauces, butters and seasonings.
Now let’s get baking!
Blueberry Almond Breakfast Bread (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ cups soy milk
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 2 cups blueberries
- ¾ cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder).
- In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients (soy milk, coconut oil).
- Mix the wet and dry ingredients together with a spoon just until all of the dry ingredients are moist. DO NOT stir out all of the lumps because you want the batter to have a lumpy consistency to achieve the ideal final texture.
- Gently fold in the blueberries and sliced almonds until they are evenly dispersed throughout the batter.
- Pour the batter into a bread pan and bake at 350°F in the oven for 45-60 minutes until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
- Enjoy warm or cool with a side of or topped with fresh berries!