Who doesn’t enjoy a nice dessert or breakfast quick bread? This is a variation of the breads that most of us are familiar with like banana nut, zucchini, date nute, and so many more. My husband is allergic to nuts, so I do not use them with this recipe, but you can. I’ve added that optional information on how much and the way to prep them. Here’s to a quick and easy (and delicious) bread to add to your recipe repertoire. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 6 T (3/4 stick? unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1 large egg
• 1 T grated orange zest (optional)
• 1-1/2 cups blueberries
• 1/2 cup toasted pecan, chopped coarse (optional)

Instructions

• Heat oven to 375 degrees.
• Coat a 9×5 inch loaf pan with vegetable oil spray.
• In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

  

• In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, melted butter, orange juice, egg, and orange zest.
• Fold the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula.

  

• Mix until just moistened. Do not over mix.
• Add the blueberries and pecans (if using).

  

• Pour mix into loaf pan.
• Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached. About 55-60 minutes.

  

• Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
• Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack for about 1 hour.

  

Ideas

• Flour – I prefer unbleached (why add more to your food than necessary), but use what you have.
• Buttermilk – If you don’t have any, you can make some in your kitchen with regular milk. It’s best to have buttermilk though. Add either 1 T of white vinegar or fresh lemon juice to 1 cup of milk. Let stand for about 5 minutes.
• Orange juice – if you have oranges and can squeeze them for the juice, this is best.
• Pecans – toast them in a frying pan. Heat to medium and toss them often. Cook for about 5 minutes.
• Cooling on wire rack – I don’t like to get grooves on the bottom of my bread, so I place a paper towel on top of the rack.