Blueberry Oat Loaf

When I have company over for dinner, I usually start my menu planning with an ingredient or recipe that I've been thinking about lately.  In this case, the meal I made for my friend and her mother (who was visiting Ottawa for the week) started with wanted to make something with blueberries.

I love blueberries and when I find food that I crave that is actually healthy, it goes on heavy rotation in the menu repertoire.



In Canada, we're fortunate to grow two different types of blueberries, lowbush (aka wild) blueberries and highbush blueberries.  The majority of our highbush blueberries are grown in British Columbia (BC), by around 700 blueberry growers.  You can read all about BC blueberries and find great blueberry recipes here.


Most wild blueberries, in Canada, are grown in Nova Scotia.  Since they don't tend to be as available in the grocery store, we keep a large bag of frozen wild berries to add to recipe throughout the year and use wild blueberry syrup, a product you'll find all over the place when visiting Nova Scotia.  For more information about and recipes with wild blueberries, visit this link.


According to this link, highbush blueberries begin ripening in June and continue to produce through July for a long harvest season, while lowbush blueberries become ripe in July and are harvested only at that time. The highbush will produce berries in abundance, with plumper and larger fruit than lowbush blueberries. Though smaller and less plentiful, lowbush blueberries have more flavour than the highbush blueberry.  


This blueberry recipe comes from The Kitchn.

Blueberry Oat Quick Bread

Makes 1 loaf, 10-12 slices

1 cup blueberries, washed and dried

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used 3/4 cup whole wheat and 1 cup of all-purpose flour)

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking or steel-cut)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pre-heat the oven to 325°. Grease one loaf pan.

Toss the berries with 1/4 cup of flour. This will help keep them from sinking in the batter.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining flour, oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. In separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and stir gently until you see no more dry flour. Fold the blueberries into the batter.

Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan and bake for 50 - 60 minutes, rotating the pan partway through. The loaf is done when the top is puffed and dry, and when a toothpick inserted into the 

centre of the cake comes out clean.

Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes before unmolding. I dusted the top with icing sugar.  Allow it to cool completely before slicing.

Everyone enjoyed the loaf.

Since I knew that I was making this dessert, I wanted to keep the meal laid back and light.  So, I went with a caprese salad and vegetarian quiche.

My friend's dog, Dolly, approves!