gluten free blueberry loaf

gluten free blueberry loaf

• 11.13.2012

I'm not really into food fads .. unless of course it's bacon or sourdough bread. The idea of cutting something out of my diet completely is a bit terrifying to me. I'm not very good at self restraint unless there is a light at the end of the tunnel. That's why I'm pretty good at giving things up for lent. In the past I've given up celebrity  gossip, caffeine, and most recently bacon.

So this idea of going gluten free is confusing to me. I'm not even really sure what gluten is.

I ended up attempting this gluten free blueberry loaf because I was grabbing drinks with a friend who lives in a gluten free house. Her hubs has a gluten allergy and well, it just seems mean to make something for her that he can't eat and needs to stay in the car. 

To be honest, I wasn't a super big fan of this loaf but since they are the true gluten free pros .... I trust their opinion and they liked it. Here's hoping they didn't lie to me.

This loaf came together really quickly which was great since I only had a smidge more than an hour to grab ingredients and bake it. Can you say riceflourallovermyfloor? Truth.

Since I've never made anything gluten free before I definetly didn't have gluten free flour in the house. I ended up grabbing some rice flour from Polcari's in the North End. Thankfully they knew a whole lot more about my gluten free options than I did... phew.

Here's how it all goes down.

(Step 1) Preheat oven to 400 F and grease your pans. Since I was tight on time ... and it made sense ... I used two smaller loaf pans than one bigger one.

(Step 2) Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. They always tell you to sift this stuff together. I'm sure that makes a difference but I'm fundamentally too lazy for that. 

(Step 3) In another bowl you are going to put all your "wet ingredients". This means the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, melted butter and vanilla extract. Be careful mixing the melted butter and the eggs. Same old story about not wanting scrambled eggs... so just let the butter cool for a bit before you mix it all in there. Trust me, it'll be worth the wait.

(Step 4) Blend the two bowls together. In order to prevent the blueberries from clumping or settling too too much on the bottom, toss them in some flour before folding them into the batter.

(Step 5) Divide the batter among the pan or pans - however you choose to roll - and toss into the oven. For two loaf pans, you'll need to bake them for about 40 minutes. If you go with the one pan option, it'll be about 50 minutes. Despite being gluten free, you can still use your million year old method for checking whether or not the bread / loaf / cupcake / brownie is done .... the toothpick test.

(Step 6) After baking, let the loaf cool completely before pouring the lemon glaze over it. For the glaze mix together the lemon juice and powdered sugar. Then just pour over the loaf. Pro tip? Be sure to take the loaf out of the pan before covering it in the glaze ... otherwise it will collect at the bottom of the pan. It's not terrible by any standards but you really just want the glaze on the exterior of the loaf .... not soaking into the bottom of it.

And DONE.

Shopping List
1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose gluten free flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup greek yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed
1 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice