I am delighted to say that we are finally experiencing some warmer temperatures and sunshine here in Germany. Just thinking about it makes me smile. Other smile-worthy news is that it is finally berry season. Yay! The grocery stores and markets are currently well-stocked with delicious, juicy strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and other members of the “berry” family. Frozen berries simply cannot give fresh berries a run for their money. This is truly the perfect time to bake with berries.

Hence, I have revamped an old banana bread recipe of mine and made it very berry-tastic (OMG! I am starting to write like The Domestic Geek on YouTube speaks). Now, let’s get to what you actually came here for. This lemony blueberry banana bread is not only super moist and delectable, but also has a kick of freshness, due to the lemon zest, which makes this treat perfect for the spring-to-summer transition. Plus, it has a manageable number of ingredients and is exceptionally easy to make. There is really no excuse not to make it! Enjoy!

Instructions

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups light spelt flour
• 3/4 cup oat flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/4  teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest (if possible, use an organic lemon)
• 3 mashed ripe bananas
• 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flax seed meal + 3 tablespoons water)
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk + 2 teaspoons of lemon juice (vegan “butter” milk!)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (if possible, choose the organic kind)
• Handful of halved walnuts for topping (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 ºC.
2. Coat your loaf pan with some vegan margarine or coconut-/canola oil.
3. Prepare vegan “butter” milk by combining non-dairy milk and lemon juice. Stir and set aside.
4. Prepare flax egg by combining flax meal and water. Stir and set aside.
5. In a large bowl, whisk the two flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest until all ingredients are well-distributed.
6. In a medium-sized bowl, combine mashed bananas, flax egg, vegan “butter” milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk until all ingredients are well-incorporated.
7. Add wet- to dry mixture and mix ingredients thoroughly together using a spatula.
8. Coat 1 1/4 cups of blueberries with some flour and then fold the berries into the batter.
9. Pour batter into greased loaf pan and top the batter with the remaining blueberries and some walnut halves.
10. Bake for roughly 55-60 minutes (do a toothpick test to check for doneness!) and then let bread rest in pan for another 15 minutes before transferring the bread on a cooling rack.
11. Enjoy!

Suggested Kitchen Soundtrack