Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Bars

I love lemons.  I love lemons.  I love lemons, hey-hey-hey-hey.  If I could zest my way through every meal, I would.  Dan is not as big of a lemon fan as I am, but I have snuck  it into meals that he has yet to complain about.  Lemon is the best natural enhancer to SO many dishes.  The amazing blog, SmittenKitchen, and the woman behind it all – Deb, has a plethora of recipes to sift through.  It would take days to get through them all.  I purchased her cook book for my mom this past Christmas, and find myself looking through it over and over.  All of her food pictures are beautiful! Makes me wish I knew what I was doing when it comes to photographing food! anyways.  This lemon blueberry yogurt loaf of hers is just the right combination of sweet and tart.  I used a 9 x 13 cake pan instead of a bread loaf pan because that is all that I have. ( I really need to re-stock my kitchen.)  I used greek yogurt, and it turned out so light, and moist, and delicious.  We only have a few pieces left, since we gave some to my parents for breakfast today.  But, I am excited to keep this recipe as a staple, and start switching up the flavors.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cup unbleached flour + 1 Tbsp to coat the blueberries
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup plain greek yogurt
• 1 cup sugar ( + 1 tsp for later use )
• 4 eggs
• The zest of 2 lemons (squeeze out 1/4 cup of lemon juice and set aside)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 – 1 1/2 cup frozen ( or fresh ) blueberries

DIRECTIONS:

Pre heat the oven to 350*  Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper, and grease it with butter or cooking spray

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and vegetable oil.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir just until incorporated.

Toss your blueberries with 1 Tbsp of flour, to help them from not sinking (mine still did : more than likely because they were frozen) and gently fold the berries into the batter.

Pour the batter into your baking dish, and bake at 350* for 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out with few crumbs attached.  Let the cake cool for 10 minutes.  In the meantime, take the 1/4 cup reserved lemon juice and add a tsp of sugar, and stir.  Then, once the cake has sat for 10 minutes, brush or gently pour the lemon/sugar juice over the entire cake.  Let the cake cool completely before slicing, and store in an airtight container, or in its original dish covered with foil.

Adapted from: lemon yogurt anything cake | smitten kitchen