The Blessing of Blueberries/Blueberry Banana Bread Recipe/How to Freeze Blueberries

Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it,
according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.
And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:11-12

Friends, neighbors, relations and orchards all have blueberries coming in right now! They are beautiful and delicious!

Sue's Blueberry Bars

On her way to work yesterday morning, our sweet neighbor, Sue, brought us a container of yummy blueberry squares. They had a nice little crust and a little zip of lemon flavor to them. Sue said said they were low-fat, too! Yummy and healthy!! I'll have to get the recipe! Sue's husband, Mr. Elmer, planted some blueberry bushes in their yard when they moved to Pontotoc. He was a sweet, sweet man and was always so kind to share with all us neighbors.

Aunt Jean brought us some blueberries. I used part of the berries to make two loaves of bread. One loaf we shared, and one loaf we ate.

Blueberry Banana Bread

Blueberry Banana Bread

This bread has a bit of a complex taste to it. The sweetness of the bananas contrasts nicely with the tartness of the berries and lemon juice, and the walnuts give it a nice crunch!

1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 cups self-rising flour*
2 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup chopped nuts, dusted with a teaspoon of flour
2 cups blueberries, dusted with a tablespoon of flour

*OR - 2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

Mash the bananas in a separate bowl and set aside.

Mix the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and lemon juice until the mixture is smooth.

Then add the flour; mix well.

Fold in mashed bananas. Gently add coated nuts. Very gently, fold in blueberries.
Pour into pan. Cook about 55 minutes.

Blueberries for the Freezer

The rest of the berries, I froze. Blueberries are really easy to freeze. First, rinse them and remove any blemished berries. Next, spread them out on paper toweling to dry. You must let them get completely dry. If you don't let them get totally dry, they will stick and clump together when you freeze them. This is not what we want. We are going for individually frozen berries. I usually roll them around and change the paper towels once during the drying time.

Blueberries drying on paper toweling

Once berries are dry, line cookie sheets with clean, dry paper towels. Spread berries on paper toweling in a single layer. Put in freezer until berries are frozen through and through. I usually just leave mine overnight.

Berries ready to be placed in the freezer to be frozen

When berries are completely frozen, remove from freezer, and working very quickly, pour them into a large freezer-weight plastic zippered bag. Try to handle berries as little as possible, as the heat from your hands will start to thaw berries. Return to freezer promptly.

Now you can just take a measuring cup and remove the amount of frozen berries you need for each recipe. These also make a good, healthy frozen snack! Grab a handful and pop them into your mouth!!

Frozen blueberries - ready for snacking or recipes!