Egg-Free Blueberry Lime Bread

Breakfast time is a challenge around here. Bean loves eggs. Roo's allergic. Looly likes oatmeal. Bean and Roo won't touch it with a ten foot pole. Bean likes beans for breakfast. The sheer thought makes Looly gag. Roo would prefer to skip the breakfast ordeal all together and sip a little soy milk. Standard offerings like toast, bagels, yogurt, waffles, and cereal are hit or miss. Mostly miss. And we need to be out the door by 7:40 am. 

Fortunately all the kids love fruit and they do drink milk in the morning, but facing a full day of school on milk and fruit alone won't cut it. More often than not I opt for a pressure-free snackfest to get something into their stomachs. And I'm always, always, on the lookout for new additions to the snackfest platter.

I've been honing my egg-free baking skills in recent years and I have a few really good eggless quick breads up my sleeve. Unfortunately, Roo still won't eat most of them. But the girls enjoy them and at least I don't have to worry about a stray crumb getting onto his apple slices. Now that he's attempting bites of toast and a triangle of grilled cheese from time to time, one of my goals for the year is to come up with a breakfast bread that Roo will eat.

Egg-Free Blueberry Lime Bread
adapted slightly from Bakin' Without Eggs by Rosemarie Emro

3 cups flour plus 1 tbsp to coat blueberries
1&1/4 cups sugar
1&1/2 cups milk
3 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp lime zest
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen, but not thawed)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray one large or 4 mini-loaf pans with cooking spray.
2. Combine 3 cups flour, sugar, milk, lime juice, baking powder, baking soda, and lime zest. Mix until well combined. 
3. In a separate bowl, combine blueberries and remaining 1 tbsp flour. Toss lightly to coat. Gently fold blueberries into batter.
4. Spoon batter into prepared pans and bake 50-55 minutes for full size loaves, 35-40 minutes for mini-loaves, or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, invert pan and remove loaf. Cool completely.

I thought this bread was quite good - summery, bright, zesty, and it really hit the spot with a cup of green tea. Looly loved it and begged for more. The other kids were less impressed. Roo did not appreciate the chunks of real berry, too much textural variability going on for him. And Bean, usually my carb-lover, was underwhelmed. She asked for banana bread instead. hmph. So, the search continues but I'm keeping this one in the repertoire even if it's for Looly and me alone. More for us!