This award-winning Blueberry Gingerbread Loaf (with Fresh Lime Glaze) won the California Berries Winter Baking contest in 2014. Made with a blueberry muffin mix, no molasses and a fresh lime glaze, this blueberry loaf is like a warm gingerbread hug on a cold winter day!
When I was a kid, if you weren't moving fast enough, Grandma would say you were, "Slow as Molasses in January," and for some reason it really irritated me. I guess it just sounded like another "old people thing" she said that made no sense. And I hated molasses. I wondered where the saying 'slow as molasses in January' came from...
Jump to:
Then there was the January part. January was my birthday month and it's not like January didn't have a bad enough rep as it was. January already contains the most depressing day of the year (Blue Monday), which my birthday has fallen on many times, it's also the coldest month of the year and what feels like the longest month of the year. I felt this association with molasses only served to further tarnish it's notoriety. I guess I was a little defensive about that.
I believe molasses is the entire reason I never liked gingerbread to begin with. Growing up, I had only ever had gingerbread with molasses, but I didn't even realize this until I finally tried a gingerbread without molasses. Gingerbread was actually good when you took molasses out of the equation! And now that I've discovered good gingerbread, I've kind of fallen for it.
🥘 Ingredients
And this gingerbread loaf, made without molasses, is GOOD! In fact, it's so good that it won a Winter Baking contest. It's easy to whip up because it uses blueberry muffin mix and the oven pretty much does the rest of the work.
For this blueberry bread with muffin mix recipe you'll need:
- blueberries
- blueberry muffin mix * I use Concord but you could use any kind
- ground ginger
- cinnamon
- limes *you'll need about 3-4 limes in total
- Greek yogurt (I use non-fat)
- vegetable oil
- egg
- coconut milk (I use light)
- unsweetened shredded coconut
- pecans (chopped)
- cream cheese (I use light)
- powdered sugar/icing sugar/confectioners sugar
*see recipe card for amounts
📖 Variations
- Muffins: Make these into blueberry gingerbread muffins. Just pour batter into lined muffin tins and bake for half the time (or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean). Spread the glaze evenly by the number of muffins.
- Blueberries: You can substitute frozen blueberries for fresh
- Nuts: You can substitute almonds for pecans
🍽 Equipment
For this gingerbread loaf recipe, you'll need a 9x5 loaf pan (affiliate link). I like the ones that come with lids because you can simply put the lid on and pop them right into the fridge or freezer, once they are completely cooled!
🌡️Storage
- Fridge: The loaf can be stored in a sealed container or freezer Ziplock bag for up to 3 days in the fridge.
- Freezer: This recipe freezes well for up to 3 months. You can leave it in the loaf pan to freeze, if you prefer (I do this sometimes). Simply cover the loaf with Glad Press n' Seal (affiliate link) and slide the entire loaf into an extra large Ziplock freezer bag. Or you can use a loaf pan that comes with a lid (see equipment above). I would still put that into a Ziplock bag, just to ensure it stays as fresh as possible.
💭 Top tip
Don't slice the loaf until you are ready the eat the pieces. Cut the blueberry loaf as you need it, as slicing it dries it out more quickly.
👪 Servings Size
This recipe serves 10. However, you can double or triple this recipe by adjusting the serving size on the recipe card. Just click on the serving size (it's highlighted in blue) and select the number of servings you’d like. You'll need extra loaf pans. *You can freeze the extra loaves (see storage, above).
But where did the expression "slow as molasses in January" come from?
💭The Great Molasses Flood
Have you ever heard of the Great Molasses Flood? Well, neither had I. But back on January 15, 1919, a low-lying section of Boston, on Commercial Street between Copps Hill and North End Park, was flooded by the contents of a 58-foot tank that contained 2.5 million gallons of molasses. Yes that's 2.5 MILLION gallons!
January 15, 1919 - Photo used with permission courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.
When that enormous tank filled to the brim with molasses, destined to be distilled into grain alcohol for liquor, split open around noon on that day, a 30-foot tidal wave of molasses tore the steel supports off the nearby elevated train structure. The photo you see above depicts the event and is an original photo taken at the site of that disaster. (Reference)
There were people who were literally swept away in this enormous wave of molasses, many drowned, buildings collapsed and several blocks flooded to the depth of 2-3 feet. In the end, 21 people were killed and 150 more were hurt. And residents claimed that on hot days, that area of Boston still smelled of molasses for decades afterwards. The Purity Distilling company paid out, what would be in today's dollars, millions in damages. (Reference) Given the fact that, even at room temperature, molasses pours quite slowly (due to its high viscosity), cold further increases viscosity, and the great molasses flood happened during the coldest part of the year, an expression was born.
"Slow as Molasses in January" is an Americanism for someone or something that is painfully slow.
Wow. I had no idea that this saying was born out of such a significant historical event.
These days I have mellowed a little when it comes to my loathing for molasses. In fact, I even use a little molasses in some of my baking. But I use it sparingly. I think the issue is that there is some serious abuse of molasses going on out there, especially when it comes to gingerbread! But rest assured, this gingerbread loaf recipe is molasses free! And if you have a lot of limes on hand and are looking for recipes for fresh limes (you will need 3-4 fresh limes), this recipe is for you!
If you're looking for recipes for gingerbread loaf, you'll love this Blueberry Gingerbread Loaf!
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📋Blueberry Gingerbread Loaf Recipe
Ingredients
Loaf:
- 1 -15 oz box Concord Foods Blueberry Muffin Mix
- 1 ½ cups Giant California Blueberries you can substitute frozen blueberries if fresh not available
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 3 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- ¾ teaspoon lime zest
- ½ cup non fat greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- ½ cup light coconut milk
- ⅓ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- ⅔ cup pecans chopped
Glaze:
- 1 ½ tablespoon light cream cheese softened
- ½ cup icing sugar/powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoon lime juice
Garnish:
- icing sugar/powdered sugar to sprinkle
- additional lime zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray loaf pan (9X3) with non-stick cooking spray.
- Combine Concord blueberry mix, cinnamon, ginger, lime zest and coconut and mix until combined.
- Mix in greek yogurt, egg, lime juice, oil, coconut milk. Stir in blueberries.
- Mix in chopped pecans. Stir until combined. Pour into greased loaf pan.
- Bake in preheated oven for approximately 1 hour (60 - 70 minutes) or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted comes out clean.
- Let cool in pan 5 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely.
Fresh Lime Glaze:
- Mix softened cream cheese, 3 tblsp lime juice and icing sugar together with a whisk, ensuring to get out all of the cream cheese lumps.
- Drizzle glaze over top and refrigerate 5 minutes until glaze firms up.
Garnish:
- Sprinkle additional icing sugar and lime zest
Notes
- Muffins: Make these into blueberry gingerbread muffins. Just pour batter into lined muffin tins and bake for half the time (or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean)! Spread the glaze evenly by the number of muffins.
- Blueberries: You can substitute frozen blueberries for fresh
- Nuts: You can substitute almonds for pecans
- Fridge: The loaf can be stored in a sealed container or freezer Ziplock bag for up to 3 days in the fridge.
- Freezer: This recipe freezes well for up to 3 months. You can leave it in the loaf pan to freeze, if you prefer (I do this sometimes). Simply cover the loaf with Glad Press n' Seal (affiliate link) and slide the entire loaf into an extra large Ziplock freezer bag. Or you can use a loaf pan that comes with a lid (see equipment above)
Justine | JustineCelina.com
What a beautiful story! I love reading about personal anecdotes behind recipes. And this loaf looks like the perfect mixture of comforting and zingy thanks to the lime. Great post!
Terri Gilson
Thanks, Justine!