This award-winning Blueberry Gingerbread Loaf (with Fresh Lime Glaze)won the California Berries Winter Baking contest. Made with a blueberry muffin mix, no molasses and a fresh lime glaze, this loaf is like a warm gingerbread hug on a cold winter day!
Mix in greek yogurt, egg, lime juice, oil, coconut milk into a separate bowl, then add these wet ingredients to dry ingredients.
3 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice, ½ cup non fat greek yogurt, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, ½ cup light coconut milk, 1 egg
Stir in chopped pecans.
⅔ cup pecans
Stir in fresh blueberries.
1 ½ cups Giant California Blueberries
Pour into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for approximately 1 hour (60 - 70 minutes) or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted comes out clean.
If it's not ready but browning too fast in the oven, cover it loosely with aluminum foil and put it back in the oven, checking at 10 minute intervals.
Let cool in pan 5 minutes, then remove from pan and let loaf cool completely on a cooling rack.
Fresh Lime Glaze:
Mix softened cream cheese and icing sugar together with a fork ensuring to get out all of the cream cheese lumps.
1 ½ tablespoon light cream cheese, ½ cup icing sugar/powdered sugar
Whisk in lime juice.
3 tablespoon lime juice
Drizzle glaze over top and refrigerate 5 minutes until glaze firms up.
Garnish:
Sprinkle additional icing sugar and grated lime.
icing sugar/powdered sugar to sprinkle, grated lime
Notes
*NOTE: You'll need about 3-4 limes in total📖 Variations & Substitutions
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
🌡️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)
Expert Tips
Make sure your cream cheese is softened. If your cream cheese is cold, the glaze will be lumpy.
Cover browning bread in foil. If the bread isn't ready, but it's browning quickly, then cover it loosely with aluminum foil.
Let the bread chill in the fridge. Let the bread chill in the fridge for a minimum of 30-45 minutes for best results
Use a serrated knife/bread knife to slice this bread. A bread knife's serrated edge and downward pressure allow for clean cuts through the tough exterior bread crust without squishing the delicate crumb inside
Don't slice the loaf until you are ready the eat the pieces. Cut the gingerbread loaf as you need it, as slicing it dries it out more quickly. If you do slice it before storing it, make sure to cover the exposed pieces with plastic wrap.
Toss blueberries in 1 tablespoon flour. If using frozen blueberries, once they are defrosted, toss them in flour before adding them to the batter.
**NOTE: You may need to soften your cream cheese in the microwave on ½ power (5 on my microwave) for 10-20 seconds