The Best Blueberry Lemon Loaf, with sourdough discard

As sourdough discard recipes become more and more popular, this sourdough discard blueberry lemon loaf is a fantastic way to put it to good use.

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Sourdough Discard

Not having to throw away and wasting the discard is a great feeling. Plus you will be getting some of the health benefits from the discard.

I used to hate it when I would go to feed my sourdough starter and had to throw away any excess. It felt like such a waste, but then found the world of discard recipes. It was like a whole new world of recipes opened up.

I have shared a few of my favorite recipes ideas, you can find it here. I hope it inspires you to go and try out some more discard recipes.

Tools needed

• Mixing bowl
• Electric mixer or stand mixer with beater attachments
• Wooden spoon or spatula
• Measuring spoons
• Measuring cups or a Kitchen scale, use which ever measuring technique you are comfortable with.
• Loaf tin
• Parchment paper

Ingredients for blueberry lemon loaf

• All purpose plain white flour, I haven’t tried cake flour for this recipe but I am sure that would work fine if that is what you have.
• Salted butter, you can also use unsalted if you prefer. It also needs to be room temperature
• Granulated sugar, cane sugar would also be a great option.
• Eggs, I always try to use free range eggs if I can.
• Vanilla extract.
• Milk. I use a 2% cows milk but oat, soy and cashew would all work really well.
• Sourdough discard. This does not need to be bubbly active starter.
• Baking powder and baking soda.
• Lemon, you need a real lemon for this recipe to use not just the juice but also the zest.
• Blueberries, fresh or frozen blueberries will work. Although I have found that the frozen berries tend to sink to the bottom in the batter. I don’t mind this but it is good to keep in mind.

How to make a blueberry lemon loaf

Preheat the oven to 365F, 185C Fan

Prep

Line The loaf tin with parchment paper, I find crumpling the paper first makes it a lot easier to fit into the tin.

In a mixing bowl add the butter and sugar. With the beater attachments cream together until they are light and fluffy.

Add in the eggs and vanilla extract. On a medium to low speed mix them in to full combine them into the butter and sugar.

You may need to scrape down the sides before adding the next ingredients.

In a small bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda along with a pinch of salt. Give this a good mix.

To the main mixing bowl add in the sourdough discard, milk, lemon zest and juice. Give it all a good mix on a medium speed.

Add in the flour mixture mix this in on a low speed until it is full incorporated.

Add the blueberries use the layering technique. This means adding them in separately from the batter. Into the loaf tin add a third of the batter, then scatter over a third of the blueberries. Repeat this again with next third and finally the last third. You should end with a layer of blueberries.

The reason for using this technique is so that the blueberries wont sink to the bottom of the loaf. they have a tendency to do this unfortunately.

Bake

Place the loaf tin into the preheated oven and bake for 50 minutes.

Test the loaf to test that it is ready by using a skewer or toothpick. Place the skewer into the center of the loaf if it comes out clean then it is ready. If there is batter on it continue baking at 5 to 10 minutes increments, then test again.

Once the loaf is ready remove the tin from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes. Remove the loaf from the tin and place it onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.

This blueberry lemon loaf has to be the best when it is still a little warm. So go ahead and cut a slice and enjoy it with your favorite hot drink.

Tips For The Perfect Blueberry Lemon Loaf

• Use the Layering technique when adding the blueberries, this will stop them from sinking to the bottom. To do this you will add the blueberries separately to the batter. Add a layer of loaf batter to the loaf tin, sprinkle a third of the blueberries over the batter. Add another layer of batter and then blueberries again. One last layer of batter and top the whole lot off with the last of the blueberries.
• You can omit the sourdough discard in place of sour cream if you do not have discard.
• You cannot beat fresh lemon juice. I am sorry but the stuff you find in a bottle just isn’t the same.
• Try to use room temperature ingredients if you can. A lot of cake based baking recipes benefit from this tip.
• Add the eggs one at a time.