Margaret Dabbs
Margaret Dabbs
The Dabbs boys.
Alabama Blueberry Bread
Really, really tasty, and easy too. Margaret Dabbs makes this bread for the family and friends, who all love it, and we agree. We’ve made this bread with both large and small blueberries, since they vary about the country, and it was fabulous either way.
3 Cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1-2 TB. ground cinnamon (Margaret uses 3 full TB. of cinnamon, but suggested starting with less and building to more as you make the bread again and again)
2 Cups sugar
1⁄2 -1 tsp. ground cloves
1⁄2 -1 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 eggs, well beaten
11⁄4 Cups canola oil
2 pints of blueberries (mash about 1 Cup of these)
2 tsp. lemon extract
1 Cup chopped nuts, optional
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 2 large (9 inch) loaf pans. Mix 1⁄4 cup of the sugar and half of the cinnamon. Sprinkle pan and top of bread with this mixture. Place flour, salt, baking soda, sugar, cloves, nutmeg and the remaining cinnamon in a large bowl. Make a well in center of dry ingredients. Add eggs, oil, and lemon extract. Stir until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in blueberries and nuts. Mashing some of the blueberries gives the bread a nice blueberry color. If you use frozen blueberries, make sure they are frozen plain and not sugared. Divide batter between two loaf pans. Bake 1 hour. To remove the loaves from their pans without losing the sugary topping, try this trick: double a sheet of aluminum foil, cut it to half the width of the pan and place it in the greased bread pan, up and over the edges, then pour in the batter. This will give you a handy way to lift the bread right out of the pan, as in the photo. Let cool before eating. It’s really even better the next day, believe it or not. Keep refrigerated.
Yield: 2 loaves. Prep. time: 10 minutes. Baking time: 1 hour.