Orange Blueberry Bread

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups all purpose flour 
• 0.3 cup apple sauce unsweetened dry ( measuring cup)
• 1.3 teaspoons double-acting baking powder 
• 0.3 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 cup blueberries fresh frozen ( or )
• 5 tablespoons butter melted (measured and )
• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• 0.5 cup milk 2% (I used )
• 4 tablespoons orange juice freshly squeezed ()
• 1 tablespoon orange zest 
• 0.5 cup pecans chopped (or nuts/optional)
• 0.5 teaspoon salt 
• 0.3 cup yogurt plain fat free dry ( measuring cup) (I used )

Equipment

• bowl
• oven
• whisk
• wire rack
• loaf pan
• hand mixer
• toothpicks

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Coat well a 9×5 inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray on the sides and bottom.In a medium size bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; keep it aside.In a small bowl whisk together the applesauce, yogurt, orange juice and zest.In a large bowl cream together the melted butter and sugar for about 5 minutes using a hand held electric mixer. (Update: Measure the butter first and then melt it. The butter and sugar doesn’t cream very much. It looks more like coarse crumbs). To this add the above wet mixture and beat well for another 2-3 minutes. The mixture will look curdled but it’s okay.Now to the above add the flour and milk alternatively and beat for a couple of seconds after each addition.
2. Add the flour in three parts and milk twice. So you would start with flour and end with flour.Fold in the blueberries and nuts. If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw it.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake between 60-70 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Mine was done exactly at 60 minutes.
4. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let it cool for about an hour before you can remove the bread from the pan. I think I did not grease the bottom of the loaf pan well enough so I was able to remove the bread only after about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Cool it completely on the wire rack (preferably overnight) before cutting it into slices. I baked it at after 8 pm, so left it overnight and was able to get neat slices the next day morning.