This post was sponsored by Oregon Berries. Thank you for supporting brands who support vegukate!

A few things that have made me extremely happy quarantining at home during this pregnancy:
-Leggings
-Sparkling water with lemon
-Going on afternoon walks
-BAKING everything

As you know from Instagram, I’ve been baking gluten-free banana bread like it’s my job. Not only do I find baking therapeutic and calming, I also love being able to make something nourishing, warming, and simple for me and my husband to enjoy.

Lately, I’ve been swapping out my weekly banana bread to this beyond delicious Gluten-Free Blackberry Coconut Bread. It’s made with a handful of pantry and freezer essentials, like frozen Oregon Berries blackberries, gluten-free baking flour, cinnamon, eggs, yogurt, and butter. I’ve provided some simple swaps in the note section below, in case you don’t happen to have one of the ingredients on hand. Although baking can precise and scientific, (I’ve learned from watching an insane amount of The Great British Baking Show) I’ve found that this bread is really simple and customizable. I’ve made it a variety of ways – and with a variety of berries – and it turns out lovely every single time.

I love keeping bags (and bags and bags) of frozen berries in my freezer for baking, smoothies, chia pudding, and other simple recipes throughout the year. Because berries are picked at their peak freshness and flash frozen, their nutritional content remains high. Sadly, this isn’t the case for many fruits and vegetables that are picked and trucked miles and miles before landing at your grocery store. This is why I always recommend having frozen fruits and vegetables in your freezer: they make nourishing recipes in a pinch, and still deliver high-quality nutrition. Not to mention, frozen fruits and vegetables are often less expensive than fresh foods, especially when the fruit/veggie in question is out of season.

I used frozen blackberries in this recipe because I love their tart, yet subtly sweet flavor. Blackberries are a wonderful source of fiber (thanks to all those edible seeds), vitamins C and K, manganese, and antioxidants, among others. In fact, just one cup of blackberries has 30.2 milligrams of vitamin C, which is half the daily recommended value. We need vitamin C to support collagen formation in bones, connective tissue, and blood vessels.

Blackberries, and other berries, have been widely studied for their antioxidant content and their effect on human health. Notably, the antioxidants found in blackberries have promoising anti-cancer effects, thanks to their high concentration of antioxidant polyphenols. Specifically, anthocyanins (a type of polyphenol) are thought to be the primary compound that blackberries use against the development of cancer, according to this 2007 study. Antioxidants, found in berries and other fruits and vegetables, are thought to prevent and minimize free radical oxidation to cells. Free radical oxidation and accumulation occurs from everyday biological processes as well as our body’s reaction to environmental stressors. Eating antioxidant-rich foods (like delicious berries!) helps to minimize and reduce free-radical damage and accumulation in the body and our cells – a total win win.

The best part of this gluten-free blackberry loaf is that it has the texture of your favorite bakery muffin studded with warm, bursting blackberries in every single bite. I think it’s best straight from the oven (give it 10 minutes to cool, if you can wait) smeared with a loving pat of grass-fed butter. The warm berries, soft texture, and melty butter are a divine combination.

Gluten-Free Blackberry Coconut Bread

Yields 1 loaf

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups gluten-free baking flour*
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
6 tbsp unsalted grass-fed butter**
¾ cup coconut sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup plain full-fat yogurt
5 ounces frozen Oregon Berries blackberries
¼ cup coconut flakes, to garnish

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking tin with parchment paper.
2) Whisk together flour, baking powder, sea salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3) In the base of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, cream together butter and sugar for 2 minutes. Add eggs, vanilla extract, and yogurt and beat until combined. Slowly add in flour mixture on low speed until well combined and batter is thick.
4) Carefully fold in frozen blackberries to batter.
5) Pour batter into lined baking tin. Top with coconut flakes and gently press into batter to stick.
6) Bake bread for 55-65 minutes, or until bread is golden and toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from oven and let bread cool in tin for 5 minutes. Carefully remove parchment paper and loaf from tin and let cool on a baking rack. Slice and enjoy!
7) Leftover bread will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Notes:

*Please make sure that your gluten-free baking flour blend contains xanthan gum, a necessary stabilizer in this recipe. I really love Bob’s Red Mill’s Gluten-Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour; it works the best out of any other flour I’ve tried.
**Other swaps for grass-fed butter include ghee and gently softened coconut oil. I have not tried this recipes with olive or avocado oil.
-Coconut sugar can easily be swapped with organic cane sugar or brown sugar
-Swaps for yogurt include sour cream or a non-dairy yogurt variety, such as coconut yogurt
-Feel free to use any kind of frozen berry you’d like! Raspberry, loganberry, marionberry, or blueberry would all work wonderfully.
-Leftover bread will keep at room temperature for 2 days, or refrigerated for up to 5 days. You can also freeze slices of this loaf for up to 3 months.