You’ll love this Red, White & Blueberry Bread, full of fresh fruit and tangy cream cheese. With a crunchy top and a sweet, moist interior, it’s truly a slice of heaven!
This Red, White, and Blueberry bread is a festive quick bread bursting with fresh blueberries and sweet strawberries swirled into a soft, tender vanilla batter. With its patriotic colors and lightly sweet flavor, it’s perfect for summer celebrations like the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, or brunch gatherings.
For more red white and blue recipes you have to check out my Patriotic Funfetti Sugar Cookie Cake Red, White, and Blue Fruit Salad, and Patriotic Funfetti Cupcakes.
Table of Contents
Recipe Ingredients
- Blueberries: Offer a mildly sweet and slightly tart flavor.
- Cream Cheese: Contributes a rich, tangy flavor with a smooth, creamy texture.
- Lemon Zest: Adds a bright, citrusy flavor with a hint of freshness.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
For a delightful twist, add a mix of your favorite berries, nuts, and white chocolate chips. Incorporate raspberries, cranberries, blackberries, chopped pecans and walnuts, and white chocolate chips. This combination adds varied flavors, a satisfying crunch, and creamy sweetness.
How to Make Red, White, and Blueberry Bread
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Spray or line a 9×5 inch loaf pan, and set aside.
Step 2: In a small mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the cream cheese swirl. Using a hand mixer, blend until smooth, and set aside.
Step 3: In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, and lemon zest until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. With mixing speed on low, add eggs one at a time until incorporated.
Step 4: In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low speed, gradually alternate adding the dry ingredients and milk, mixing just until no flour pockets remain. Remove the bowl from the stand and fold in the fruit.
Step 5: Pour half of the batter for the bread into the prepared loaf pan. Then pour the cream cheese “swirl” on top. You can either leave it as-is or carefully swirl it with a knife. Pour the remaining batter over top and sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired.
Step 6: Place in the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the center of the loaf is set. You may need to tent the loaf with foil if the top is getting too brown (around the 40–50-minute mark). Remove from the oven, allow to cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Expert Tips
- Gently Fold in Berries: When incorporating the berries, gently fold them into the batter using a spatula. This prevents the berries from breaking and bleeding too much into the batter.
- Use Parchment Paper: Line the loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang. This makes it easier to lift the bread out of the pan without damaging it. Place the loaf pan on a baking sheet to catch any spills and ensure even baking.
FAQs
You can use whole wheat flour or a gluten-free flour blend. Whole wheat flour adds a denser texture, while gluten-free flour maintains a similar texture to all-purpose flour. Adjust liquids as needed.
Yes, you can use frozen berries. Just keep in mind that they may slightly color the batter. To minimize this, fold them in gently and do not thaw before using.
Storage Info
To STORE Red, White, and Blueberry Bread, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container. It will stay fresh at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, you can FREEZE the bread for up to 3 months.
To REHEAT, thaw at room temperature if frozen, then warm individual slices in the microwave for about 20 seconds or in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 5-10 minutes.
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Red, White & Blueberry Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter - room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (3 oz) cream cheese - room temperature
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup strawberries - chopped
- 1 cup blueberries - fresh or frozen
Cream Cheese Swirl
- 8 oz cream cheese - room temperature
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon coarse sugar for topping - (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Spray or line a 9×5 inch loaf pan, and set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the cream cheese swirl. Using a hand mixer, blend until smooth, and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, and lemon zest until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. With mixing speed on low, add eggs one at a time until incorporated.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low speed, gradually alternate adding the dry ingredients and milk, mixing just until no flour pockets remain. Remove the bowl from the stand and fold in the fruit.
- Pour half of the batter for the bread into the prepared loaf pan. Then pour the cream cheese "swirl" on top. You can either leave it as-is or carefully swirl it with a knife. Pour the remaining batter over top and sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired.
- Place in the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the center of the loaf is set. You may need to tent the loaf with foil if the top is getting too brown (around the 40–50-minute mark). Remove from the oven, allow to cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.
NOTES
- If using frozen blueberries, coat them in flour before mixing them in. Mine were very moist and left swirls of blue/grey in my bread. You can avoid this altogether by using fresh blueberries.
- Although I have never made these in muffin form, I’m sure it can be done! I’d say it would make 12-14 muffins and that they would take anywhere from 18-22 minutes to bake, but just watch and test.
Forgot to rate the stars..
Made this few days ago. Yes my batter came up and almost spilled out of my loaf pan. I agree about dividing it into 2 pans which also might reduce baking time, it took almost 2 hours to bake. I think the cream cheese filling increases the baking time because every time I checked bread was jiggly , definitely tent it after browning. I used organic cane sugar on top. It tasted Great! I had trouble getting loaf out because it did bake over the rim of pan so could not slice too pretty but everyone loved it anyway. Will definitely make again. Thanks for the recipe!
Really lovely recipe, not too sweet and the cream cheese swirl was delicious. I didn’t use strawberries as they’re out of season here so used all blueberries and it worked really well. It did take a really long time to cook – probably close to 1 hour 45 minutes. I checked it every 10 minutes after it had been cooking for the first 50. Apart from that, for someone who doesn’t bake often, I thought it turned out great!
I just got done baking this: the ingredients list says milk, but it isn’t mentioned anywhere in the recipe or the description of how you made it!! I failed to realize this until I was about to fold in the fruit, so I just decided to mix the milk in at that point and hope for the best. It took a really, really long time to bake, and I would have been better off dividing the mixture into two loaf pans–my mixture was spilling out into my oven as it baked. Otherwise, it turned out yummy!!
Oh no! I’m sorry about that! Somehow I totally forgot to add that in the directions, thanks for letting me know! Did you use a 9×5 loaf pan? I didn’t have any trouble with mine overflowing.
I love when berries are on sale! I always go crazy!! This bread looks amazing, and I love the festive twist. That cream cheese swirl looks soooo good! Hope you have a great holiday weekend!