lemon and olives... sigh...

I know I keep going on about the smell and taste of lemons - but really, there is nothing like it... lemons just make things pop! So when I found this recipe on the One Smart Cookie website I just knew that I was going to make it. Based on Julie Van Rosendaal's recipe (her website after all) I can just say... even the raw batter tastes good (yep, licked the spoon) - and my kitchen smells like lemons and olives. Nothing wrong with that!

Rather than making 1 loaf - I decided to use my mini loaf pans and made 8 mini loaves. I also wanted to add a little twist to this one - so half the loaves are the original recipe and then the other half include chopped black olives -to add extra texture and a punch of flavour.

Lemon Rosemary Olive Oil Loaf (done 2 ways)
ingredients:
4 eggs
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp b. powder
1/4 tsp vanilla salt
2 sprigs of rosemary, leaves stripped off and chopped
handful of black olives, pitted and chopped
4 sprigs of rosemary to decorate the top, each one cut in half

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl - beat the eggs for about a minute, you want them to get frothy. Beat in the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes - you'll notice that the batter will triple in size and get nice and thick. Beat in the lemon zest, juice and olive oil.

In a smaller bowl, combine the flour, b. powder and salt.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ones (with a wooden spoon). Add the rosemary and stir until just combined.

I used my mini loaf pans - it looks like a cupcake pan but has 8 rectangular forms. I sprayed each one with non-stick spray. Pour half the batter into 4 of the mini loaves.

With the remainder of the batter, stir in the black olives. Fill the remaining 4 mini loaves with this batter.

Top each mini loaf with a rosemary half (really just to decorate). Bake for 20 minutes (golden and springy to the touch) in your oven. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.

Note: 1 regular sized loaf - bake for about 45 minutes.