Banana Blueberry Muffins

Miss F declared these to be the best muffins ever. She ,made them nearly entirely on her own, the only thing she didn't do was crack the eggs. For some reason she isn't ever wanting to crack the eggs, not too sure why. I think the addition of the orange juice is really what made these the best muffins ever for Miss F.  She couldn't stop talking about them!  She also loved the batter, after she was done dishing out the muffins (without too much mess,) she licked the bowl completely clean. This recipe is from Go Go Go Gourmet.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

2 overripe bananas, peeled and mashed
¼ cup butter, melted
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
¼ cup orange juice
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups flour
1 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. In a mixing bowl, stir together the bananas, butter, sugar, vanilla and orange juice until well combined. Stir in the baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour until just combined. Fold in the blueberries. Use an ice cream disher to scoop the batter into the prepared tin. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool slightly in the pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pin It Now!

Sweet Blueberry Muffins

Have the blueberries been amazing lately or what? I am used to having delicious berries in the summer, so it has been quite a pleasant surprise to have them in February.  Even though it feels more like summer around here.  We spent the day picking strawberries in nearly 80 degree weather.  These muffins were a huge hit in our house.  C came home from a ski weekend and devoured three in one sitting.  Miss F had one for breakfast and then again for snack every day.  The recipe is from King Arthur Flour.  And I will be adapting it to make strawberry muffins since I have two huge bucket fulls in our refrigerator.

Sweet Blueberry Muffins

½ cup (8 tablespoons) butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
½ cup milk
2 ½ cups blueberries, fresh preferred
¼ cup sugar, for topping

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners. In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the baking powder, salt and vanilla. Add the flour and milk, beating gently until just combined. Mash ½ cup of the blueberries. Gently stir in the mashed blueberries and whole blueberries. Scoop the batter by ¼ cup full into the prepared liners. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with 1 teaspoon of sugar. Bake for 30 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Pin It Now!

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Now that Miss F is home for the summer, there is more time in the morning for making breakfast. One of her favorite breakfasts, besides the breakfast tacos her dad makes, is pancakes. She loves them, but refuses maple syrup. She prefers to dip them in chocolate syrup. She will also dip the bacon from her breakfast tacos in the chocolate syrup.  This is a great time of year for berries and we had a gorgeous pint of blueberries that were perfect for pancakes.  This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

1 ¼ cups flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon coarse salt
1 ½ cups buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 ½ cups blueberries

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. In a two cup measure, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs and butter. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour until just combined. Gently fold in the blueberries. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat, grease it with shortening. Scoop ¼ cup of batter for each pancake into the skillet. Cook until bubbles form in the batter, then flip over and cook the other side for 1 to 2 minutes more. Serve immediately.

Pin It Now!

Blueberry Yogurt Waffles

C requested waffles and bacon for Father's Day breakfast. I had blueberries on hand and a ton of yogurt. Since I was making bacon, I didn't want to fuss with my usual blueberry waffle recipe since it involves separating eggs and all that nonsense. I did some googling and decided to adapt a recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod. This was the easiest waffle recipe I have ever made. And the waffles turned out beautifully. Miss F dipped hers in chocolate syrup since she was distraught that I didn't have any cream to whip to top her waffles. Luckily, bacon made it all better. And she dipped the bacon in chocolate syrup as well.

Blueberry Yogurt Waffles

¼ cup sugar
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 ¾ cup flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup blueberries

Preheat the waffle iron. Whisk together the sugar, yogurt, milk and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in the flour, baking powder and baking soda until combined. Fold in the melted butter and blueberries. Grease the waddle iron with cooking spray. Fill the waffle iron with the batter, cook until crisp. Serve.

Pin It Now!

Red, White and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

I love cheesecake bars. I first made them for the Secret Recipe Club, Reeses Cheesecake Brownie Bars and they were amazing. These weren't as easy for me. I got the recipe from a local food blog I read, Eating Our Words. I of course had to convert them from low-fat to full fat, isn't that the point of dessert?  The recipe instructions were very basic and I am a not an experienced cheesecake maker. I originally added all the ingredients at once per the instructions and boy it was a mess. So after some troubleshooting involving a strainer,  a food processor and a giant mess, I got it straightened out. The tartness of the blueberries and raspberries are the perfect foil to the rich and creamy cheesecake.

Red, White and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons butter, melted
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 large eggs
1 cup fresh raspberries (more or less, as desired)
¾ cup fresh blueberries (more or less, as desired)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch pan with aluminum foil. Spray lightly with cooking spray. In a small bowl, mix crumbs and melted butter. Press mixture firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Whip the cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar, milk, cornstarch and lemon juice. Beat until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the crumb crust. Scatter raspberries and blueberries on top. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until touch to center feels slightly firm and set.

Cool completely before cutting. Use foil to lift cheesecake out of pan and onto a cutting board. Use a thin, sharp knife to cut into clean-looking bars (wiping blade clean with a paper towel between cuts). Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pin It Now!

Blueberry Banana Bread

Miss F was an excellent helper when making this bread. For the first time she didn't get flour everywhere when she stirred, so I see that as a major success.  She insisted on having a slice straight from the oven.  And then she ate it in the strangest way, she picked out all the bread portions first, ate them and then ate all the blueberries.  Silly girl.  It's blueberry season around here, so if you have some to use, I recommend adding it to this recipe or your own banana bread recipe.  I adapted this recipe from Straight from the Farm.

Blueberry Banana Bread

1 ¾ cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease one loaf pan. Set aside. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture. Stir in half of the bananas, then add half of the flour mixture. Stir in the remaining bananas and then the remaining flour mixture. Fold in the blueberries. Pour batter into the greased loaf pan and bake for an hour or until golden brown and springy to the touch.

Pin It Now!

Triple Berry Smoothie

I make this smoothie a couple of times a week for breakfast. Miss F probably drinks more than I do, she loves the smoothie. I am tearing through my frozen stash of Froberg Farms strawberries, it is going to be a sad day when they are all gone. Spring is so far away and I am already wanting to pick strawberries again. Triple Berry Smoothie ¾ cup frozen strawberries ¼ cup blueberries ¼ cup blackberries ½ cup plain non-fat yogurt Small handful of ice 2 teaspoons of honey Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

Pin It Now!

Recipe Swap: Peach and Blueberry Crisp

This week's recipe swap was dessert. I submitted my mom's chocolate cheesecake recipe, which is probably my most favorite dessert. I got Peach Blueberry Crisp from The Cookaholic Wife, which I was super excited for. I did change the original recipe by using fresh peaches and blueberries. Texas peaches are at their peak right now, which made it a bit more work, but it was totally worth it. I used the trick I learned while making Miss F's baby food, you boil the peach for 30 seconds and the skin peels right off, so much easier than using a knife to peel it. I sent the crisp and a gallon of ice cream to work with C and he said everyone enjoyed it. This is such a lovely summer dessert.

Peach Blueberry Crisp
Peach-Blueberry Mixture Ingredients:
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
5 large peaches
1 pint blueberries
½ cup sugar
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Crisp topping (recipe follows)
vanilla ice cream (optional)

Crisp Topping Mixture Ingredients:
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup old fashioned oats
½ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 375. Grease an 8x8 baking dish with butter. Bring a small saucepan filled with water to a boil. Boil each peach for 30 seconds, let cool. Peel the peaches and slice. Combine the peaches, blueberries, sugar, flour, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Toss well to mix. Transfer the fruit to the baking dish. Place the baking dish on a foil lined cookie sheet to catch any juices that might bubble over.

Combine all of the crisp topping ingredients in a large bowl and using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Spread the crisp mixture on top of the fruit and bake until crisp is browned on top and the juices have thickened around the edges, about 55 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Pin It Now!

Triple Berry Pie

For our 4th anniversary, I gave C a year of pies. Each month I baked a different fruit pie. I never did any combination of fruits, but I did learn a lot more about pie baking. C's favorite over the year was the blueberry pie, my favorite was the Batali Family Blackberry Pie. We had an excess of strawberries, blueberries and blackberries that were destined to be frozen until C mentioned bringing a pie into work. This pie is a good marriage of our two favorites.  The filling was my own invention, but the crust is from Martha Stewart. It was 80 degrees and humid when I made it, so the crust was not so fun to roll out.

Triple Berry Pie

2 ½ cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, cut into ½” pieces
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

1 ½ cups blueberries
1 ½ cups blackberries
1 ½ cups strawberries, quartered or halved, depending on size
½ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
juice of half a lemon

In a food processor, process flour, sugar and salt until combined. Add the butter and process for 10 seconds. Add the water through the feed tube in a slow stream. Process until the mixture begins to come together. Place the dough in a large Ziploc bag and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, sugar, corn starch and lemon juice. Toss gently to combine. Let sit for 15 minutes.

Roll out the dough to fit a 9” pie pan, reserving enough dough to create the lattice top. Once the dough is lining the pie dish, pour the berry mixture over top. Roll the remaing dough into 9” strips that are ½” wide. Weave the dough on the top of the pie. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Pin It Now!

Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake

I once tried to make a lemon bundt cake that had a lemon syrup you were supposed to pour over the cake. I decided to do it before it was unmolded from the pan and the results were one of my most disastrous baking messes of all time. I was left with a giant and sticky cake that refused to come out of the pan. Needless to say, I love lemon bundt cakes, but have been wary of trying them ever since. I had a giant package of blueberries from Costco that Miss F wasn't eating fast enough, so into the cake they went. This cake is heavenly. The perfect mix of sweetness from the blueberries and tartness from the lemon.

Blueberry-Lemon Bundt Cake

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 teaspoon for blueberries and zest
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
2 cups blueberries
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
juice of one lemon
Nonstick cooking spray, for pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk 2 ½ cups flour with baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in vanilla and lemon juice. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of sour cream.

In a bowl, toss blueberries and zest with remaining teaspoon flour; gently fold into batter. Coat a 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan with cooking spray. For best results, coat the inside of the Bundt pan with cooking spray just before filling it with the batter to prevent it from pooling in the bottom. Spread batter in prepared pan.

Bake cake on bottom rack of oven until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes. Invert onto a rack; cool completely, top side up. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Pin It Now!

Sour Cream Blueberry Pancakes

Pancakes for breakfast are a favorite around here, especially ones with fruit. I saw this recipe for sour cream pancakes on Kirbie's Cravings and decided to try it.  I made a couple of changes, but was pretty loyal to the recipe.  I had some sour cream on hand, which is rare in this household, I hardly ever use it.  These pancakes were excellent.  Maybe I will have to buy sour cream more often for our weekend breakfasts.  In our old house, our stove had a built in griddle.  I miss it so much at breakfast time.  I am getting used to my Lodge double burner griddle, but it is such a pain to clean.

Sour Cream Blueberry Pancakes

1 ½ cups flour
3 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup sour cream
¾ cup milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup fresh blueberries
Shortening to grease the griddle

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In another bowl combine sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix only until combined. Gently fold in the blueberries. Grease the skillet with shortening. Pour the pancake batter into the skillet and cook until bubbles appear on top and the bottom is nicely browned. Flip the pancakes over and cook for another minute or so until its browned. Serve warm with maple syrup.

Pin It Now!

Mini Blueberry Muffins

In honor of the teeny tiny blueberries I got on my last Costco run, these mini blueberry muffins suited them perfectly. Baking the blueberries brings out their sweetness since they weren't super tasty on their own, Miss F rejected them on more than one occasion. She did not reject the muffins, they were gobbled up with glee. She loves anything that is teeny tiny in size, perfect for her!

Mini Blueberry Muffins
makes 30

2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
¼ cup natural applesauce
1 egg
¾ cup milk
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350.

Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Cream the butter and the sugar. Add the applesauce and egg and mix to combine. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk and mix until it forms a smooth batter. Gently fold the berries into the batter.

Spoon the batter into lined mini muffin tins. Bake the muffins for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown.

Pin It Now!

Blueberry Waffles

I am down to my last bag of frozen summer blueberries. The blueberries I am finding at the store right now are tiny, tart and just not right. Blueberries are one of Miss F's favorite snacks, especially the plump and sweet summer ones. These waffles were great and would be even better with blueberry syrup.

Blueberry Waffles
makes 6 to 8 waffles

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ¾ cups milk
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 large eggs
4 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 piches of salt
1 pinch of cinnamon

Separate egg yolks and whites. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.

In a medium-sized bowl, add egg yolks, milk and butter. Stir well.

Sift all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the yolk/milk/butter mixture and whisk until smooth. Gently fold in the blueberries a Tablespoon at a time. Fold in the egg whites.

Cook in a well-greased waffle iron heated to its medium-high setting.

Pin It Now!

Blueberry Muffins

I got a pint of gorgeous Texas blueberries to make some baby food for F and I got another pint for C and I. I am over blueberry pie for the moment (two in one month is a lot of pie!), so I decided to whip up a batch of blueberry muffins to have for breakfast for the week. I think C is going to have one for dessert tonight. Nothing wrong with that...







Blueberry Muffins

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups blueberries (7 1/2 oz)

Special equipment: a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups; 12 foil or paper muffin liners

Preparation

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Put liners in muffin cups.

Whisk together butter, brown sugar, milk, and egg in a bowl until combined well. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add milk mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in blueberries gently.

Divide batter among muffin cups and bake until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Pin It Now!

Blueberry Pancakes

Blueberries are so tasty this time of year. I got a half pint for pancakes this morning. I love fresh berries in the summer. The berries I had today were grown in Texas and they were amazingly sweet.










Blueberry Pancakes

1 egg, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons of oil
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch salt
1/2 pint blueberries

Heat griddle to 350. Lightly coat with shortening.

Mix all ingredients together except strawberries. Stir to combine, batter will be lumpy. Fold in blueberries. Scoop pancakes by the ladle full onto the griddle. Turn once they bubble all over. Serve warm with syrup.

Pin It Now!

A year of pies: Blueberry Pie

The traditional gift for the fourth anniversary is fruit or flowers. I decided fruit pies would be the best gift for Clifton, how can you go wrong with pie? I promised him one fruit pie every month for the next year. First up was a blueberry pie. He proclaimed it the best pie I ever made~ wow!

It was a really easy pie, the hardest part was finding blueberries that didn't cost a fortune. As much as I love him, I am not sure $20 worth of blueberries for one pie is quite worth it. For all future blueberry pies, I will head straight to Costco. I also realize upon retyping this recipe that I didn't add the butter...whoops...didn't seem to matter one bit.

The crust is from Martha Stewart and it is my most favorite pie crust recipe, I have tried so many. The best part if that it makes so much. The recipe says one pie crust, but I got one pie crust and the lattice top from it.

Blueberry Pie

2 pints (4 cups) blueberries; rinsed, drained and picked over
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Combine 1 cup of the blueberries with the sugar in a nonreactive saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is melted and the mixture is very liquid about 5 minutes.

Combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and whisk the blueberry and sugar mixture into it. Return everything to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, over low heat, until the mixture comes to a boil, thickens and becomes clear. If it does not become clear, continue to cook over low heat for a few more minutes, until it does.

Pour into a large bowl and stir in the remaining filling ingredients, except the blueberries, then add the remaining 3 cups blueberries. Cool.

Set a rack at the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Roll out the bottom crust and arrange in one, 9-inch Pyrex pie pan. Pour the cooled filling into the bottom crust. Prepare a lattice top crust. Flute the edge of the pie and carefully brush it with egg wash. If you wish, sprinkle the top of the pie with sugar.

Place the pie in the oven on the lower rack and reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F (190 C). Bake for about 40 minutes, until the crust is baked through and a deep golden brown and the filling is gently bubbling. If the top crust has not colored sufficiently after 30 minutes of baking, move the pie to the upper rack of the oven for the last 10 minutes. Cool the pie on a rack.

Makes 1 (9-inch) pie, 6-8 servings.

Pie Crust
(one crust)
2 ½ cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1//2 inch cubes
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

Pulse flour, sugar and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add ice water in a slow steady stream until mixture just begins to hold together.

Shape dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour or up to 3 days, before using.

Pin It Now!