Blueberry Lemon Curd

It's July...very close to August.  Are you all aware of that?  I swear I blink and another month passes.  I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing.  But I am excited about this month's Secret Recipe Club post.  I was assigned the lovely blog, Teaspoon of Spice written by Deanna and Serena, both registered dietitians.  Their blog focuses on healthy yet delicious foods.  In fact they teamed up to start a monthly healthy recipe blog challenge called the Recipe Redux.  It's all about taking recipes and making them better for you, but still keeping them tasty.  I know I could use more of those kinds of recipes in my life!  I have a number of tasty things bookmarked already!

As with every Secret Recipe Club assignment, I always have difficulty choosing just one recipe.  Though it wasn't easy, I finally selected blueberry lemon curd.  I have a love for preserves and curds and just happened to be flush with an abundance of blueberries.  Plus I was totally intrigued by the idea of a blueberry based curd.  I've only made lemon curd in the past and I've really only seen citrus curds.

Blueberry lemon curd rocks!  In case you were wondering.

It's has a rich consistency from the egg yolks and butter, standard ingredients that turn a preserve into a curd (along with a little cornstarch).  I've been eating my new favorite curd for breakfast nearly every day this week on half of my English muffin, smearing peanut butter on the other half (these two pair together nicely).  But for you all, I wanted to share a presentation beyond the English muffin. 

This weekend I set out to pair this beautiful blueberry curd with something equally special.  I thought it would be the perfect time to finally try my hand at French macarons.  The curd would be the filling between those delicate sandwich cookies.  Sadly, the macarons were a huge flop.  I'm not sure where it all went wrong, but I couldn't even pry the little shells off the parchment paper after baking.  3 sheet pans full...into the garbage. 

My second attempt to use the curd was in a recipe I recently saw on Pinterest for lemon bar muddy buddies.  Why not make them BLUEBERRY lemon bar muddy buddies?  Perhaps there is a good reason because, again, I'm not sure where it all went wrong.  The muddy buddies were overly sweet and turned to sog city after a few hours and shortly thereafter, joined the fallen macarons in the trash. :(  Strike two!

I half thought about making homemade linzers, but at that point it just wasn't in me to start another recipe.  Instead I found adorable shortbread tart shells in the baking aisle of my local grocery store. A homerun! The tart shells make a perfect vessel for blueberry lemon curd.  Besides, aren't they the cutest little things?  I happened to have some left over cream cheese frosting to pipe a little flower on top of each one.  Let me tell you, simple is often best.  A perfect blueberry pie bite.

Blueberry lemon curd will be joining my list of keeper recipes!

Enjoy! 

Blueberry Lemon Curd
from Teaspoon of Spice

Yields about 2 1/2 cups

3 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 teaspoon salt

In a medium heavy bottomed sauce pan, heat blueberries, sugar and lemon juice, stirring occasionally over medium/high heat.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 6 minutes.  Remove pan from heat and allow to stand and cool about 5-10 minutes.  Using an immersion blender, puree the mixture.  Alternatively you can transfer the blueberry mixture to a blender.  Please be careful though!  It's incredibly hot liquid. 

Return pan to medium/low heat.  Meanwhile, stir together cornstarch and egg yolks until smooth.  Add to the blueberry mixture, whisking constantly.  Allow mixture to come to a boil.  Boil for one minute whisking constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in butter and salt.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes or so, whisking occasionally to continue to release the heat.  Spoon into jars or containers with an airtight seal and continue to cool for another 15 minutes of so.  Seal and refrigerate.

Notes: I used 1 cup of sugar because my blueberries were quite tart.

Blueberry Muffins

Guess what time it is?  Secret Recipe Club!  This month I was assigned Debbi's blog Debbi Does Dinner Healthy.  Debbi is also the very gracious hostess Secret Recipe Club's Group C and keeps us all organized and on schedule each month.  I was excited to browse Debbi's blog because she has so many great dinner ideas....that are healthy!  Debbi mostly focuses on meals that are under 500 calories (though she throws in desserts here and there where calorie counting is strictly off limits!).  I had every intention of making something savory from Debbi's blog.  I had my eye on Raspberry Glazed Rosemary Chicken, Parmesan Chicken Bake and Chicken Poblano Casserole.  All so tasty looking! 

But surprise, surprise...

My sweet tooth took over once again.  I'm starting to sounds like a broken record!  I didn't go with a full on dessert so I give myself kudos for that.  I had some beautiful blueberries to use up so I went with a little something sweet for breakfast.  These blueberry muffins have whole wheat flour in them...so they are healthy!  Right?  Actually they are only 221 calories per muffin, which isn't too shabby.  Especially if it means I can have a little sweet at breakfast. :)

The muffins are fluffy and soft on the inside and have a slight crunch on top (which I love) if you serve them fresh out of the oven!  With a lightly sweet crumb, a pop of fresh blueberries and a bit of heartiness from the wheat flour, it's a great way to start your day.  Thanks Debbi!

Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins
from Debbi Does Dinner Healthy adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 1/4 cup light sour cream (I used Greek yogurt)
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen can be used as well)

Preheat over to 350 and line 12 cup muffin tin with liners. 

In a medium bowl whisk flours, baking powder and salt.  Toss the blueberries in the dry mixture.

In a separate medium bowl whisk egg until light in color.  Whisk in sugar and then add melted butter in 2 additions until combined.  Whisk in the sour cream in 2 additions until combined.

Add the sour cream mixture to the flour mixture and gently fold until just combined.  The batter will be very thick (almost the consistency of cookie dough) and may have some streaks of flour.  Do not over mix. 

Divide the batter into the muffin tins (I like to use a full size ice cream scoop for consistent portions).  Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking, until muffins are lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Remove muffins from the tin and cool on a wire rack for 5 - 10 minutes.  Serve warm if possible. 

Blueberry Donut Muffins

Are you as shocked as I am that summer is really here?  The weeks and months tick by with or without my approval.  I mark the passage of time with the arrival of weekends and the denial of the restart of the work week.  Holidays, birthdays and anniversarys pass.  I fill up my 7 day medication dispenser with vitamins and such each Sunday evening (dang I feel like an old lady saying that).  (I thought about erasing that last bit about the medication dispenser by the way.)  And once a month I participate in Secret Recipe Club.  Something I look forward to.  It's a fun group to be a part of, but it also means another month has zipped by when I wasn't looking. 

The best thing about the monthly arrival of SRC is trying out a new recipe.  This month I was assigned Denise's blog, Creative Kitchen.  I always have a blast browsing through a new blog, and Denise's was no exception.  She has been blogging since 2009, she's busy with a family of five and focuses on making meals made with "real" whole foods.  Creative Kitchen has a variety of sweet and savory dishes, all made with love and as few processed foods as possible.  I admire Denise's committment to feeding her family real food, but keeping it in balance with the reality of our modern processed food society.  It's a concept I'd like to incorporate more into my little family of two.  Reading Denise's blog made me smile.  She has an enthusiastic spirit that is evident in the stories she shares as well as the dishes she creates.  Creative Kitchen definitely has a new follower! 

Choosing just one recipe is always a challenge.  I was drawn to several, but ultimately decided it was time to tackle the donut muffin.  I am a fan of donuts.  I am a fan of muffins.  And a baked donut sure beats frying. 

This recipe is easy to throw together on a Saturday morning as most of the ingredients can be found in a well stocked pantry.  I thought my pantry was pretty well stocked, but as the donut muffins were baking, I realized I was completely out of butter.  That almost never happens.  I always have butter stashed away in the freezer. 

Not this time. 

The donut muffins require the top of the baked donuts to be dipped in melted butter and then in cinnamon sugar.  What to do?  Go to the store at 7:30 am on Saturday morning in my yoga pants and bed head?  Nope.  Send Hubby to the store for me?  Um, he was still sleeping. 

Time to improvise. 

I had some fresh blueberries in the fridge and I had already been thinking about making a blueberry sauce to drizzle over the donut muffins.  Why not use that in place of butter?  It was one of those happy accidents that turned out really well.

The donut muffins have the texture of a cake donut.  Add in fresh blueberry preserves and a cinnamon sugar crunch on top and you have a tasty breakfast treat on your hands.  I enjoyed one or three with a cup of early grey tea.   Now that's the way I like to start my weekend.  Denise recommends doubling the recipe, and I see why.  These little babies go fast!  Thanks for the recipe Denise!

Now, let's see how quickly July arrives.  In the meantime...

Enjoy!

Blueberry Donut Muffins
adapted from Creative Kitchen

1/3 cup of shortening (CK used coconut oil)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (CK used whole wheat flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup milk

Topping:
1/3 cup blueberry preserves (see recipe below or if using store bought, heat preserves in microwave about 30 seconds to 1 minute, until loose)
1/4 cup sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 and spray muffin tin with cooking spray, or line with paper liners.  I used my mini muffin pan (which is a medium sized mini--as opposed to a small mini) and it yielded 12 muffins (I would plan on 6-8 full size muffins).

In a medium bowl whisk shortening, sugar and egg until fully combined.  In another medium bowl, stir flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg together.  Stir flour mixture into shortening mixture in thirds alternating with milk until just combined. 

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 18-20 minutes for mini's or 25 minutes for full size, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow muffins to cool and dip tops in the blueberry preserves and then dip in cinnamon sugar mixture.

Blueberry Preserves
from The Ginger Snap Girl

1 cup fresh blueberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook on medium high heat.  Boil mixture for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened.  It will continue to thicken upon cooling.

White Chocolate Blueberry Almond Cookies

I do a lot of stuff in my mind.  Like accomplishing way more tasks in a day than humanly possible.  In my mind, every night I plan to get up early the next day to start conquering the to do list.  The list is all checked off at the end of the day and I beam with satisfaction. 

I also exercise  a lot (still in my mind).  I envision myself running and sweating and feeling so accomplished by the fact I can actually run.  It's like I'm running a 5K everyday.  And I see my jeans slipping on and buttoning with ease because of all this running I'm doing. 

Since I'm exercising it's only natural that I'm also eating really really healthy (yet tasty) foods.  Again, we are still in my mind.  And I feel all energized and clean from eating such nutritionally rich super foods.   I'm practically glowing from all this healthiness. 

And of course I still have time to check a few more things off my to do list before I turn in for the night.  Then I get up and do it all over again.  

I'm sure you can guess where this is going.

Reality.  Why does reality always come along and ruin everything?

In real life I'm lucky if I get through 1/3 of my to do list on most days.  Even if I actually set my alarm to rise early and tackle a few more projects in my day...I pretty much always snooze.  At least 3 times, sometimes more.  And I rarely exercise.  If I do, it certainly doesn't involve running.  Best case scenario it involves a swift walk, occasionally up a hill if I'm feeling really adventurous.  It's so much more fun to run in my head I guess!  Food is the one area where sometimes I accomplish the lofty goals my mind has in store.  I try to eat healthy-ish.  But I also do more than my fair share of indulging in cookies, cakes, pies, ice cream....more cookies.   

Cookies live in my mind.  And thankfully they are a pretty regular reality around here.  They are my indulgence of choice.  I'm always looking to try new cookie flavor combos.  These cookies were completely experimental.  I was looking for something different to send for Operation Baking GALS this month.  I was very happy with the finished product and hope they made it through 7 days of travel overseas. 

I took a white chocolate chip macadamia nut recipe and pretty much went to town.  It started with plump dried blueberries (I'm pretty certain blueberries are a super food!  Right?  Right??) and almonds (good for you too!), along with butter and plenty of brown sugar.  Okay, those last two are questionable in the health department, but they make these oh so chewy and caramelly delicious.  Don't forget about the sweet, creamy, white chocolate chips.  All the flavors work really well together...blueberry pie, meets cheesecake, meets cookie.  Good stuff.

I better go back to exercising in my head. 

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Blueberry Almond Cookies
from The Ginger Snap Girl

Yields 36 cookies

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 3/4 cups dried blueberries
1 3/4 cups chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 375 and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a medium whisk flour, baking soda and salt.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (you can also use a hand mixer) cream butter and sugars on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Turn mixer to low and add eggs one at time, until incorporated.  Mix in vanilla.  Add in flour mixture in three batches and mix on low until just incorporated.  Add white chocolate chips, blueberries and almonds and mix on low until evenly distributed. 

Using a medium cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons) scoop out 12 cookies per baking sheet.  Bake for 11-13 minutes until lightly golden brown, rotating sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through cooking.  Allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Sweet Melissa Sundays Top 10 Favorite Recipes!

In April 2010 I started participating in the weekly online baking group, Sweet Melissa Sundays.  The group had already been baking their way through the Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy for about a year when I joined.  And the group posted the final recipe (of just over 100 recipes) on August 21, 2011.  In the past year and a half I've met some amazingly talented bakers and learned tons.  Before joining this group my baking repertoire consisted of mostly cookies, a few cakes or cupcakes and a pie here and there.   What I liked most about the group was being pushed outside my comfort zone.  Without the group I doubt I would have tried more than half the recipes that turned out to be some of my favorites. 

When I tasted each of the recipes below for the first time, I said, "wow".  For each and every one.  Literally, I said, "wow".  Out loud.  I love when you bite into something and you're not sure what to expect or think you know exactly what to expect, and you are pleasantly surprised and all you can say is "wow!" 

To wrap a year and a half of baking I wanted to put together a list of my favorites.  They are listed in order the group made them.  So without further adieu...

Chocolate Cake

This chocolate cake is the base for several recipes in the Sweet Melissa book.  It's incredibly moist and deep dark chocolaty.  I have an affinity for cakes made with sour cream and this one really knocks it out of the park if you are a chocolate lover.  I have made it several times and will continue to go to this as one of my top chocolate cake recipes. 

Gingersnaps

When I got my first turn to host a recipe for the group I had to go with Gingersnaps.  It only seemed right!  I was surprised at how much I liked these cookies, since I already have my own go to ginger snap recipe.  Melissa Murphy's version contains typical spices you might expect, like cinnamon, ginger and allspice, but what was really unique was the inclusion of white pepper.  Everything in my gut was telling me to omit the pepper, but I felt like I really had to do the recipe proper justice and follow it word for word.  And you know what?  The white pepper works!  It blends with other spices to make a perfectly sweet and mildly spicy cookie.  And it pairs beautifully with a lemon cream filling.

Blueberry and Almond Biscotti

What is a biscotti anyway?  It's essentially a twice baked cookie.  Round 1 is baked in a loaf form and then the loaf is sliced into the biscotti spears you are probably familiar with and those are baked again to get a nice crunchy texture.  I have never been a biscotti person.  Probably because I'm not a coffee drinker or a fan of crunchy cookies in general.  I had never made biscotti before and  I really didn't expect to like this.  I hate being wrong. But love it all at the same time because these biscotti are delicious and you don't need a hot beverage to enjoy them.  They also make great gifts since they keep well for several days. 

Melissa's recipe called for dried sour cherries, but I switched it up with dried blueberries instead.  What made this recipe for me was the lemon zest.  The lemon flavor is incredibly bright in this crunchy cookie, but not overly lemony.  This recipe opened my eyes to the possibility of making various flavors of biscotti (which I have on my to do list).

Sweet Almond Cake with Lemon Curd

Before joining SMS, I will be honest, most cakes I made were out of a box.  With the exception of carrot cake.  My family has a great carrot cake recipe that doesn't involve a box.  One day I'll get around to posting it on the blog.  What I didn't know was the various techniques used in making cakes from scratch.  This one calls for ground almonds and whipped egg whites in the batter.  You whip up the egg whites until they form stiff peaks (similar to making a meringue) and then gently fold the airy mixture into your cake.  I really don't know much about the science of baking, but I do know this cake is delicious with a lightly sweet almond flavor.  It has a lovely toothsome crumb from the ground almonds and a light moistness.  This cake would be a wonderful base for many fillings and frostings.  Speaking of fillings and frostings, the lemon curd and lemon mascarpone frosting that accompany this cake were not the stars for me.  I had to switch to lemon cream cheese frosting because I had trouble with the mascarpone.  This cake recipe, however, is on my list of keepers!

Mom's French Pancakes (aka Crepes)

Can you say yummy?  Can you say easy to make?  Can  you say "Oooh la la"! This recipe was another surprise winner!  I mean I knew I already loved crepes, I just doubted my ability to make these thin delicate little pancakes.  The ingredients are simple and the batter can (and is recommended) to be made the night before you make these little jewels.  I used a large non stick skillet and after making one or two crepes, really got the hang of it.  If you have not made crepes before, you must try them!  The options for filling them are endless....but my favorite combination is seen above.  Nutella and sliced bananas.  Simple.  Delicious!

Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Pie

Though I am posting these in the order I made them and not in any preferential taste order, I will say this is a fantastic recipe and is among my top 3 favorites from the book (along with the chocolate cake and honey cream caramels).  I was completely blown away by the perfect marriage of lemon and blueberries amidst a creamy custardy filling.  And this pie is one of the easiest in the book to make.  Especially if you use a pre-made graham cracker crust from the grocery store (a slight diversion from the original recipe).  Melissa's recipe calls for traditional pie dough, but as I was making this pie for the second time for Mother's Day earlier this year, I had a crust mishap.  I used Melissa's all butter pie crust recipe and had major shrinkage occur.  Irreparable shrinkage.  At 11 pm on the eve of Mother's Day I went to the grocery store to buy a roll of Pillsbury pie dough, but at the last minute decided to go with a graham cracker crust.  You know the kind that you find in the baking aisle and comes in a foil pie tin with that cool plastic covering that doubles as a lid when you flip it over?  I have to say, I loved it!  I think this pie is even better than fantastic when made with a graham cracker crust.  Definitely a winner!

Pecan Frosting

I almost didn't make this recipe.  Melissa's original recipe is called Coconut Pecan Frosting, otherwise known as German chocolate cake frosting.  I really don't care for the texture of coconut and I'm generally not a fan of nuts in my dessert.  But the point of this group is going outside your comfort zone.  So I failed in that I didn't go completely outside my comfort zone.  I just took a small step.  I decided to simply omit the coconut from the recipe since that was the greater of two evils.  Imagine my surprise when I tasted the final product and loved it!  It really is less like a frosting and more like a candy topping.  My family loved it spread on graham crackers best.  But it would also make a delicious ice cream topping and it's not too bad with pumpkin cake either! 

Honey Cream Caramels

This was yet another goodie I had never made before.  I don't have anything against caramel candies.  I like them just fine, but there are a lot of other treats I would reach for first.  Luckily I didn't write this recipe off!  These caramels are soft and sweet and delicious.  I really didn't think I would like these as much as I did.  I kept going back to the kitchen and sneaking one more (I'm not sure who I was sneaking them from, but I felt a little guilty eating so many of these honey infused treasures).  This recipe is easy to make and caramels are another great giveaway treat because they store for up to two weeks in an airtight container.  They would also be delicious with a little sprinkling of sea salt before they completely set.  Honey Cream Caramels will be making it into my holiday baking rotation this Christmas!

Strawberry Rhubarb Preserves

Melissa shares a master preserves recipe that shares general ratios of fruit to sugar, acid, etc. and then has recipes for 5 different flavor variations.  This is one of those recipes that was widely praised by many members of the group.  I was able to make three variations, plum preserves, white nectarine cinnamon preserves and of course strawberry rhubarb. 

I feel like a broken record here, but preserves or jam was something I had not made before joining this group.  And I was surprised at how easy they are to make and delicious.  There's something special and very satisfying about making toast in the morning and slathering it with your own fresh made preserves.  I also took the leap into the canning world with these preserves.  Yet another great goodie to give away as a gift.  Of three preserve variations I made, the strawberry rhubarb was my hands down favorite!  The tartness from the rhubarb is a perfect match to the sweet strawberry.  And it makes a great filling for a crumble bar! 

Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream

I didn't actually make this recipe along with the group.  They made it long before I even knew Sweet Melissa Sundays existed.  And to be honest, vanilla ice cream is not something that really excites me.  There are so many delectable ice cream flavors in the world to choose from.  But I found I was in need of an ice cream to pair with this Plum and Raspberry Pie with a Sweet Almond Lattice.  This pie was incredibly tart and needed a nice sweet ice cream to balance it out.  I decided to give Melissa's recipe for Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream a shot since I would be serving to others who don't share my lack of excitement over vanilla.  Also, I had recalled reading in various posts from my fellow SMS bloggers, how delicious this ice cream was.  And they were right!  It's got a depth of caramel like flavor from the brown sugar and is the perfect accompaniment to a fruit pie or tart.  Yet another pleasant surprise!

I made 40 recipes with the group and a few more on my own outside the group. There are many more the group made before I joined that I would still like to try...like Butter Toffee Crunch, Lemon Icebox Cake with Strawberry Sauce, Sweet Almond Bread Pudding with Raspberry Sauce, Caramel Apple Turnovers with Sweet Ricotta Filling, and Fallen Chocolate Souffle Cake to name a few. 

It's been a great ride and I've learned a very important lesson...don't judge a dessert by it's ingredient list!  Even if you are unsure if it would be your thing or if you think it sounds too hard or complicated, give it a go.  You might just be surprised yourself!

I want to extend my thanks to all the fabulous SMS bakers.  You girls rock, sharing great ideas, encouragement and support!  I loved checking out everyone's creations on Sunday mornings.  Special thanks to Karen of Karen's Cookies Cakes & More for maintaining the site and keeping everyone on schedule.  She has spearheaded a new baking group called Club: Baked to keep us busy and learning new things.  This group started on July 1, 2011 and we are baking our way through Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.  This group bakes twice a month and so far there have been some pretty stinkin delicious recipes.  We really just got started so please feel free to join our baking adventure!

Blueberry Oat Bars

Have you ever had a Blueberry Oat Bar from Starbucks?  They are my favorite sweet treat from the coffee house giant.  I don't even drink coffee, but will make a stop occasionally for a black iced tea (unsweetened) or a chai tea latte and a blueberry oat bar.  It tastes like a homemade treat with a delicious oat crust base, a blueberry filling with a bright fresh blueberry taste and a tender oat crumble topping. If you are a blueberry fan, you should try one next time you stop at Starbucks.

I decided I wanted to try making them at home, so I went in search of recipes.  I found a recipe on food.com that claimed to be like the delicious Starbucks treat, if not better!  So I put it to the test.  It's not quite like the original. Seems like this recipe has more oats and a different blueberry to  crust/crumble ratio.   I also read online that other folks recommended adding cinnamon to the crust/crumble mixture.  I meant to add cinnamon, but forgot.  The finished product would definitely be enhanced with a little kiss of cinnamon.  Next time!

Even though this recipe isn't an exact replica of the original, it is very tasty and definitely holds its own and makes a great snack or breakfast.  Katrina from Baking and Boys has a blueberry cream cheese oat bar on her blog that looks amazing.  Next time I will try Katrina's version. The cream cheese layer looks like it would take these bars to the next level.

Some of these blueberry oat bars will be my breakfast for the next few days and the rest will serve as a gift to my Grandpa who is turning 94 years old this week.  Happy Birthday Grandpa!   


Blueberry Oat Bars
adapted from food.com

3 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2 cups oats
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

In small saucepan combine blueberries, sugar and lemon juice and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and continue cooking for 10 minutes.  Whisk in the cornstarch and boil until thickened about 1 minute.  Transfer to a bowl and place plastic wrap directly on the surface and refrigerate until cooled, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350.  Line a 9 x 13 baking dish with foil to come up over all four sides of the dish for easy removal after the bars are baked.  Spray the foil with non stick cooking spray. 

Make the base/crumble topping by combining  oats, flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon (if using). Cut the butter into small pieces and combine in the flour mixture.  Using your hands mix the butter into the flour mixture to form a crumble. 

Set aside 1 1/2 cups of the mixture and press the remaining mixture evenly into the prepared pan.  Top with the cooled blueberry filling.  Sprinkle reserved crumble evenly over the top.  Bake for 40-45 until lightly golden brown.  Let cool completely before cutting.

Very Berry Frozen Yogurt

My kitchen cabinets are at maximum capacity.  Even the cabinets above the stove and fridge are stuffed to the brim with kitchen stuff.  For a long time Hubby has been saying he thinks we should get a bread maker.  My response is, "Sure, as long as we can store it in your office, because the kitchen is full!"  I try to avoid buying any new kitchen appliances as tempting as they may be.  I've had my eye on a nice panini press for a while now.  And heck, I wouldn't mind a bread maker.  But there simply is no room. 

I succumbed to temptation this weekend.  Hubby and I went to Costco on Friday evening to stock up for the long weekend.  Though our kitchen cabinets are overflowed, our fridge and freezer were pretty bare.  We bought shrimp, chicken, baby back ribs, organic ground beef, an assortment of veggies, a bag of pears and fresh blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.  And magically an ice cream maker ended up in our cart.  A 1 1/2 quart Cuisinart ice cream maker (for only $30).  It was our fun item.  Everyone needs a fun item for a holiday weekend.  And just like that I forgot all about the fact this new device would have no home in our kitchen.  I kept thinking about all the fabulous ice cream recipes I've seen on various food blogs.  How these food bloggers just quick whip a batch of home made ice cream and serve it alongside some other tasty baked goodie.  Is it really that easy?

The answer is yes.  It's easy to forget that you have no room in the kitchen and it's even easier to make your own home made frozen treats.  After flipping through the Cuisinart recipe book that came with our new purchase, we decided on Very Berry Frozen Yogurt.  Truth be told, it wasn't my first choice....but Hubby is all pro healthy and thought we should avoid the calorie laden ice cream.  I decided to go along with it...all the while plotting out what decadent ice cream I would make on the second go round with our new toy.  Fittingly, I will be making the "Decadent Chocolate Ice Cream".

The very berry frozen yogurt turned out good.  It's not "soft serve" style frozen  yogurt.  When it came out of the ice cream maker it was the consistency of a thick smoothie.  The recipe recommends freezing the finished product for 2 hours to get a firmer consistency.  When frozen overnight, the yogurt was very firm and had a texture a lot like sorbet.  It would be great to make these into popsicles.  The berry flavor was awesome and the end product wasn't too tart.  It was a nice treat after our dinner of barbecued baby back ribs, cole slaw and cornbread.  Very refreshing, light and delicious.

More frozen treats to appear here soon.  Permanent home for the ice cream maker....TBD.

Very Berry Frozen Yogurt
adapted from cuisinart.com

2 cups low-fat vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
4 ounces blueberries
4 ounces raspberries
4 ounces blackberries

Combine the yogurt, milk and sugar in a mixing bowl and mix with a hand mixer 1-2 minutes and sugar is completely dissolved and set aside.  Puree berries in a blender or food processor and strain through a mesh strainer to remove seeds.  Pour strained berry puree into the yogurt mixture and mix on low speed until fully combined.  Pour into ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturers instructions.  The frozen yogurt is very soft (the consistency of a smoothie) when it comes out of the ice cream maker.  Transfer to a plastic container and freeze for 2 hours for a thicker consistency. 

Yields 1 1/2 quarts

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

I'm a little ashamed to admit that in our 2 person household a decent amount of food goes to waste.  My ambitions with food are bigger than reality.  I'm trying to make an effort to use up the ingredients in my refrigerator that are calling out to be prepared and eaten before they die a slow death.  Some ingredients are harder to find uses for than others.  One item that I can't seem to use up is Greek yogurt. I buy the big tub-o-yogurt from Costco and usually use half of the container, at best.  Then there is the pantheon vegetables that never see the light day and go from the fridge straight to the trash can.  Don't get me wrong, I buy them with the full intention of making some yummy dish.  But somehow life intervenes and those dishes I had big plans for never come to fruition. 

Another item I struggle with is buttermilk.  I don't believe I have ever used an entire container of buttermilk. Ever. Even the smaller container. Last weekend I bought a quart of low fat buttermilk to make one of my favorite pies, Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Pie to bring to Mother's Day lunch.  It's a fabulous pie, by the way.  Especially if you make it with a graham cracker crust.  Anyway, given my track record with buttermilk I didn't even think about how else I could use up the remainder.  I sadly just made the assumption it would see the depths of the trash at some point. But my Hubby said, hey, why don't you make that baked chicken with buttermilk?  It's an Ellie Krieger recipe where you soak chicken tenders in buttermilk and then coat them with crushed cornflakes.  Great idea!  I haven't made the chicken yet, but it's on the menu for tomorrow evening.

You are probably wondering how all this ties to Blueberry Muffins?  Hubbies suggestion about the chicken got me thinking what else I could use the buttermilk for.  That this buttermilk did not have to be destined for waste.  So I went in search of options last night.  I pulled 3 random cookbooks from my small collection and started thumbing through them.  The perfect recipe appeared in the Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook.  Blueberry Streusel Muffins.  I had all the ingredients in house, including buttermilk, blueberries (left over from last week's pie and were begging to be used), lemon zest.....Perfect!

And it was the perfect way to start off a Saturday.  The muffins are easy to make.  The buttermilk makes them incredibly tender and they are topped with a crunchy cinnamon streusel.  Delicious.  It would make a perfect accompaniment to a brunch menu.

Look how tender it is!

I loved the muffin base, so light and moist.  Though I enjoyed the streusel, I think I slightly prefer this muffin crumble topping.  Ina's muffin with Melissa's crumble will be my next blueberry muffin to try.

Maybe you have some buttermilk in your refrigerator begging to be used?


Blueberry Streusel Muffins
from Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics

Makes 20 muffins
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups buttermilk, shaken
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 extra-large eggs
2 cups fresh blueberries (2 half pints)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line muffin tins with paper liners.

Sift or whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.  In a small bowl whisk the buttermilk, melted butter, lemon zest, and eggs together. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture with a fork, mixing just until blended. Note: I added a couple extra tablespoons of buttermilk because the batter was quite thick.  Gently fold in the blueberries. Do not over mix batter.  Fill prepared muffin cups 3/4 full of batter.  Top with streusel topping.  See recipe below.
Streusel Topping:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the butter is in very small pieces. Pour into a bowl and rub with your fingers until crumbly. Spoon 1 tablespoon of streusel on top of each muffin. Note: a tablespoon seems like a lot, but it's just right when the muffin bakes up. 

Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.   

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Orange Blueberry Muffins with Pecan Crumble

This is my third go round at making Melissa Murphy's muffin recipe. And....the third time's a charm! A little tweak here. A little tweak there...and I made a tender subtly sweet muffin with a perfectly crusty top. It's all about the muffin top. And these were extra tasty tops because of the super delicious pecan crumble. Seriously. The crumble rocks. I only wish I had put on more crumble. You can never have too much crumble. I'm just sayin. You should make this based on the crumble alone.

Spread on some butter. Oh my.


This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays pick was chosen by Shandy at Pastry Heaven. She actually selected Strawberry muffins with fresh lemon and rosemary and you can find the recipe over on her site. The strawberry variation was my first attempt at Melissa Murphy's muffins earlier this year and it was a flop. But I guess it is our failures that help us learn. At least that's what I hear. But I thought I'd do something different this week and I had the ingredients on hand for the blueberry muffins. Honestly, I think any of Melissa's sweet muffin variations could use a little pecan crumble love!


Check out the muffins from other Sweet Melissa Sundays bakers here. And then go make these muffins!

Orange Blueberry Muffins with Pecan Crumble
by Melissa Murphy

Muffin Ingredients:
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used between 2 1/4 and 2 1/2 cups)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I also added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup heavy cream, at room temperature (I used sour cream--this is key!)1/2 cup whole milk, at room temperature (I used skim)
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
1 cup blueberries

Directions:
Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with muffin papers (or butter and flour the cups or spray with nonstick vegetable cooking spray).
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and eggs until smooth--no lumps. Whisk in the heavy cream and milk until combined.
3. Add the zest and rub into the flour mixture with your hands, releasing the oils and breaking up the bits. Add the blueberries and gently toss with your fingers to combine. Make a well in the center of the bowl. Pour the butter mixture into the center of the well and, using a rubber spatula, gently pull the flour mixture into
the center of the well until just combined.
4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups and sprinkle on one half recipe of the Pecan Crumble (see below). Be generous with the crumble. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes (mine were just right at 30 minutes), or until golden and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack and let cool.

Pecan Crumble (NOTE - You only need half this recipe to top the muffins):
3/4 cup of pecan pieces
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

In a large blow, stir together the pecans, flour, brown sugar, salt, nutmeg and allspice. Stir in melted butter.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Pie

Another Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe outside my comfort zone. For some reason I wasn't all that jazzed to make this recipe. I can't exactly explain why. I like lemon and blueberry together. Maybe it because I find pies to be a bit intimidating. But once again, I'm soooo glad I baked along this week! This pie is really delicious.


It makes an excellent breakfast (most any dessert makes an excellent breakfast in my opinion). The taste of the lemon custard was reminiscent of a lemon bar...not too tart, not too sweet...but just the right amount of citrus tang and sweet. I was a little short on the blueberries because the grocery had a paltry selection to choose from. So I only used 1 pint (rather than 1 1/2 pints). But in my opinion 2 pints would have been just fine. The blueberries were nice and plump and sweet. I only wish there would have been more.

I used the all butter crust recipe and it did shrink up a little as reported by other SMS bakers. I always find that when I blind bake a crust and then add filling and bake again, it always comes out darker than I'd like and not as tender. The filling was a snap to put together and it set up in just over 40 minutes in the oven.


Gotta add fresh whipped cream! It's really the perfect finish on this great pie.


To get the recipe check out Lulu the Baker. Thanks for hosting this week Melissa! See the beautiful pies from the very talented bakers of Sweet Melissa Sundays.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Blueberry Almond Granola

I totally caved. I wasn't going to bake this week. I was feeling lazy and thinking about the many many ingredients in this recipe was more than my brain could handle. But my fellow SMS Bakers inspired me to look beyond the long list of ingredients. Every one's granola looked so great and it seems there is a lot of leeway with this recipe in terms of substitutions. So what that I didn't have rye flakes, powdered milk, sunflower seeds, pure maple syrup and the variety of dried fruits called for in Melissa Murphy's granola?


I did have oats, slivered almonds and pumpkin seeds for the dry ingredients. For the coating I used the sugar free imitation maple syrup in my fridge, honey and all the spices. In addition I added some vanilla extract and I had dried blueberries on hand (left over from the biscotti recipe several weeks back). Even though the long list of items seems overwhelming, this recipe is incredibly simple to put together. I will definitely make homemade granola again. So many options! Check out what other SMS bakers did this week here.


My granola turned out pretty good. I halved the recipe and ended up with a lot of granola! I cannot imagine making the full recipe. It turned out a little browner than I hoped and I would have had added another 1/2 cup of honey or some brown sugar to give it a slightly sweeter kiss. But I generally put granola on already sweetened yogurt, so it's probably just right for that.



Thanks to Wendy of Pink Stripes for hosting this week. Check out her site to get the recipe.

Thanks to Shandy and the other ladies for inspiring me to bake this week!

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Blueberry and Almond Biscotti

Biscotti are generally not my thing. Too crunchy for my cookie tastes. These traditional Italian cookies are known for their crunchiness through a two step baking process. In the spirit of trying new things as a part of Sweet Melissa Sundays I gave it a go. Drumroll please....

The biscotti are delicious! I'm so glad that I tried these. The almonds, dried fruit and lemon zest are a wonderful blend of flavors. Melissa's recipe calls for dried sour cherries, but I saw a bag of dried blueberries at Costco that I just couldn't pass up. They worked perfectly in the recipe.

I let the dough rest for just under an hour and it was sticky rolling into the logs. But a light dusting of flour took care of it. I was a bit unsure of what the 2 logs should look like in terms of width and thickness...so I made them about 3 inches wide, 1 inch thick and 14 or so inches long. They spread in the oven to about 5 inches wide. The first round of baking went perfectly with lightly golden dough. After the logs cooled I scored them into 3/4 inch to 1 inch thick cookies with a serated knife. To get the biscotti equal in size I placed the end of my index finger on the side of the knife blade so measure 1 knuckle from the previous slice.

I had my first taste of one of the end pieces that wasn't big enough to make the second baking. I was immediately hooked on the flavors! The lemon was bright in flavor and the almond extract gives it a that special twist. So good! I almost didn't want to do the second baking.


Round 2 of baking resulted in slighly browner biscotti than I was hoping for. Next time, and there WILL be a next time, I will reduce the temp in my oven slightly and bake for only 45 minutes. I have to say I preferred the cookie after the first baking...I almost felt some of the brightness of the flavors, especially the lemon zest faded more into the background after the second baking.

Another variation I might try is forming the dough into a log and slicing off round cookies and going for only one round of baking. I have a whole lot of dried blueberries to use up! ;)

Thank you Tracey for selecting this amazing recipe! This one is truly a keeper. For the recipe check out Tracey's site, Tray by Tray. See what other SMS bakers did this week by clicking here.


Up next Sunday...Chocolate Walnut Brownies.