Blueberry Buckle

Last week, about this time, Brad sent me an e-mail asking if I could bake him something to take to the barbecue that his work was hosting on Friday. I quickly said yes but then, I have to admit, kind of placed it in the back of my mind due to work. Fast forward to Thursday night, sitting with my co-workers, writing up Medicaid notes when Brad sent me a message. "Did you happen to make a dessert for my barbecue tomorrow?" D-oh!

He offered to stop by Dominick's. I insisted that I would make something as soon as I got home. I flipped through my rolodex of new dessert options when my mind floated to the now 15 lbs of blueberries in our fridge (Boy, I love blueberry picking!). I then recalled a recipe that I have been wanting to try that my mother-in-law had given to me. My tastebuds were getting excited by the minute.

My generous and loving mother-in-law holding her great nephew 

(not my picture but it's one of my favorites!)

 I unfortunately didn't get home until after 11pm but hey, I was committed. As I was reading the recipe, I realized that it called for an 8x8 pan. Since I only have a 9x9 plus Brad was taking this dish to work so I decided to double it to ensure that he had enough. With that said, I am going to post the original recipe, but just know that doubling works well. Because I doubled the recipe, not all of the batter fit in the pan so I used two of my small ramekins to capture and bake up the "overflow". Though the recipe is pretty easy to put together, by the time I got home and settled enough to start throwing things in the mixer, waited for it to bake (which watching my newest documentary on New Kids on the Block-loved it!), and then burning myself pretty fiercely while taking it out of the oven, it was almost 2 am before I went to bed.

So what was the consensus? Was my late night escapade and burn worth it? Brad said that many people loved it. I know I enjoyed the bursts of blueberries between bites of cake, topped with a sweet cinnamon sugar crunch. In fact, some of you who enjoyed this blueberry dessert may even be reading this now, and it is all thanks to my dearest mother-in-law. I too, thought it was pretty delicious. Though I didn't get a taste (or picture) of the larger portion, I did make sure to enjoy the ramekins the following day. :o)

Blueberry Buckle

from my mother-in-law's kitchen


3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

• Mix sugar, butter, and egg. Stir in milk.
  
  
  
  
• Blend and sift dry ingredients.
  
  
  
  
• Blend 2 cups blueberries (by hand or low speed).
  
  
  
• Grease pan/put some flour in bottom of 8x8 pan. Pour batter into pan.
  
  
  
  

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter or margarine

• Crumble over top of blueberry batter.
  
  
  
  
• Bake 40-50 minutes at 375 degrees.
  
  
  

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Have I told you lately that I love blueberries? ^_^ They are by far the best fruit that God created.

Brad and I went blueberry picking again for my birthday this year and unfortunately, I wasn't able to control myself as well this year and ate a good majority of them before we ended up freezing them. Whoops! ::looks innocently:: By the way, what is the best way to freeze blueberries? Well let me tell you. Place your fresh blueberries on a cookie sheet or shallow pan in a single layer. Set berries in the freezer until frozen (this will take an hour or so). Once frozen, pour into a freezer bag and viola! Individually frozen blueberries that are much easier to remove and use in a recipe. Love it!

Anyway, I had wanted to make some fresh blueberry muffins and I didn't want my precious fruit to go to waste on some bland recipe so I went straight to Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen. I have never been disappointed with any of the recipes that I have gotten from them and I had remembered seeing blueberry muffins being featured on the cover. However, of course I couldn't find my CI magazine. I did find a recipe on their website though but it called for jam, which I didn't want to do. So I did some more searching and what I found was a recipe from Cook's Country, another branch of America's Test Kitchen. I liked what I saw so I decided to give it a go.

Guess what? Another winner! I have to admit there were some muffins that had more berries than others, as well as some where the blueberries were more towards the bottom but I honestly think that was my mistake. Either way, I'm keeping this recipe around.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins
from Cook's Country

Makes 12

To prevent a streaky batter, leave the blueberries in the freezer until the last possible moment. Wyman's brand frozen wild blueberries are our first choice, but an equal amount of fresh blueberries may be substituted.

Streusel
1 1/4	cups all-purpose flour
1/3	cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3	cup granulated sugar
1/2	teaspoon ground cinnamon
	Pinch salt
7	tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
Muffins
4	tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly, plus extra for preparing muffin tin
2	cups all-purpose flour , plus extra for preparing muffin tin
1	large egg
1	teaspoon vanilla extract
1	cup granulated sugar
1	teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2	cup buttermilk
1	tablespoon baking powder
1/2	teaspoon salt
1 1/2	cups frozen blueberries

1. For the streusel: Combine flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt in bowl. Drizzle with melted butter and toss with fork until evenly moistened and mixture forms large chunks with some pea-sized pieces throughout.

2. For the muffins: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 12-cup muffin tin. Whisk egg in medium bowl until pale and evenly combined, about 30 seconds. Add vanilla, sugar, and zest and whisk vigorously until thick, about 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in melted butter; add buttermilk and whisk until combined.

3. Reserve 1 tablespoon flour. Whisk remaining flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Fold in egg mixture until nearly combined. Toss blueberries with reserved flour and fold into batter until just combined.

4. Divide batter in muffin tin and top with streusel. Bake until light golden brown and toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out with few dry crumbs attached, 23 to 27 minutes. Cool muffins in tin for 20 minutes, then carefully transfer muffins to rack to cool completely. (Muffins can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.)

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

This past Saturday I used the very last of our blueberries stash. It was a very sad day for me but I'm excited for what's to come. Only about a month and a half until peak blueberry season! I'm convinced that one of the reasons why I love blueberries so much has to do with the fact that they peak right around my birthday, which makes for a very easy/fairly inexpensive birthday gift and/or a way to celebrate! Last summer I took Brad blueberry picking for the first time. We both both got caught up in how much fun we were having that before we knew it, we had picked around 11 lbs of blueberries. I was in blueberry heaven for the next couple of weeks after that. Since we had picked so many, I also made sure to freeze a bunch of them to use during the off season months. (Quick note: Blueberries are super easy to freeze. Lay blueberries flat on a cookies sheet and place in the freezer until frozen. Pour frozen berries into ziploc bag and viola! Frozen blueberries that #1 still look like blueberries right off the bush and #2 easy to scoop out as many as needed)

Anywho, this past Saturday, I decided to use the last of the berries to make some "made from scratch" blueberry pancakes. I currently have a subscription to Cook's Illustrated and a couple months back they featured a recipe for Blueberry Pancakes. Well of course it is just my luck to not be able to find that particular issue so I scoured the internet instead. Lucky for me, someone had copied an ATK Blueberry Buttermilk Pancake recipe over on cooking. com. So I whipped up a batch and they were quite delightful. I plan on using this recipe again once we have some more blueberries as well as comparing it to the one that was in my magazine....whenever I find it. I do want to mention though that the original recipe calls for 1 Tbsp lemon juice for it's 2 cups of milk and then goes on the mention that if you have buttermilk on hand, use that instead of the milk + lemon juice mixture. That confused me slightly since the common substitution for buttermilk is 1 Tbsp lemon juice (or vinegar) to 1 cup water. So I did in fact up the lemon juice to 2 Tbsp for the 2 cups milk. But it is ultimately up to you.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes
America's Test Kitchen

RECIPE INGREDIENTS 1 tablespoon lemon juice from 1 lemon 2 cups milk 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces) 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon table salt 1 large egg 3 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly 2 teaspoons vegetable oil 1 cup fresh blueberries or frozen blueberries, preferably wild, rinsed and dried

DIRECTIONS Whisk lemon juice and milk in medium bowl or large measuring cup; set aside to thicken while preparing other ingredients. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl to combine. Whisk egg and melted butter into milk until combined. Make well in center of dry ingredients in bowl; pour in milk mixture and whisk very gently until just combined (a few lumps should remain). Do not over mix. Heat 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes; add 1 teaspoon oil and brush to coat skillet bottom evenly. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto 3 spots on skillet; sprinkle 1 tablespoon blueberries over each pancake. Cook pancakes until large bubbles begin to appear, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Using thin, wide spatula, flip pancakes and cook until golden brown on second side, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes longer. Serve immediately, and repeat with remaining batter, using remaining vegetable oil only if necessary.

Coconut Blueberry Banana Bread

I have to admit, the first time I saw this recipe, it didn't really catch my eye all that much. I'm thinking I was preoccupied at the moment because I found it while searching for Valentine's Day dinner/treat ideas. However, last Friday I was really craving something sweet (I've given up sweets for our church's fasting season during lent) and wanted to find something that I could make without "cheating". It was then that I came across this recipe once again, and this time I could not stop thinking about it! Unfortunately, I did not have time to whip up a batch before work and then Brad and I left for Michigan right when I got out. And then every house we visited there was a bunch of bananas sitting on the counters, slowly aging, begging to be made into bread. But I refrained. The day we were leaving, my mom called to let me know that she had left her bananas on her counter for us to take so we could make our bread. Rejoice! Well when I stopped by her apt, my cute little mother had left me a surprise on our bananas...

loved it! Anyway, the banana bread was pretty good and would have probably been better if I hadn't been stingy with the blueberries (my stash from last year's picking was running very very low), I ran out of coconut and had just under enough vanilla.

A couple notes before I start.

1. I did not use walnuts because 1) we didn't have any and 2) Brad and I both prefer our breads without them.
2. Also, I did not have any buttermilk on hand (I know, by now you're probably thinking why I even tried since I was running out of everything..but I'm telling you, it was tempting me that much). However, I don't really find it necessary to buy buttermilk all the time for baking since I most likely wouldn't use it all before it expired. Instead, I also make my own so to speak. For every one cup of milk, add 1 Tbsp of white vanilla and let stand for about 5 minutes. It has never let me down.
3. Lastly, I did not have two small bread pans as Leslie suggested. So I had to use one large one. And sure enough, this lengthened the cooking time. Just be prepared for that. I don't remember how long it took all together, I just know I hit 5-10 mins longer quite a bit. Thankfully it didn't burn.
   

Either way, I would definitely consider this a repeat recipe for later on this summer when I have another fridge and freezer full of blueberries.

Coconut Blueberry Banana Bread (with toasted walnuts)
from The Hungry Housewife

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 4 large nasty looking ripe bananas. smooshed up real good
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 3/4 to 1 cup toasted walnuts
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 cup blueberries + a handful for sprinkling on top

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and use middle rack
2. Cream together butter and sugar with hand mixer or stand mixer. Add egg one at a time, mixing well in between each addition.
3. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, salt, baking pwdr and baking soda.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk..(always start and end with the flour..why? I don't know, just cause that's what my mom told me to do!)
5. Add bananas, vanilla, nuts and coconut and stir until combined. Fold in blueberries.
6. Lightly grease TWO 8in x 3 3/4in x 2 1/2in pans( I use the Hefty EZ elegance pans)
7. Pour the batter into both pans evenly. Sprinkle some blueberries on top for a garnish.
8. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out of the center with only slight crumbs on it.
9. Try to let it cool before cutting into it..but I can never wait that long before digging in and slathering some butter on it!

Tips***

To toast the walnuts, just place in large skillet over medium heat and cook until fragrant and lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Usually around 5 to 8 minutes.

I use the two smaller pans because I found that if you make one large loaf the bottom tends to burn before the middle is done. And besides 2 loafs is better than one.