BLUEBERRY CRUMB CAKE

Adapted from a MarthaStewart.com recipe heavily influenced by a Ina Garten recipe with my usual changes. I used frozen wild blueberries (from TJ’s of course).

Struesel Topping
½ cup butter, diced and chilled
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup pecan pieces
¼ cup AP flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt

Cake
2 cups AP flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
zest of one lemon
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
2 cups blueberries, rinsed and allowed to dry a bit

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 13 by 9 inch pan.
Make Streusel Topping: Combine all ingredients in food processor, pulse until mixture forms large, moist crumbs. Chill.
Make Cake: Whisk together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate large bowl, cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then vanilla and zest. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk, alternately. Gently toss blueberries with about 2 tablespoons flour, then fold into cake mixture and spoon into pan. Top with Streusel. Bake 45 – 50 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Cool, cut into squares and serve.

CHOCOLATE MARBLE COFFEE CAKE

Adapted from a MarthaStewart.com recipe.

9 tablespoons unsweeted cocoa powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ cups AP flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream (or Greek style plain yogurt)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Thoroughly butter and flour a bundt pan.
Make marble filling: stir together cocoa powder and 3 T sugar in a small bowl; set aside.
Make cake batter: Whisk together next five ingredients. Cream together butter and 1 cup sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then vanilla. Mix in flour mixture, alternating with sour cream.
Spread about one third of batter in bundt pan. Sprinkle half of filling. Spread another third, then other half of filling, then final third of batter. Swirl batter and filling slightly with a knife or skewer.
Bake 35 – 40 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Cool 30 minutes, then invert onto a plate.

APPLE PECAN COFFEE CAKE MUFFINS

Adapted from bakedbyrachel.com who I found on tastespotting.com. Lots of steps, but pretty darn yummy.

Muffins
1 cup AP flour
1 cup WW flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup butter, room temperature
1 ½ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup plain (preferably Greek) yogurt
1 large tart apple
½ cup golden raisins
½ cup pecan pieces

Topping
4 tablespoons butter, very soft (or melted ok too)
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup AP flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Line 18 – 24 muffin cups in your pans. Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together first six ingredients. Cream butter and sugar, then beat in eggs one at a time. Mix in half of dry ingredients, then half of yogurt, repeat. Core, peel, and dice apple, then stir it in with raisins and pecans. Fill muffins cups about 2/3 full.

Mix topping ingredients together with a fork until you get about pea-sized bits. Spoon over muffin batter, dividing evenly. Bake for about 18 minutes, switching half way through if you are using two pans. Muffins are done when they spring back easily to the touch.

CHOCOLATE MUFFINS

Not over the top decadent – just enough chocolate flavor to make you happy without sending you into overdrive. Nice and fluffy. These were great for several days. Adapted from a recipe by Nigella Lawson.

1 cup AP flour
1 cup WW flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 heaping tablespoons excellent quality cocoa powder
1 cup chocolate chips, divided
1 egg, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup sugar

Line a 12 muffin tin with paper cups. Preheat oven to 400 F.

Whisk together first six ingredients in a medium bowl, then mix in ¾ cup chocolate chips (reserve the rest). In a larger bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Fold dry into wet; don’t overmix. Spoon into muffin cups. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top of muffins. Bake for about 16 minutes, or until the muffins spring back to the touch.

SWEET POTATO & PECAN MUFFINS

I swear I put this up before, but now its missing, so here it is again.


½ lb. (about two small) sweet potatoes
1 cup flour
¾ cup “white” whole wheat flour
¼ cup almond meal (this and above flour at TJ’s)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda (if you use regular milk instead of buttermilk, delete this)
½ teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon allspice
½ cup butter
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
4 Tablespoons sugar
¼ cup plain yogurt (greek style is nice)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
¾ cup chopped raw pecans

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Prick potatoes with a fork and place on foil-lined cookie sheet. Roast for 1 hour or until tender. Remove, cool, scoop out flesh and mash with fork. (If your kids are really picky about texture, its worth breaking out the food processor and pureéing them.) Set aside. Or do this the night before and save.

Lower oven temperature to 350. Grease muffin tins (12 – 16).

Measure dry ingredients into medium bowl and whisk together well.

Cream butter and sugars. Add egg and beat until fluffy. Add yogurt, vanilla and cooled sweet potato and beat well. Stir in milk. Gradually stir in dry ingredients, then pecans.

Scoop into muffin tins, 2/3 full. Bake 25 – 35 minutes until tester comes out clean.

PUMPKIN NUT MUFFINS

Adapted from a Gourmet 1997 recipe.

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 stick butter, melted
¾ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup buttermilk (or plain yogurt, or milk, and cut the baking soda out)
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup walnut or pecan pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease 12 muffin cups.

Whisk together first nine ingredients in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl whisk together everything else but the nuts. Pour wet over dry and stir just until combined (mixture will be on the doughy, sticky side). Divide amongst the muffin cups and sprinkle nuts on top. Bake for about 20 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Serve warm.

CORN MUFFINS - SWEET

This one, I adapted from the recipe on the side of the Albers Corn Meal Box (with my usual substitutions).

1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup sugar
½ cup corn meal
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda (eliminate if you don’t use buttermilk)
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups buttermilk (or regular milk, but they’ll only be good, not the best)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup canola oil
3 Tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line 18 – 20 muffin cups.

Whisk together flours, sugar, corn meal, baking power, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Whisk together milk, eggs, oil and butter (add that last) in a small bowl until a bit frothy. Add to flour mixture, stir just until blended. Pour into muffin cups, 2/3 full.

Bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until wooden tester comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool slightly. Can also put in a 8” square baking pan and cook for about 35 minutes. Serve warm.

HIDE AND SEEK MUFFINS

These are adapted from PRETEND SOUP by Molly Katzen. You are meant to use strawberries and make regular sized muffins, but we used raspberries in mini-muffins, because that’s what we had. Audrey made these with my help and we all loved them!

1 cup white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup sugar, plus a bit more for berries

2 eggs
1 cup milk (or buttermilk)
½ teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons melted butter
about 12 raspberries (or 12 medium sized strawberries)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line or grease 24 mini-muffins pan or 12 regular sized muffins pan.

Whisk together first six ingredients in a large bowl.

Beat the eggs in a smaller bowl. Whisk in the milk, vanilla and then melted butter.

Pour the wet mixture over the dry and mix “until the flour is all gone”.

Fill the the muffin cups about 2/3 full. Roll each berry in a little sugar, place in the center of each muffin cup and press down.

Bake 15 – 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool at least 10 minutes before eating, as berries can get very hot.

GREEN EGGS, NO HAM

I had totally forgotten about this recipe, which Morgan discovered in her Molly Katzen cookbook, HONEST PRETZELS. The recipe is really for Scrambled Eggs, but suggests adding pesto as a variation. We like milk in our scrambled eggs, but otherwise, we follow her recipe – and Morgan is an excellent egg chef.

dab of butter
1 – 2 eggs per person
splash of milk per egg
salt and pepper

BASIL PESTO (frozen ok)

freshly grated Parmesan

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Melt butter.

Beat eggs with milk, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in pesto, breaking up chunks if its frozen. Pour eggs into pan. Stir occasionally, cooking until eggs are desired doneness and dryness. Grate in some cheese toward the end.

Serve with cheese on top. You can of course, have it with ham, but Molly Katzen probably wouldn’t.

ZUCCHINI BREAD/MUFFINS

This is adapted from a recipe given out by the farmers of Schaner Farms last summer at the Santa Monica FM. I have made it with both orange and lemon zest/juice and both are good –whatever you have around. On my honor, Audrey said, “You have to put this recipe in your blog!” And I TOLD her it was zucchini bread, I wasn’t trying to hide nuthin!

¾ cup pecan or walnut pieces
¾ cup flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
½ cup honey
¼ cup brown sugar
1 cup zucchini, grated
zest and juice of one lemon or orange (or ¼ cup ish oj if you don’t have fresh)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan or two small ones or 12 muffin cups. Toast nuts in a toaster oven or pan until fragrant; cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Whisk in oil, honey (if you measure the oil first, the honey comes out much easier) and sugar. Stir in the rest, and the nuts. Pour into pans.

For one loaf, cook about an hour. For two small, cook about 40 minutes. For muffins, cook about 25 minutes. Until tester comes out clean.

BANANA MUFFINS OR BREAD

This came from a few different recipes on Epicurious, and I made my usual changes. I have resisted putting something with bananas on the site as I don’t think there is a place in the US where bananas are local produce, but, sometimes, you know, your husband buys bananas and nobody eats them and they get brown and really chocolate chip banana bread is the best course of action in that situation.

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda (1/2 teaspoon if using buttermilk)
2 large eggs
½ cup whole milk, low fat milk or buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup canola oil
2/3 cup sugar (I use a combo of granulated, brown and/or honey)
1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas (3 – 5 bananas)

1 cup pecans, toasted, chopped (optional)
½ cup mini-chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a loaf pan, or muffin tins. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. In a larger bowl, beat eggs, then beat in milk, vanilla, oil and eggs. Add bananas and mix in well. Pour wet mixture over dry and stir until just blended. Fold in nuts and/or chocolate if using. Transfer to prepared pan or muffin tins.

Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean: 25 - 30 minutes for muffins, 60 – 70 minutes for a loaf. Cool 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.

HOMEMADE PANCAKES

These are from Joy of Cooking, and I make them so often that the book is broken at this page (I can never trust that I have a recipe memorized). I have, of course, changed stuff – added whole wheat flour and almond meal as per usual. I can’t recommend this vs. Bisquik or any other mix enough – I really think they taste more “real”. And of course, both my kids love them. But I don't try and hide vegetables in them.

Melt
3 tablespoons of butter.

Begin to heat a griddle or other non-stick cooking surface to medium. If you have a place to keep items warm, like a warming drawer or toaster oven, warm that.

Whisk together in a large bowl
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
¼ cup almond meal (if you don’t have it just use flour, or flax seed meal or corn meal – be creative!)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda (eliminate if not using buttermilk or yogurt)
½ teaspoon salt

Whisk in a smaller bowl
2 eggs
Then add
1 ½ cups buttermilk (or yogurt, or yogurt and milk, or milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Then whisk in melted butter.

Pour wet ingredients over dry and mix just until combined. Add a cup of small berries if desired, or mini chocolate chips (not that I would do that!).

Melt some butter on the griddle, then wipe off with a paper towel. Pour batter onto griddle (in fanciful shapes, if you’re up for it). When edges are dry and top bubbles, turn pancakes. Cook for another minute or so until both sides are golden brown. (It’s a good idea to do a tester to make sure the griddle is at the right temperature and you removed enough butter from it.) Remove to warming oven or serve immediately, with fresh berries, yogurt, preserves, or real maple syrup.

Note: pancakes freeze well, between pieces of waxed paper. To reheat, melt some butter in a non-stick pan, place frozen pancakes in one layer and cover. “Steam” until reheated, turning once.

CORN MUFFINS - SWEET

This one, I adapted from the recipe on the side of the Albers Corn Meal Box (with my usual substitutions).

1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup sugar
½ cup corn meal
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda (eliminate if you don’t use buttermilk)
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups buttermilk (or regular milk, but they’ll only be good, not the best)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup canola oil
3 Tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line 18 – 20 muffin cups.

Whisk together flours, sugar, corn meal, baking power, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Whisk together milk, eggs, oil and butter (add that last) in a small bowl until a bit frothy. Add to flour mixture, stir just until blended. Pour into muffin cups, 2/3 full.

Bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until wooden tester comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool slightly. Serve warm.

CORN BREAD – NOT SO SWEET

This one I adapted from the recipe on the side of the Corn Meal bag I bought in NC. Made this for breakfast two mornings and it was VERY popular. (I subbed the ww flour and the buttermilk).

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup corn meal
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda (eliminate if using regular milk or cream)
2 eggs
1 ¼ cups buttermilk (or regular milk, cream and/or yogurt)
2 tablespoons oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Beat eggs in a small bowl, then beat in milk and oil. Pour wet ingredients into dry, mix together just until everything is moist. Pour into a buttered 9 x 9 inch baking dish or muffin tins. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.

HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS (FINALLY)

Success! These are a BIT sticky, but satisfyingly crun-chewy and don’t have that unfortunate “healthy” taste. Audrey, hilariously, absolutely refused to try them, then when no one was looking sneaked one and scarfed it down. Then, she did admit they were pretty darn good, and wouldn’t let me bring them to a PTA meeting.

2 cups oats
1/3 cup toasted flax seeds (or wheat germ)
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
2/3 cups slivered almonds or chopped pecans or walnuts
1 1/3 cups peanuts
1/3 cup chocolate chips
½ - 2/3 cups brown sugar
½ cup honey
4 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
salt
8 oz. dried fruit

Crush peanuts by placing them in a plastic bag and smashing them with a mallet.

Spread oats and any raw nut ingredients on a rimmed baking sheet and toast at 400 degrees, stirring often, until golden brown. About 10 minutes, but watch carefully as once they start to brown, the oats can burn quickly.

Prepare a 9” x 13” glass baking dish by lining it with waxed paper and buttering the waxed paper. Butter an additional piece of waxed paper and set aside.

Mix toasted oats and other nuts and fruits in a large bowl. If you want melted chocolate, include the chocolate chips. Otherwise, add later.

Put the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. If your nuts are salted, just use a couple of pinches of salt. If not, use ½ teaspoon. We found the 2/3 cup brown sugar to be a bit too sweet.

Stir the liquid “glue” with the oats/nuts/fruit, distributing everything very well. Add chocolate chips if you haven’t already. Dump everything into prepared glass baking dish and spread out with a spatula. Cover the mixture with the buttered waxed paper and then press firmly all over to pack the ingredients together. I used a cutting board just a bit smaller than the dish to help press evenly, then placed several heavy cookbooks on top when I was done.

Let sit for 2 – 3 hours until completely cooled. Then remove top waxed paper sheet and carefully turn the granola onto a cutting board. Cut into bars by pressing a large knife or pizza cutter straight down (not sawing). Store in an airtight container between sheets of waxed paper.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS, BASIC

This is my standby recipe from “Joy of Cooking”. Once you get used to it, you can make it even on a school morning!

Whisk together in a large bowl:
1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda (eliminate if you don’t use buttermilk or yogurt)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Whisk together in another bowl:
2 large eggs, then
1 cup buttermilk, yogurt, or milk
2/3 cup sugar (white or brown) or honey
4 – 8 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups blueberries

Mix wet stuff into the dry stuff until just combined. Fold in blueberries. Drop into greased or lined muffin cups and bake for about 20 minutes. You can obviously try other fruits and/or nuts with these, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar before baking, etc.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS, FOR COMPANY

This is from “Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics” which, honestly, is mostly a rehash of her other cookbooks. And perhaps the recipes aren't so Basic, as I think this one calls for some extra effort. But I have enjoyed eating this muffins all week. After I changed the recipe a bit, of course. Her streusel had too much flour, and I added some nuts. I don’t know why my kids don’t like blueberry muffins, but I do, a lot, so I made them anyway. Morgan had a few bites here and there.

Muffins:
2 cups flour
1 ½ cups wheat flour
1 ½ cups sugar
4 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1 ¼ sticks butter, melted and cooled
zest of one lemon
2 cups fresh blueberries

Streusel Topping:
¼ cup flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
½ stick butter, cold, diced
1/3 cup pecan pieces

Measure first six (dry) ingredients into a large bowl and combine with a whisk. In a smaller bowl, beat the eggs lightly, then beat in milk, then zest, then melted butter. Stir the wet stuff into the dry stuff until just combined. Fold in the blueberries. Scoop the batter into (preferably paper muffin cup lined, but if not, buttered) muffin pans. (She said this made 20, but I made more than that -however I made mini muffins too, so I can’t tell exactly how many regular muffins this makes.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place all streusel ingredients except nuts in another bowl and mix together with a pastry cutter until the butter is in very small pieces, then mix in nuts with a fork or your fingers. (She has you use a food processor for this part, but I don’t like to use loud appliances in the morning. Except for the coffee grinder, I guess.) Sprinkle over muffins. Bake 20 – 25 minutes, until golden brown and tester comes out clean.