Triple Berry Crisp

With this blog and simply just feeding the two of us, I have spent my fair share of time in the kitchen. Cooking is something I enjoy. It's fun, it is stress relief, and the best part is you (*usually) get to enjoy the results of your experiment. While I've cooked/baked for several years, I almost always follow a recipe. I blame the pharmacist in me. Too Type A. Too precise.

I say that to tell you this. I made this crisp recipe on a whim, mostly on my own, with only a little recipe inspiration. Certainly, it is hard to screw up a fruit crisp, but I am still excited to report that I am getting to the stage of spontaneity in the kitchen. In fact, this crisp came about because the grocery store was out of zucchini (yes, I had to buy zucchini), and the berries there were so good that you could smell them as you walked by the stand. Recently, I have made a couple more dishes where I've found myself inspired by an ingredient, and I hope to share them soon.

Back to the crisp. Who doesn't love fruit crisp/crumbles? Ripe, juicy fruit at its peak combine with a topping that is really nothing more than an oat-filled streusel. I made ours in ramekins for individual-sized servings. As much as I like crisp, leftover crisp just isn't quite the same, and a whole pan is just too much for 2 people. The fruit in question here is strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, but you can really use any fruit that speaks to you (or needs to be used up in the fridge). I'm sure peaches or other stone fruit would be wonderful here as well. So grab some ice cream (or whipped cream if you prefer) and make this before berries are gone for the summer. Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe) 

Triple Berry Crisp
Loosely inspired by Pioneer Woman

Ingredients: 
2 cups total of raspberries, blueberries, and chopped strawberries
1 tsp. cornstarch
2-3 Tbsp. sugar (more or less depending on how sweet the fruit is)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1/4-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
heaping 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
2 Tbsp. cold butter
vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease ramekins.

In a medium bowl, combine the washed berries, cornstarch, sugar, and vanilla. Stir and divide evenly between 2 ramekins. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and oats. Cut the butter into the mixture and combine until crumbs form. You can add more butter and/or more oats/flour until it is the desired consistency. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit in the ramekins. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the fruit is bubbly and the topping is light brown and crisp. Serve while still warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Rhubarb Berry Baked Oatmeal

Things have been a little quite around here. If anyone reads (or tries) to read this little blog with any regularity, I do apologize. I had a job opportunity that presented itself prior to the completion of my residency, so I am doing double duty right now. Residency during the day, job #2 on nights and weekends. I am telling you this not as an excuse, but more as a statement of fact. There hasn't been much for cooking around here, and what is accomplished is being made by the hubs!

So what do you do when you find yourself needing to pack a day's worth of food before you set off in the morning. Plan. Plan. Make things that travel well, and plan some more. I have talked about liking baked oatmeal due to it's portability before. It keeps well, reheats well, and has definitely made for some oohs and aahs at work. 

This recipe adapted from Nutmegs, seven was born out of the necessity to use some of the rhubarb that had been living in my freezer for quite some time. I knew it would work well for my portable breakfast, but I really had no idea I would enjoy it as much as I did. Now if anyone will send me some of the rhubarb they have overtaking their backyard, I'll be forever grateful. I have a month's worth of breakfasts left to pack before I'm done, and rhubarb is almost impossible to find down here! Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Rhubarb Berry Baked Oatmeal
Adapted from Nutmegs, seven

Ingredients:
400gm of rhubarb, thawed if frozen
1 pint blueberries
2 Tbsp. honey
200 gm old-fashioned oats
15 gm sliced almonds
15 gm chopped pecans
60 gm brown sugar 
1 tsp. baking powder
1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
475 mL (2 cups) unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or skim milk)
1 large egg
3 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray an 8x8 inch baking dish with non-stick spray. 
Spread the rhubarb and half the pint of blueberries over the bottom of the pan. Drizzle with the honey. Set aside.

Mix the oats, nuts, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, egg, applesauce, and extracts. Sprinkle the oat mixture on top of the rhubarb. Pour the egg mixture over the oats, making sure the pan is equally covered with the liquid. Sprinkle the remaining blueberries on top. Bake for 40 minutes or until the oat mixture has set and turned a little crunchy on the top. If saving for future meals, cool completely before packaging. This makes 6 breakfasts for me. Otherwise, serve warm.

Baked Oatmeal with Berries and Bananas

It will not be a surprise to anyone that knows me well to hear me say that morning and I are not great friends. My dad has a quote that he's seen 4:00AM more often from the night side than the morning side, and my natural tendencies lie much more on his night owl side of life. Unfortunately, in being a resident, I've learned that alarms set before 5:00AM are much more common than I prefer.

I tell you that to set the scene for my morning route. Basically everything from my lunch to my gym bag needs to be grab and go. This includes breakfast as there is a slim to none chance that I am going to have time to cook anything in the morning. Out of all the quick breakfast choices I plan, this baked oatmeal from Skinny Taste is one of my favorites. It's highly adaptable - I've made it with different berries, different nuts, different sweeteners, and even different milks and it always turns out great. Better yet, it keeps well in the refrigerator, allowing me to make it ahead and have single serving breakfast options ready to go in the refrigerator.

A minute or so in the microwave at work, and I have a healthy, delicious, warm breakfast. Can't beat that for so little work. Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Baked Oatmeal with Berries and Bananas
Adapted from Skinny Taste

Ingredients:
2 over-ripe bananas, sliced (can use frozen bananas that have been thawed)
1-1/2 cups blueberries (or any combination of berries)
1/4 cup honey, divided
1 cup uncooked quick oats
1/4 cup chopped or sliced nuts (I like almonds)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. cinnamon, divided
pinch of salt
1 cup fat-free milk or unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray an 8x8-inch baking dish with non-stick spray. Set aside.

Arrange the banana slices in a single layer over the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle half the berries over the bananas. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon honey and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the oats, half of the nuts, baking powder, remaining 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, and salt. Mix well. In a separate small bowl, mix the milk, egg, and vanilla together. When the banana mixture has finished baking, spread the oat mixture evenly over the top of the bananas. Pour the liquid mixture over the oats, covering the entire surface of the dry mixture. Sprinkle the remaining berries and nuts over the top. Bake the oatmeal for about 30 minutes or until the top of the oatmeal has set.

Keeps well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Makes 6 servings. Can reheat oatmeal squares in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.

Fruity Coconut Chicken Salad with Berry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

Since September hit, I have been seeing a lot of fall-themed recipes across the blogs. Don't get me wrong, I still love pumpkin, apples, soups, and stews, but I am not quite ready to give up on summer. The weather has been gorgeous here the past week since we've dropped to right around or just below 100 degrees for a high. It's also been cooling off better at night - I actually saw a reading in the 70's in my car on the way to work the other morning (granted it was 5:30AM). I haven't been able to enjoy the weather on an outdoor run yet since I've been on call this week, but I assure you that I will be out there as soon as I can.

Since stone fruit and berries have still been on sale around here, I thought this salad was appropriate to share. The inspiration for this salad came from finding this berry poppy seed dressing on Our Best Bites. I am amongst the group that enjoys fruit in my salad, and I thought that the coconut chicken would pair well with the berries to make a great lighter meal. I didn't have any pineapple when I made these, but I think that this would make a great addition to the flavors here.

One note, I actually ended up using chicken tenders rather than chicken breasts as that is what I had stocked in the freezer. Chicken breasts would work just fine. You may need to adjust the ratios of coating, and just be sure to cook them to the appropriate temperature as gauged by a meat thermometer. The dressing does need to be made ahead of time, but it can certainly be made the night before to help speed up the cooking process when it is dinner time. Overall, we ended up really enjoying it, and it's definitely a recipe I will continue to make for as long as I can get my hands on good fresh fruit this fall :)

(Printable Recipe)

Fruity Coconut Chicken Salad with Berry Poppy Seed Viniagrette
Dressing recipe from Our Best Bites

Ingredients:
3-4 chicken tenderloins
4 Tbsp. unsweetend shredded coconut (can use sweetened if preferred)
1/4 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
pinch of salt
1 egg white
6 cups preferred salad greens (we love spinach, but a lettuce mix would work well too)
1-2 cups berries - blueberries, strawberries (sliced), raspberries, blackberries
1 nectarine, pitted and sliced
fresh pineapple, chopped (optional - I think this would be a great addition!)

Dressing:
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup honey
1-2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. grated onion
1 tsp. kosher salt or other coarse salt
10 cracks of freshly ground black pepper (1/4-1/2 tsp)
1 cup raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries
2/3 cup canola oil
1-1/2 tsp. poppy seeds

For the dressing, combine the vinegar, honey, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and berries in a blender. Blend until smooth and then, with the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream. Turn off the blender and whisk in the poppy seeds. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

For the chicken, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray. Combine the coconut, panko, and salt; place in a shallow dish. Add egg white to another shallow dish. Dip the chicken in the egg white, then coat in the coconut mixture.  Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Divide the salad greens and fruit between 2 plates. If desired, slice the chicken and add on top of the salad. Dress individual plates with the dressing. There will be extra dressing. It should keep in the refrigerator for 5-7 days. Enjoy!

Yield: 2 dinner-sized salads

Cookie Carnival: Wild Blue Energy Chews

It's time for the Cookie Carnival again! As a refresher, it's a monthly group hosted by Tami at Tami's Kitchen Table Talk. Tami scours the recipes and comes up with two cookie recipes for the members to make throughout the month. I really like this group for a lot of reasons:

1) Tami always seems to find recipes I'd never run across on my own. 
2) There is no pressure to bake.With that, there is no due date (with the exception of the end of the month). You can bake them and post them at any time throughout the month.
3) Cookies! They may be my favorite type of dessert!

This month, I chose to make the wild blue energy chews since I had another group making a chocolate-based cookie in the same time frame. It is a Betty Crocker sponsored recipe and starts with their oatmeal cookie mix. While I usually try to avoid using mixes, it certainly does make these quick. I was done from start to finish in about 30 minutes! The resulting cookies were good. I underbaked mine just a tad because oatmeal cookies HAVE to be a little bit chewy. We've recently found that we really enjoy dried blueberries, and the combination of them with the almonds and wheat germ really do give these a "healthier" vibe. One deviation that I had from the published recipe was the yield. The website claims this should make 30 cookies. If you've ever seen one of those packages, they aren't very big. I never really measure my dough balls, but I finished with 18 cookies that are probably 1-1/2-inch in diameter. It's really not a big deal, but I have no idea how you would get 30 cookies. They would be cookie bites!

Would I make them again? Sure, but I think I'll substitute a from-scratch oatmeal cookie recipe. Thanks Tami for another great pick! Be sure to stop by her blog in the next few days to catch the cookie round-up!

(Printable Recipe)

 Wild Blue Energy Chews
From Betty Crocker

Ingredients:
1 pkg. Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix
1/4 toasted wheat germ
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
3 Tbsp. canola oil
3 Tbsp. water
1 egg white
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, stir cookie mix, wheat germ, butter, oil, water, and the egg white until soft dough forms. Stir in blueberries, almonds and chocolate chips. Roll dough into teaspoonful balls and set on the cookie sheet. Flatten the balls slightly with your hands or a spatula.

Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes. Remove from the cookie sheet to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. 

SMS: Cherry (or Blueberry) Clafoutis Tart

So I think I may have failed hosting a baking group 101 this week. It is 2:00pm local time, and I am just now getting my post up having just finished baking MY assignment a little bit ago. I certainly have my excuses as I've been out of town more than home in the past couple of weeks. But those aside, I should have planned a little better and for that I apologize!

Excuses completed, Happy Mothers' Day to any mom's out there (including my own!). Hopefully, you all were able to have a wonderful day with your families! This is my second time hosting SMS, and I always find it a little bit nerve racking to choose the recipe. No doubt, it is a little bit fun, but both times I found myself worrying about which recipe would fit in with what people are doing in their lives right now. May is often a busy month, so I wanted a recipe that wasn't too complicated but was also pretty enough that it could be served at any of the gathering opportunities that this month provides. In addition, my other requirement is that I wanted to pick something that is different from the types of desserts I usually make on my own. Since I have never had nor heard of a clafoutis and it seemed like a dessert that would have a great presentation, this was the recipe I chose.

As is typical, whenever you are in a hurry to make a recipe, nothing seems to go right. You might notice that my "cherries" are less than red in the pictures. Oddly enough, the store we stopped by to pick up my last minute ingredients did not carry frozen cherries. After a quick google search for clafoutis on my phone, I settled on using frozen blueberries, but I would really like to try this again using cherries. Cherry-almond is such a classic combination, and it sounds like they would pair well together here. My other problem came in the shape of a large crack in my cookie crust while it was baking. My tart pan has a removable bottom to make it easier to take the tart out of the pan after baking. As you can imagine, the crack combined with the non-sealed bottom of the pan lead to a dripping tart after I poured in the custard mixture. Thank goodness for an old cookie sheet under my pan! 

Despite my lack of planning, the tart looks like it turned out quite well. We haven't cut into it yet because it is still cooling, but I am excited to try it after dinner. My husband and I both really enjoy custard-type pies, so I'm hoping it will be as good as it looks! Even though I was a less than stellar host, thanks for baking along with me this week ladies! Be sure to stop by the blogroll to check out tarts from the other members!

(Printable Recipe)

Cherry (or Blueberry) Clafoutis Tart
From The Sweet Melissa Baking Book

Ingredients:
Cookie Crust (enough dough for two 9- or 10-inch tarts):
14 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
zest of 1/2 lemon
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
1 pre-baked tart shell
2/3 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup whole milk
1/2 vanilla bean
3 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
pinch kosher salt
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 cup frozen cherries, thawed and drained, or 1-1/2 cups fresh cherries, pitted
3 Tbsp. sliced blanched almonds, toasted for sprinkling
powdered sugar, for sprinkling

For the crust, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, zest, and slat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine. Add the flour and mix until combined. Be sure to scrape down the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Pat it together into one piece. Divide the dough into two equal parts, flatten into 6-inch round disks, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Put what you will use today in the fridge and place the other in the freezer for another time. Chill the half in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes before rolling.

When the dough is chilled through, remove it from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes, until it is malleable. Lightly flour a work surface. Lightly flour the top of the dough, and using a rolling pin, press gently on the dough from the middle upward, and the the middle downward. Turn the dough disk a quarter turn and repeat the light pressing process. Add more flour if needed to prevent sticking. The dough should now be a round, flatter version of the original dough disk. Sprinkle lightly with more flour if necessary, and gently roll the dough so that it is in an inch wider all around than it was. Make a quarter turn, lifting the dough if it is sticking and lightly flouring the work surface below. Repeat until the dough is roughly 12-inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick. Place the dough in a pie plate or tart pan and press lightly to fit. Do not stretch the dough.  Instead, push the dough with your fingers until it is in place. Trim the edge of the dough so that there is 1/2-inch of dough hanging over the edges. Turn the excess dough under itself, creating a nice uniform edge to crimp. If you have any cracks or holes, patch them by pressing the dough together with your fingers. Refrigerate until firm, 20 to 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the crust with parchment paper or lightly greased aluminum foil, and then fill it to the top with pie weights  (dry rice or beans also work). Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until lifting the liner, the crust appears "dry" and no longer has the appearance of raw dough. Remove the weights and liner. If the edges are getting brown, lightly tent with aluminum foil. Bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until the crust is lightly golden. Remove to a wire rack to cool before filling.

For the custard filling, in a heavy saucepan, stir together the heavy cream and the milk. Using a small paring knife, split the vanilla bean in half and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and the pod to the cream mixture. Place over medium heat and bring to scalding (180 degrees F on a candy thermometer). Scalding liquid will be steaming, and tiny bubbles will form on the edges of the pan. Remove from the heat, cover, and set aside to seep for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. After the seep time, in a slow steady stream, whisk the still warm cream mixture into the egg mixture. Stir in the almond extract. Strain the mixture through a fine-meshed strainer into a clean bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the tart shell on a rimmed cookie sheet. Scatter the cherries evenly over the bottom of the prebaked shell. Pour the custard over the cherries. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the custard is set. Remove to a wire rack to cool to room temperature. Sprinkle the almonds around the edge of the tart and dust the almonds with powdered sugar. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled. This clafoutis is best eaten the day it is made.

Fruit-Topped Angel Food Cake Squares

Well, this dessert was the destination for the previous angel food cake. It sounds (and looks) pretty simple, but the combination of the pudding part with the berries and cake ends up with something better than the individual parts. We were first introduced to this recipe from a college friend who is one of the best cooks that I know. I think that Jenna probably fed me a couple times a week while I was still living in the dorms during my last year of college.

Since then, this has became one of my husband's favorite desserts. I have to admit that it is up there on my list too =) We usually only make it once or twice per year because around here it is one of those things that is "dangerous" to have around the house. In making my own cake, it was larger than the ones that I had previously bought. The extra cubes of cake soaked up more of the pudding mixture. In this one, I missed the little pools of pudding that normally form around the cake pieces, so next time, I will probably save some of the cake for another use (like strawberry shortcakes). Either way, there aren't too many ways you can go wrong with this dessert. Enjoy!

I am linking this to Sweet Tooth Fridays!

(Printable Recipe)

Fruit-Topped Angel Food Cake Squares
From Jenna R.

Ingredients:
1 loaf (1 lb) angel food cake (12x5 inch)
1-1/2 c. milk
3 containers (6oz) fat-free yogurt (I like vanilla)
1 can (14 oz) fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1 box (6 serving size) instant pudding mix, any flavor (cheesecake is our favorite flavor)
2 c. quartered strawberries
2 c. fresh blueberries
2 c. fresh blackberries

Spray a 9x13 inch pan with nonstick spray. Cut angel food cake into 1-inch pieces with a serrated knife. Place in the prepared pan in one layer. 

In a medium bowl, mix the milk, yogurt, sweetened condensed milk, and pudding mix with a wire whisk until well blended. Pour over the cake pieces. Gently tap the dish on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Just before serving, gently mix all the berries and spread over the top of the cake. Cut into squares and serve.

Blueberry and Cream Cookies

Before you pass these by as being a weird flavor of cookies, give me a second and take a look. I am going to tell you right up front that the worst part of these cookies is the wait time. The positive aspects of a relatively short preparation time is one of the things that I love about making cookies. You can get a craving and go from nothing to a batch of freshly baked cookies in a little more than an hour. These cookies definitely do not work that way, but coming from one inpatient cook to another, the wait is worth it.

The recipe for these babies comes from an article about the pastry chef Christina Tosi from the Momofuku Milk Bar in New York City in the September 2010 issue of Bon Appetit. I will admit that I, too, thought the idea of a blueberry and cream cookie was a little odd. However, I was intrigued by her recipe for a crumble-like ingredient that she calls "milk crumbs." The recipe uses powdered milk to make a crumb that is then incorporated into many of her recipes. I was hooked. I happened to have some powdered milk in the pantry from anther recipe, and I wanted to know how "milk crumbs" would taste.

So, how do they taste? Sweet and almost a little bit salty (in a good way).  In fact, if you cook like I do, make a little bit extra to assure you have enough to "sample." They really do give a "dairy" flavor to the cookies that is a little bit hard to put your finger on. My husband who turned his nose up at the name of the recipe has hinted that these may be his new favorite cookie. They really are delicious. The only complaint about these cookies is that they bake-up quite crispy. The recipe is written to bake the cookies at 375 degrees which is higher than where I always bake my cookies (at 350). It is nice to have a little bit of crunch around the edges, but I may try to bake these at a lower temperature next time to see if I can get a little more chewy texture in the center. I'm quite sure there will be a next time. 

To note, I halved both the milk crumb and cookie recipes and ended up with 18 large cookies.

(Printable Recipe)

Blueberry and Cream Cookies
From Momofuku Milk Bar as printed in Sept. 2010 issue of Bon Appetit

Ingredients:
Milk Crumbs (makes about 2 cups):
3/4 c. nonfat dry milk powder
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
3/4 tsp. coarse Kosher salt
6 Tbsp. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Cookies:
2 c. (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1-1/2 c. sugar
1-1/2 c. plus 2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. plus 2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 large eggs
5-1/4 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. coarse Kosher salt
1-1/2 c. (full recipe) milk crumbs
1-1/2 c. dried blueberries

For the milk crumbs, preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the milk powder, flour, sugar, cornstarch, and coarse salt in a medium bowl; toss to mix evenly. Add butter; stir with fork until cluster form. Spread mixture evenly on prepared sheet. Bake until crumbs are dry and crumbly, but still pale, about 10 minutes. Cool completely on the sheet. Can be made about 1 week ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

For the cookies, combine butter, both sugars, and corn syrup in a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until fluffy and pale, occasionally scraping down sides of the bowl, about 3 minutes. Add eggs; bet on medium-high speed until mixture is very pale and sugar is completely dissolved, about 10 minutes. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; beat on low speed until just blended, occasionally scraping down sides of the bowl. Add milk crumbs; mix on low speed until just incorporated. Remove bowl from mixer. Stir in blueberries just until evenly distributed (dough may be sticky).

Using a 1/4-cup ice cream scoop for each cookie, drop dough onto 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled until baking time.

Preheat to 375 degrees F. Line 2 (18x12-inch) rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Transfer 6-chilled dough scoops to each sheet, spacing at least 4 inches apart (cookies will spread). Bake cookies until golden, about 20-22 minutes. Repeat with remaining chilled dough, cooling and relining sheets between batches. Transfer cookies to racks. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

I'm linking these to Sweet Tooth Friday and Sweets for a Saturday!

Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake

Wow. I was looking through my pictures, and I cannot believe how many recipes I have accumulated in almost a month back home! I just started putting together a weekly menu plan for us yesterday, and I may work towards sharing it on here once I get it more organized. I know that once I start my residency this summer that time will likely be a premium, and it will be nice to have dinner planned out ahead of time. One thing the menu plan made me realize is how many new recipes we're making every week. It is no wonder I'm racking up food pictures, and I better get busy sharing them!

It's been a couple months since I made this cheesecake, but haven't been able to post it before this as the recipe was at my house. One of my Christmas gifts this year was a cookbook all about cheesecakes. My husband wanted me to test it out as soon as possible, so I made this cheesecake in early January before I left to go back to school. I thought it would be great to share now as berries start coming into season throughout spring across the country, and this cheesecake would definitely be a great way to showcase them! 

 The taste of the cheesecake was great. We love cheesecake here, and this one was no different. I was a little disappointed in the appearance of it as there are cracks all over the top. I think there may be one of two reasons for this. One - I will admit that I am usually a little lazy with my water bath in that I put a pan of water on a lower rack in the oven rather than wrapping the pan with foil and baking the cheesecake directly in the water. This method has worked well for me in the past, so I don't know if this is my culprit. Two - The grocery store was almost out of regular cream cheese, so I had to substitute 2 blocks of Neufchatel cheese. In looking at the picture in the magazine again, the cheesecake in the photo is a little cracked, so maybe it just ends up that way.

Other than my forced cream cheese substitution, the only thing I did differently from the recipe was to double the blueberry sauce so that we had extra sauce to drizzle over the individual pieces. I love fruit sauces and having the extra blueberry flavor was great. I'm excited to see what other cheesecake recipes this book will bring. I will certainly have to "test out" the next cheesecake recipe from it sometime soon. Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake
Adapted from Taste of Home: Cheesecakes and More

Ingredients:
Blueberry Sauce:
3 cups fresh blueberries
1/3 - 1/2 cup sugar (depending on the sweetness of the berries)
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. cold water

Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 16 squares)
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Filling:
3 pkg (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs, lightly beaten

In a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Cook and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes or until the berries are softened. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into the blueberry mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. Use an immersion blender or transfer to a blender and process until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, combine the crumbs and sugar, stir in the butter. Press onto the bottom of a greased 9-inch springform pan. Place the pan on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the sour cream, flour, and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour filling over the crust. Drizzle with approximately half of the blueberry mixture. Cut through the batter with a knife to swirl. Return the pan to the baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour or until the center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a plastic knife around the edge of the pan to loosen. Cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Just before serving remove the outer edge of the pan. Serve with additional blueberry sauce. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Blueberry

Waffles (of Insane Greatness)

I'm awake much earlier than need-be today (by my own mis-calculations), so I thought I'd share a great breakfast recipe in honor of having extra time this morning. Usually, waffles, pancakes, eggs, etc. actually aren't typical items on our breakfast menu. It is certainly not that we don't enjoy them. It is more of a time issue than anything else. I am not a morning person, and I can promise you that I typically don't get up any earlier than need-be =)

These waffles came about this past weekend when my husband woke-up craving waffles. I originally bookmarked this recipe from Finding Joy in My Kitchen, however I think it originated here from the foodnetwork.com. There are a few differences between the 2 recipes listed, and we ended up using the version from Finding Joy in My Kitchen with the exception of using all-purpose flour as that is what I had in the kitchen. I found it interesting that there was cornstarch in the batter as I have never seen this before?

It was a little difficult to wait 30 minutes for the batter to set-up, but these waffles are definitely the best homemade version that we've made thus far. We both like our waffles to be crispy on the outside and many of my homemade attempts have ended up with soggy waffles. These were nice and crisp with a great "crust" on the outside. I'm not sure if it was the downtime factored into the recipe, the cornstarch, or something else in the recipe, but these waffles just worked. If you are looking for something to fill-up your 30 minutes of down-time, try out the berry sauce that SnoWhite suggests in her post. I mixed-up some with the strawberries and blueberries that we had in the fridge and am absolutely doing this again next time we make waffles. Yum!

Are they of insane greatness? I'm not sure, but they are absolutely going into my make again file at our house. Enjoy!  

(Printable Recipe)

Waffles (of Insane Greatness) with Berry Sauce
Adapted from foodnetwork.com and Finding Joy in My Kitchen

Ingredients:
Waffles:
3/4 c. all-purpose flour (white whole wheat)
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. milk (I used skim)
1/2 c. buttermilk
4 Tbsp. olive oil
1 egg
3/4 tsp. vanilla

Berry Sauce:
1 c. berries (any types; can also use peaches, etc.)
2 Tbsp. brown sugar (or more depending on the sweetness of your berries; can also use honey)
2 Tbsp. water
1-2 tsp. cornstarch (I used 1-1/2 tsp.)

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, buttermilk, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just slightly lumpy. Allow the mixture to sit for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Meanwhile, place the berries in a medium saucepan. Add the brown sugar, water, and cornstarch, and stir until combined. Heat over medium heat until bubbling slightly and sauce begins to thicken. Turn heat down to keep sauce warm.

Preheat your waffle iron. Ladle the batter into the waffle iron and cook according to the manufacturer's directions. Serve warm with the warm berry sauce or with butter and syrup.

Blueberry Lemon Cream Cheese Muffins

While I was in AZ over the holidays, we had some friends give us grocery bags full of citrus fruits off their trees in the backyard. The grapefruit that were humongous, the tangelos were the sweetest I have ever tasted, and the lemons were tart, yellow, and juicy. This fruit makes me anxious to get our backyard finished and plant our own trees! I ended up juicing the lemons before I left so we could freeze the juice and enjoy it throughout the year. I also tried to save the zest, freezing it in an ice-cube tray with a little bit of lemon juice, so we'll see how that goes. Does anyone know if citrus zest stores well?

With our surplus of citrus fruit, I was looking around the internet for a heartier breakfast recipe that I could make for my parents on the morning of their flight. Personally, I hate trying to find a decent meal in an airport, and I thought they could at least start out their day with a full stomach =)  I ran across this recipe on Two Peas and Their Pod and it fit perfect. I could use my lemons as well as some of the cream cheese that I had sitting in the fridge from Christmas cookies. 

I followed the recipe pretty closely except for adding about 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice to the batter and excluding the Turbinado sugar because I didn't have any. My batter was pretty thick, and it was a little hard to make sure that the cream cheese pocket was surrounded by batter. The cream cheese leaked out to the sides of a few of my muffins, but since I had them in paper cups, it wasn't a big deal. My muffins did need to bake longer than the stated, but I think this was due to my stoneware pan. I love using my stoneware, but I've noticed with other recipes (especially cookies) that sometimes they need to bake just a bit longer because the pans need to heat up. Has anyone else that bakes with stoneware noticed this?

You can see the cream cheese on the inner side of this one... 

Overall, the muffins turned out beautifully. My family really enjoyed them, and they must have been a great send-off because there weren't any left. Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Blueberry Lemon Cream Cheese Muffins
Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients:
1-1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. sugar
zest of 1 large lemon
1/4 c. canola oil
1 large egg
1/3 c. skim milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen, mine were frozen) 

Cream cheese filling:
3 Tbsp. cream cheese
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 Tbsp. sugar 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin pan or line with paper liners. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. In a small bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest. Rub sugar and zest together until fragrant. Add to the flour mixture and whisk again.

In a separate bowl, mix the canola oil, egg, milk, and vanilla together. Incorporate the wet ingredients into the flour mixture. Add slowly and do not over mix. The batter will be lumpy and thick. Muffin batter is best when there are little bits of flour that just hasn't been quite incorporated. Gently fold in the blueberries. 

In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, lemon zest, and sugar until smooth. Fill each muffin cup slightly under half way with batter. Add about 1 teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture to the middle of the batter. Top with the remaining batter, attempting to seal the batter around the outside of the cream cheese pocket. Bake muffins for 17-20 minutes (mine baked for 24 minutes), or until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Let muffins cool on a cooling rack.

Yield: 9 regular-sized muffins

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Well, by 6:00am on Wednesday I already knew it was going to be a crappy day. My first clue, I was in Arizona sitting in an airport waiting for a flight that going to take me away from the hubby for another month. Sometimes I wonder if the leaving justifies the visit. It definitely sucks.

On top of that, the hubby called me after he dropped me off, and he got a flat tire just a couple miles from the airport that he couldn't change it because the car jack was rusted. Double fail. Bad things are suppose to happen in threes. I think the rusted jack counts as a third?!?!?

Oddly, the making of these blueberry bars went similarly (although not quite as catastrophic).  Blueberries were on sale this week at the grocery store, so I was looking for something to make with our supply. Unfortunately, I needed a recipe that would accommodate only 1 egg, not quite enough flour, and a lack of any citrus fruit to zest. I ran across Dorie's recipe here on Tracey's blog and hoped that it would hold up to my necessary substitutions.

After a quick google search to look for egg-replacements, I ended up with a recipe that matched my ingredients. I subbed 1/2 c. of orange juice for 1/2 c. of buttermilk to add citrus flavor, 2 tablespoons of unsweetened applesauce for my missing egg, and after scraping the bottom of the storage container, was only 1 teaspoon short on the amount of flour used to coat the blueberries. 

The verdict on the finished bars: pretty dang good. They were moist, perfectly crumbly, and my blueberries didn't even sink.  Let's hope this day ends up being half as good as these bars.

(Printable Recipe)

Blueberry Crumb Bars
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:
For the Crumbs:
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1/3 c. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt

For the cake:
1 pint (2 cups) blueberries (if frozen do not thaw)
2 c. plus 2 teaspoons all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon 
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
2/3 c. sugar
3/4 stick (6 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 c. orange juice

1/2 c. buttermilk
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square pan and put it on a baking sheet.

To make the crumbs: Put all the ingredients in a bowl and combine until the mixture forms clumps and curds and holds together when pressed. This can also be done in a food processor. Scrape the topping into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until needed. The covered crumb mixture can be refrigerated for up to 3 days if needed.

To make the cake: Using your fingertips, toss the blueberries and 2 teaspoons of the flour together in a small bowl to coat the berries. Set aside. Whisk together the remaining 2 cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Add the butter and with the paddle or whisk attachment of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until light, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, beating for about 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla extract. Don't be concerned if the batter looks curdled - it will smooth out. Mix the buttermilk and orange juice together. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture alternately, the flour in 3 parts and the buttermilk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients). You will have a thick, creamy batter. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the berries. 

Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and smooth the top gently with the spatula. Break the crumb mixture into pieces and scatter over the batter, pressing them down ever so slightly. 

Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean (mine was done at 50 minutes). Transfer the cake to a rack and cool just until it is warm or until it reaches room temperature.