Blueberry Streusel Muffins

When life gives you lemons (and blueberries), make these muffins...they're delicious!

Blueberry Streusel Muffins:

1 cup (240 ml) milk

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

1 tablespoon (12 grams) baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

2 cups (260 grams) fresh or frozen blueberries

1/2 tablespoon grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter, melted

Blueberry Streusel Muffins: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Place rack in middle of oven. Line 16 - 18 muffin cups with paper liners or spray with a non stick vegetable spray.

In a measuring cup mix together the milk, eggs, and vanilla extract.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. (The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.) Remove one cup of the mixture and set aside in a separate bowl to make the streusel topping. To the remaining muffin batter, gently fold in the blueberries and lemon zest. Add the milk and egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. (Do not over mix this mixture or the muffins will be tough when baked.)

Fill each muffin cup with the batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Fill any unused muffins cups with water to prevent the pan from warping.

For streusel topping: Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons (28 grams) butter and drizzle over the reserved 1 one cup of streusel topping. Mix together with a fork until it is crumbly and looks like coarse meal. Sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of the streusel over the top of each muffin. Place in the oven and bake until very lightly browned and firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 - 22 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Makes 16 - 18 regular-sized muffins.

Note: Frozen blueberries can be used instead of fresh. Do not thaw the berries before using them. Make sure you do not overmix the batter after you add the blueberries or the batter will turn blue.

These muffins taste great paired with Tillamook Lemon Squeeze yogurt!

Fabulous Food Friday: Raspberry Butter

I got this recipe from the Pioneer Woman's blog...don't you just love her? She is a food blogging super star!

Pioneer Woman's Raspberry Butter

2 sticks of butter

1/2 cup raspberries

powdered sugar (optional)

Make the berry butters: in separate batches, whip 2 sticks of butter at a time on high using the whisk attachment. Switch to paddle attachment. Add either raspberries or blackberries. Turn mixer on low for only about five seconds, just long enough for the berries to begin to mix in/break up, but not so long that it turns into a mess. Clean mixer bowl and attachments and repeat with other kind of berry.

With each batch, turn mixture out onto a long sheet of plastic wrap set over a long sheet of foil. Use the wrap/foil to roll the butter into a cylinder: first seal the plastic wrap around the cylinder, then secure the foil around it. Twist the ends, gradually applying more pressure as you twist in order to make the cylinder taut.

Once it's a nice, neat cylinder of foil, place into the freezer for 30 minutes in order to quickly solidify it, then transfer it to the fridge until you're ready to use it. Butter should be nice and firm.

NOTE: You can add a little sifted powdered sugar to the butter to make more of a sweet spread for bread and muffins! For French toast, though, the maple syrup makes things sweet enough.

Raspberry butter on a warm stack of Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Yummy melted goodness!

Raspberry Lemon Scones

It's hard to believe that just a few days ago we were sitting at the table in my friend Merrilee's kitchen in Philadelphia eating her homemade scones. After a long flight back to Oregon, my parents greeted us with a big container of fresh raspberries from their garden...I knew just what I was going to use them for!!!

This morning I tried out a new recipe using lemon zest in the scone mix...They were a huge hit served with some Jamaica Iced Tea!

Raspberry Lemon Scones with a Lemony Glaze

Scone Recipe:

2 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 tablespoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

2 tablespoons Sugar

5 tablespoons cold Unsalted Butter

1 cup Heavy Cream*, plus more for brushing the scones.
1 cup frozen fresh Raspberries

1 Lemon zested

*NOTE I didn't have heavy cream, so I just used 1/2 C milk and 1/2 cup sour cream

Lemony Glaze:

1/2 cup fresh squeezed and strained lemon juice

2 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon Unsalted Butter, softened

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

For the scones; sift together all the dry ingredients and zest of one lemon. Using a pastry cutter or 2 forks, blend the butter into the flour until it resembles wet crumbly sand. Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream, mix just until combined making sure not to over work the dough. Fold in the raspberries, be careful not to mash or break the berries.

Press the dough out onto a floured surface forming a rectangle. Next fold up the sides to form a circle with all the berries on the inside. Next cut diagonal leaving you with 8-10 triangles. Brush the tops with a little heavy cream and bake for 15-20 minutes. Let the scones cool a little before applying the glaze.

For the glaze; sift the powdered sugar and whisk in the strained lemon juice. Whisk in the butter until smooth. Whisk again and set aside until scones are slightly cooled. Drizzle, Brush or Dunk the scones in the glaze.