Banana Oat Muffins

I got this recipe over at honeyandjam where she's got some very beautiful pictures of the muffins (much nicer stuff than what I can get with my iPhone). They're very hearty and not overly sweet or banana-y, which I like very much. Great for a quick morning breakfast - something I struggle with everyday! Although I've never tried this myself, you could, technically, mix the batter the night before, fill the muffin tin, cover and refrigerate over night and then just bake them off in the morning. I just baked them the night before and warmed them up in the morning. You could do that too.

Cinnamon Covered Chocolate Chip Cookies

DECEMBER?! What in the world happened to November?!

Well, let's see... Some girlfriends from California came to visit and we all had a gay ol' time... Then this big storm called the Nor'Easter hit Virginia and we were locked up inside without cable and internet service for about five days... Then Jason went to North Carolina for two weeks to do some training, during which time I didn't cook much (Ah, the plight of cooking for one...)... And for the recent four day Thanksgiving weekend we went on a road trip through Virginia to Gettysburg, PA. Phew! Lots of stuff happened in the last few weeks!

My Favorite Cookie

Watchout waistline, it's that time of year again! First comes the Halloween candy, then the Thanksgiving turkey and finally all those Christmas goodies. Mmm, I love this time of year. My tummy is filled with delicious things and - hopefully - I'll be surrounded by people I love.

And, of course, what's a holiday season without some baked goods. Sure, it's against diet rules but come on! Tis the season to eat well and be (fat and) happy!

My all time favorite cookie are these pine nute cookies by Giada de Laurentiis.

Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Rectangles

I've never made a cheesecake before. And I was definitely a little intimidated, especially since the realm of dessert usually requires precision and exactness - none of that "eye-balling" and "season to taste" stuff. But it couldn't be that difficult, could it...?

After making these blueberry lemon cheesecake rectangles, my opinion is that cheesecake ain't so difficult after all! Well, as long as you don't really care what they look like. Taste was the number one concern here.

The original recipe called for a 9x9 inch square pan, which I didn't have. But I did have a 8x11 inch rectangular baker. Same square "inch-age", so why not? Worked out perfectly, actually. And, of course, after reading the reviews I tweaked it a bit: added 2 tbsp butter to the crust and subtracted one lemon. After baking for 12 minutes, the crust wasn't quite done so I popped it back in the oven for a few more minutes. Didn't dust my cheesecake with powdered sugar.

The smell of the graham cracker crust baking was ridiculous! I was very tempted to just gobble up the crust without making the rest of the cheesecake. I didn't, thank goodness. The blueberries were baked just enough that they softened into the filling, but didn't completely disintegrate and still gave a little pop! when bitten into. Next time I might make a blueberry puree and swirl it into the cream instead of using whole berries, especially if I use my frozen berries. And now, the recipe:

Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Rectangles (or Squares or Whatever)
(at least 8 servings)

Crust:
6 tbsp butter, melted. Plus more for greasing the pan (un-melted)
9 graham crackers
2 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Filling:
16 oz cream cheese, room tempearture
2 eggs
1 lemon, zested and juiced
0.5 cup sugar
1.5 cups fresh blueberries

To make the crust:

• Preheat oven to 325F.
• Grease bottom and sides of baking pan, 8x11 or 9x9, with the extra butter. Line with parchment paper, leaving some overhang so you can easily pull the cheesecake out later.
• In a food processor, process the graham crackers, sugar and cinnamon until finely ground. Slowly add the melted butter and pulse until fully incorporated, should be moist but still loose. Dump into prepared baking pan.
• Using clean fingers, press and compact the crust into the pan, working from the middle outwards until you have a solid base and sides that are 0.5-1 inch high.
  
• Bake 15 minutes. Remove and let cool completely before pouring in the filling. Remember to turn off your oven while the crust cools!

To make the filling:

• Preheat oven to 325F.
  
• In a food processor, blend cream cheese, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar until smooth. (At this point, if the crust is not cool enough to fill, cover filling with plastic wrap and leave in refrigerator until ready to use).
• Pour filling into cooled crust and cover with blueberries. Berries will sink slightly.
  
• Bake for 35 minutes @ 325F. Center will still be jiggly when removed from oven. Let cool completely on counter. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or until well chilled.
  
• Using the parchment paper overhang, gently lift cheesecake out of pan and slice into desired sizes.
  

Happy baking!

Blueberry Muffins

First thing I made with the blueberries? Muffins! Yum :)

Recipe that follows is slightly adapted from Ina Garten's recipe for blueberry muffins. After reading some of the reviews, I took their advice and added an extra half cup of blueberries. Too many! The problem with adding more berries is that when they cook in the oven, they don't hold their shape but disintegrate into the batter. This makes the muffins deliciously gooey but too many berries clustered together makes a gigantically gooey mess!

Next time I make these, I'll stick to the recommended 2 cups of blueberries. I would also add some kind of citrus, like lemon zest or a splash of orange juice to give it a little more pop. Anyway, this is a good basic batter you could use to make other kinds of muffins, just sub the blueberries with whatever else you want. Let me know if you come up with some interesting combinations :)

Blueberry Muffins
(makes about 24 cupcake sized muffins)

1.5 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1.5 cups sugar

3 extra large eggs at room temperature

1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup plain vanilla yogurt (or sub with sour cream)
1/4 cup milk

2.5 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried

• Using a hand mixer, cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy, and sugar has mostly dissolved into the butter. 5 minutes.
• Add one egg at a time to the butter mix, and whip until each one is fully incorporated before adding the next. Then work in the vanilla, yogurt and milk.
  
• In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to cream mixture in thirds, mixing until the flour is just absorbed before adding the next third. Don't over beat the batter or it'll become tough and doughy.
  
• Gently fold in blueberries with a spatula. Scrape bottom of bowl to make sure all the flour is completely incorporated.
  
• Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12 well muffin/cupcake pan with paper liners.
  
• Scoop batter into lined pan, filling just to the top. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned on top. To test if muffins are done, stick a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean, it's done!
• Let cool in pan until cool enough to handle. Remove from pan and let cool completely.

Tips: 1) To keep blueberries from sinking to the bottoms of the muffins, lightly coat them in flour before adding to the batter. 2) You may also want to lightly grease the rims of each cupcake well (if not using a non-stick pan) to prevent the tops from sticking when they bake over.

Jason took a dozen to work to share with his office mates. The other dozen are still in the refrigerator. I eat them with my morning coffee or whenever I need a snack. They could probably also be frozen for later use, then thawed and reheated in the microwave - although I've never tried this but am very curious to see if it works. Let me know how they turn out if you decide to freeze!

Happy baking :)