Tag Archives: blueberry

Banana Muffins of Perfection

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Veronica

I got this recipe from my friend, Staci, and have made them twice in the last month. They were originally called “Banana Nut Muffins” but Dennis insisted on this new title and since it makes me laugh, I obliged him. They really are perfect, so much so that I’m thinking about turning this recipe into a loaf and entering it into the fair this year. Such a nice, soft, texture!

I shared them with an old co-worker and she deemed them the “best muffins ever.” The base recipe is a good one that results in a tender, moist muffin with great banana flavor. These are now my favorite thing to make with bananas!

Banana Muffins of Perfection

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

2 cups (9 oz) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter
1 cup (7 oz) granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe bananas
1 cup mix-in’s

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in mashed bananas. Add dry ingredients all at once, stirring just enough to moisten. Gently stir in mix-in’s. Spoon into greased muffin tin, filling 2/3 full. Bake in 350F oven for 18-20 minutes or until golden. Makes 15-18 muffins.

Staci’s & V’s favorite mix-in’s: chopped nuts, diced prunes, chopped strawberries, blueberries, dried cranberries, chocolate chips. Staci also likes to add spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom, but doesn’t measure so you’ll have to figure out how much you like if you add them. I’d add a teaspoon total of spices (max) if it was me, but you might like more or less.

I make mine nut-free to keep them easy to chew for Joshua. My two favorite ways (so far) are with blueberries (above) and dried cranberries (first picture)! I can’t wait to try them with FRESH cranberries come fall. Oh my!

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Posted in Bread, Breakfast and tagged baking, banana muffins, banana nut, best, blueberry, chocolate chip, Cranberry, perfect, recipe. Bookmark the permalink.

Triple Berry Pie

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Veronica

This was one of the pies I brought to the Memorial Day barbecue at my preacher’s home and it was a big hit! Although I really prefer to make cakes, what I do appreciate about pie is how simple it is. Just a few ingredients turn into utter magic in a Pyrex dish. Essentially pie crust, fruit, and sugar and you’ve got the perfect summertime dessert. This one really is all about the sweet berries, gently complimented by flaky pastry!

Triple Berry Pie

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

Pastry for a 2-crust pie (I cheated and used Pillsbury)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 cups frozen mixed berries, thawed & drained
Milk & coarse sugar for top crust

Preheat oven to 450 F. Roll out one disc of dough, line pie plate with pastry, leaving a 3/4″ overhang, and place in refrigerator. In a large bowl, mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt together. Gently toss with the berries and let stand for 15 minutes. Spoon into crust-lined pie plate. Roll out second dough disc and cut into strips with a pastry wheel or pizza cutter. Arrange the strips to make a lattice design over filling (I have a tutorial on this process here). Trim, fold overhang from bottom crust over the ends of the lattice top crust, seal, and flute edges (I have a video tutorial on working with pie crust here, in which I include a demonstration on fluting edges). Brush crust with milk (I used my finger) & sprinkle with sugar. Place pie on middle oven rack; place large cookie sheet on rack below pie pan in case of spillover. Bake pie 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375 and place a pie shield on the crust to prevent overbrowning. Bake another 40-45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown & filling is bubbling. Cool at least two hours before serving. (I always make fruit pies a day in advance and they are always nicely set up by the time I serve them.)

*Veronica’s Notes: the original recipe calls for fresh OR frozen berries so I guess this recipe will work with fresh berries too, but I haven’t tried it yet. The original recipe also calls for ½ cup more sugar than mine, which you may need if your fresh berries are very tart. Frozen berries are packaged at their peak and are usually quite sweet, so 1 cup of sugar was plenty and more would have been overkill.

Recipe source: adapted from the Three Berry Pie recipe on the side of my Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts box.

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Posted in Pie and tagged blackberry, blueberry, lattice top crust, Pie, Pillsbury, raspberry, simple, summer, three berry, triple berry. Bookmark the permalink.

The Best Buttermilk Pancakes

Posted on September 5, 2009 by Veronica

Sometimes it’s the simplest recipes that are the best! I made mine with blueberries and they were so good, I didn’t even need any syrup!

Best Buttermilk Pancakes
from smittenkitchen.com

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or slightly less table salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tablespoon extra for brushing griddle (I’ve made these pancakes with and without the butter mixed in, and can say with confidence they work either way. They’re just richer with it, of course.)
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen and thawed (optional)
1. Preheat an electric griddle to 375°F, or place a griddle pan or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the eggs, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons melted butter, and whisk to combine. The batter should have small to medium lumps.
2. Test the griddle by sprinkling a few drops of water on it. If the water bounces and spatters, the griddle is hot enough. Using a pastry brush, brush the remaining 1/2 teaspoon butter onto the griddle. Wipe off the excess with a folded paper towel.
3. Using a 4-oz. ladle, about 1/2 cup (for a 6-inch pancake), pour the batter in pools 2 inches apart. If you wish to make blueberry pancakes, arrange a handful over the cooking pancake, pressing them in slightly. When the pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around the edges, about 2 1/2 minutes, flip over. If any batter oozes or blueberries roll out, push them back under with your spatula. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.
4. Repeat with the remaining batter. You can keep the finished pancakes on a heat-proof plate in the oven at 175°F. Serve warm.

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Posted in Breakfast and tagged best, blueberry, buttermilk, pancakes. Bookmark the permalink.

Blueberry Lemon Trifle

Posted on May 13, 2009 by Veronica

We have several diabetics in our church group, with whom we joined last Saturday for a barbecue in the countryside. To accommodate their sugar abstinence, I brought two sugar-free desserts: rugelach & blueberry lemon trifle. Both desserts were enjoyed by diabetics & non-diabetics alike, but this is the one I will continue making for myself (Den can fend for himself–the trifle is mine!) because it’s low in calories and it tastes FABULOUS!

If you prefer to make this with full-fat and full-sugar (oooooh, I bet that would be even better!), follow the suggestions in parentheses.

Blueberry Lemon Trifle

1 sugar-free angel food cake (or 1 pound cake)
1 lemon, juiced
1 1/2 cups skim milk (or whole milk)
1 (8-oz) tub fat-free sour cream (or regular sour cream)
1 (8-oz) tub sugar-free cool-whip, divided (or regular Cool Whip/real whipped cream)
2 packages fat-free/sugar-free instant lemon pudding (or regular instant lemon pudding)
3 pints blueberries, rinsed & dried

Cut the cake into cubes and lay them out on a cookie sheet, then sprinkle the lemon juice evenly over them (I actually dipped my clean fingers into the juice & dabbed the juice on–you could use a pastry brush too) & carefully toss. Don’t mash the cake–keep it as pretty as possible. This won’t be as difficult with pound cake b/c it’s not as delicate so you don’t have to be as careful. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the milk, sour cream & half of the cool whip until smooth, then beat in the pudding mixes until it starts to thicken.

Set a few blueberries aside for garnish. Put 1/3 of the cake cubes in the bottom of a trifle bowl, sprinkle on 1/3 of the blueberries (1 pint), then spread 1/3 of the pudding mixture over it. Repeat two more times, then spread the remaining Cool Whip over the top & garnish with the reserved blueberries. Chill until ready to serve–can be made up to two days in advance–or just sit it down on the table and dig in.