Blueberry Banana Bread

Well, with me actually starting to get out of the house more often, I haven't really had the opportunity to bake to much. For most of my summer, a lot of people I know are usually busy with work or family, and just haven't really had to time to really get out of the house to go do something. Hang out. But for these past few weeks, they have. And be really craving to get out of the house, I didn't stop to jump up and get out.

We actually went and saw the Dark Knight movie. I've seen it twice already. It was an amazing movie and Heath Ledger did and awesome job. I've always been a huge fan of Heath ever since I saw him in one of my favorite movies, '10 Things I hate about you.' I've been obsessed with him since. It's sad though. That someone who held so much potentially and really had something going for him (and only just starting to really hit big on his acting career) had to die only on a accidental use on prescription drugs. I'm really interested to see his very last movie, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Should be interesting.

Anyways, aside from that, When I did have the time to bake, I knew what it was I wanted to make. Banana bread. Hadn't had it in awhile and I was really craving it. We had leftover blueberries and I thought it might add some interesting flavor. And it did. I really liked it. With the cinnamon in it, it made everything seem right together. Was such a yummy breakfast.

Recipe

Bread

1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained, or frozen blueberries
2 cups plus one tablespoon all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 to 3)
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg

Oatmeal Streusel

1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon


1. Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, gently mix blueberries with 1 tablespoon of the flour.

2. In another bowl, blend flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a another large bowl, whisk mashed bananas, buttermilk, butter, and egg to blend. Stir flour mixture into banana mixture just until evenly moistened; the batter will be stiff. Gently stir in blueberry mixture.

3. Spread batter level in a buttered 5- by 9-inch loaf pan. Sprinkle with oatmeal streusel and press in lightly.

4. To make the oatmeal streusel, in a small bowl, combine flour, rolled oats, packed brown sugar and butter, cut into chunks. Add ground cinnamon. Mix with your fingers until fine crumbs form.

5. Bake bread in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. Let bread cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then run a knife around edges to loosen. Invert bread onto a plate, remove pan, and turn over onto rack to cool completely, about 45 minutes.

Mixed Berry Cobbler

To be completely frank, I have never had a cobbler in my life, nor have I ever baked one. Shocking, right? But, I guess there's always something that not everyone has tried before. For me, it's the cobbler. I didn't really even know what the heck a cobbler was. From what I heard, it was basically just a fruit filling with a biscuit on top. This was a reason as to why I really never tried a cobbler. It just didn't sound to appealing to me. However, I was extremely excited to find that this weeks challenge for TWD was a Mixed Berry Cobbler. Now I had to try a cobbler.

Now, I knew that making a cobbler was very easy (which this was), and that it didn't take to many ingredients or anything difficult to make it. It was just the taste that matter. But, I didn't see how you could really go wrong. In the end, it was just how sweet you, as the person eating it, would want it. I made mine pretty sweet (I have a major sweet tooth).

I didn't make it into a huge cobbler. Instead, I made them into individual ramekins (Who knows if I'd really like it or not, or if everyone else would). In my opinion, they looked prettier in little individual portions anyways. I only used blueberries and strawberries (But I used more blueberries than anything ;]). I didn't really have any blackberries or raspberries on hand. If I did, I would have definitely had used them!

So, what did I think of my first cobbler? Well, after waiting for what seemed like forever and smelling the fruit in oven with my mouth watering, I finally got to take my first bite... And... It was really good! To my surprise, it didn't make me feel bloated for I thought that it might be a bit heavy (I was thinking of pie here...). But it didn't. Which was good. I've now discovered cobbler and it will be something I will make more often now ;]. Go Cobblers! :D

Recipe

For the topping

2 cups flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
3 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. cold butter, cut up
3/4 cup cold heavy cream

For the filling

5 cups mixed berries, frozen or fresh
4 to 5 tbsp. sugar (depending on your taste)
1 tbsp. cornstarch
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon or lime
1/4 tsp. (or more, to taste) ground black pepper (optional)

Vanilla ice cream, for serving


1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate and put it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips (my favorite method) or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly. You'll have pea-size pieces, pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and pieces in between — and that's just right.

3. Pour the cream over the dry ingredients and toss and gently turn the ingredients with a fork until you've got a very soft dough. When the dough comes together, you'll probably still have dry ingredients at the bottom of the bowl — just use a spatula or your hands to mix and knead the dough until it's evenly blended.

4. Don't overdo it; it's better to have a few dry spots than an overworked dough. Even with all the flour mixed in, the dough will be soft and sticky.

5.Turn the dough out onto a sheet of wax paper or plastic wrap, cover with another sheet of paper or plastic and gently press or roll the dough into a circle that is a scant 9 inches in diameter. Don't worry about getting the size exact or about seeing that the edges are even — this is a very homey dessert, and a rough-around the-edges biscuit adds to its charm. Set the dough aside while you prepare the fruit.

6. To make the filling, Toss all the ingredients into a large bowl and stir to mix. Turn the fruit into the buttered pie plate and top with the biscuit. Using a small sharp knife, cut about 6 slits in the dough, just as you would for a piecrust. Then, using either the knife or a large piping tip, cut a circle out of the center of the dough.

7. Bake the cobbler for 60 to 75 minutes, or until the top is puffed and golden brown and the fruit is bubbling steadily up through the center steam hole and all around the scallopy edges of the biscuit. Transfer the pie plate to a rack and let the cobbler cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

8. Serve the cobbler warm or at room temperature, with ice cream.

STORING: Once the cobbler cools, you can keep it lightly covered for a few hours at room temperature, but you really should enjoy it the day it is made. Don't refrigerate it — the biscuit will lose its appealing texture.

Blueberry Hand Pies

With exams finally over and school coming to an end today, I felt like I should spoil myself a little with the fact of all the stress from studying for exams for the past week. We have a bunch of blueberries that we bought not to long ago that needed to be used (we stocked up on blueberries when there was a sale).

I wanted to make something that would for sure make me feel happy. And what better than pie! A feel good dessert in my opinion. I didn't necessarily want to make a big pie because I knew not everyone would want to eat it (with bikini season here), so I decided to make them in little individual pies. These aren't hard to make at all, and the dough is very good. It's kind of flaky, which I like. If your not into making your own dough or don't have the time, you could always buy store bought dough. That'll be just as good. Either way, they'll turn out great. These were killer!

Recipe

For the Filling

1 cup fresh blueberries
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
Milk for brushing top


For the Dough

1 1/4 cup flour
6 tbsp. butter, cold, cut in small cubes
2 tbsp. shortening
1/8 tsp. salt
3-4 tbsp. ice water

1. For the filling, in a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat cook blueberries, sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Stir frequently until mixture comes to a boil and thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

2. To make the dough, get a food processor or use your hand, blend flour, butter, shortening and salt until the mixture resembles a coarse meal and has some pea sized pieces of butter left in it.

3. While pulsing, add water a little at a time until dough comes together when pinched in your hand. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 1 day. Preheat oven to 375.

4. When dough is ready, roll chilled pastry out on a lightly floured surface into a 1/8 inch thick rectangle. Cut 4 1/2 inch squares or circles. Fill with about a mounded tablespoon of filling. Seal shut with your fingers . Fold edges over in a decorative shape or seal with the tines of a fork. Re-roll dough scraps to make up to eight circles or squares, allowing it to rest about 10 minutes between rolling.

5. Place hand pie on parchment lined cookie sheet. When all the pies are on the cookie sheet brush with a little milk and generously sprinkle with sugar. Bake about 20-25 minutes until golden brown, rotating cookie sheet half way through baking. Store at room temperature.

White Chocolate Blueberry Tart

Blueberries have been going on sale a lot lately here in Florida, so, I decided to take the opportunity to stock up on a few blueberries since they're always so expensive! And I love blueberries, but buying them as much as I'd like kind adds up to be pretty costly. There were actually a lot of things that I thought of to make with the blueberries, but one thing really stuck with me. A blueberry tart; With chocolate! Oh yea. Winner. Ding, ding, ding! So, that's exactly what I did. Made one awesome blueberry tart.

What I loved most about this was defiantly the crust! The cashews really gave it a awesome taste! If you don't really like cashews though, you could always use other nuts that you prefer. Pecans, almonds, walnuts; Whatever to your choosing. But, I'd have the say that the cashews really complemented with the blueberries and chocolate. I would say try it. I'll defiantly be keeping this recipe for the crust in memory for the future. It was just so good.

The whole things was awesome in general. You have to keep in in the fridge or freezer. For me however, living in the Sunshine State where heat is out enemy, I had to keep it in the freezer since it has been killer hot out. If you were to take ice out of the freezer, it would begin to melt. So I thought I'd be safe and put the tart in the freezer so that I wouldn't have to fear that it would melt! Anyways, I really liked this recipe. Everything came together really well and very much enjoyed it! It's typically a very easy dessert, too! You'll love it!

Recipe

For the Crust

2/3 cup cashews, finely chopped
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. orange zest

For the Filling

1 cup white chocolate
2 tbsp. butter
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup fresh blueberries


1. For the crust, preheat oven to 375 degrees degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch tart pan or 4 small tarts pans. Place all ingredients for the crust into a food processor, and mix until combined well. Press the mixture into prepared tart pan (or 4 small tart pans), using the back of a small spoon (the mixture will have a crumbly texture). Refrigerate crust for 15 minutes. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Let crust cool.

2. Break the chocolate into pieces in a large glass bowl placed over a saucepan of boiling water. Stir occasionally until melted. Remove from heat, and stir in the 2 tbsp. butter until melted. Mix in the heavy cream, and whisk until smooth.

3. Spread the blueberries over the tart crust, then pour the chocolate mixture evenly over the top. Chill in refrigerator for at least 3 hours, so that the chocolate sets. Garnish with walnut halves.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Blueberry Ice Cream

There are many things that I like, but, for me, ice cream is just pure love. It's almost like a comfort food for me. So rich and creamy... Never leaves me hangin. When I was a little kid, I use to go to my grandma's house everyday. I always saw her and I always was with her. We use to be real close. She was like my mom. She took care of me through most of my childhood. Since my parents we're always working, she became my mom.

One of things I use to do with her all the time was bake and cook. She's want really got me into baking and cooking. She's also the person that developed my love for burnt food... Yes, I like food to be slightly burnt. She burnt a lot of things. But, one of the things me and her use to do was make homemade ice cream. Real homemade. Not with the help of a machine. The real deal. And I was thinking about the times we spent together, and I just felt the need to make some to bring back memories.

Add this to the running for ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday.

Recipe

2 cups blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream


1. Get out a plastic container out (or churner) to be ready to pour ice cream in. Drop the blueberries, sugar and salt in a sauce pan and turn to medium-high heat. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, mashing berries and stirring with a fork. Simmer mixture, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes; cool slightly.

2. In a blender, puree mixture with milk just until smooth and stir in cream. Chill this mixture until cold in the fridge or an ice bath. Churn in an ice-cream machine until thick or place in a plastic container, pop it in the freezer and give it a good whip every few hours.

Blueberry Pumpkin Muffins

If I were to choice what muffin to eat, it most likely always going to be a blueberry muffin. If its a muffin, I'd much rather have some blueberries in it. Thats just the way I am. It's how I see a muffin. With lots of yummy blueberries. "Do I know the muffin man? Why yes, and he has a bunch of yummy, delicious blueberries in him!"

Every year when Fall comes around, me and my mom usually always stock up on canned pumpkin. We get so much, that we in the end realize that maybe we got just a little to much... However, it does come to use through out the year. I find it quite hard to find canned pumpkin during spring or summer, for they don't usually have them on the shelfs. But I do love to still have the great tastes of pumpkin every time of the year.

I decided to get out one of my canned pumpkin and put it to some good use. And I sure put it to good use; Delicious use that is! I added pumpkin to a blueberry recipe that I found and it, and it tasted very light, very moist and very tasty. A great low cal snack, holding only 146 calories per muffin. Yes! Can make it much more healthier by using whole wheat flour, and brown sugar instead of white sugar. Still comes out just as good!

Recipe

3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup fresh or thawed blueberries


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease and flour muffin pans or use paper liners.

2. In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg until evenly blended.

3. In a separate bowl, stir together pumpkin, milk, egg and butter. Gradually add in the flour mixture, just until all ingredients are moistened. Fold in the the blueberries. Spoon matter into 12 muffin cups, filling to the top.

4. Bake for about 20 minutes, then cool for 10 minutes.

Berry Berry Blueberry Muffins

Blueberries? In a muffin? Heaven?

I love Blueberries. Love, Love, Love them! And if I am to have a Blueberry muffin, there has to be a lot of blueberries! And I mean a lot of blueberries! Thats why I love muffins homemade. I don't like the ones you buy at stores. They taste to... Store bought. Thats why I like pretty much everything homemade, especially blueberry muffins. Its like you can taste all the work put into homemade muffins. That may sound kind of corny, but I truely do.

I haven't had blueberry muffins in a while. And today, I was going out with my Nana, and she loves blueberry muffins as much as I. So I wanted to make a batch before she got here so she could take some home. Sure enough, I got them right out of the oven when she got here. And she knew right away what I was making; She could smell it!

Recipe

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest of one orange
1 large lightly beaten egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup canola
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups fresh or frozen berries blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray Muffins cups.

2. In a large measuring cup or bowl whisk together the egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking sofa, baking powder, salt and orange zest.

3. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.

4. Fill into muffin cups and bake for 20-30 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Serve.