Blueberry Muffins

This recipe is a recipe for AMAZING blueberry muffins :D (as requested by Leah L.)

Muffins:
2 c. Fresh Blueberries
1 1/8 c. and 1 t. Sugar
2 1/2 c/ Flour
2 1/2 t. Baking Powder
1t. Salt
2 Eggs
4T. Butter Melted and cooled
1/4 cup oil
1 c. Buttermilk OR 3/4 c. Whole milk OR 3/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt + 1/4 c. milk
1 1/2 t. vanilla

Topping:
1/3 c. Sugar
1 1/2 t. Lemon Zest

1. Stir topping ingredients together; set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 425*. Grease Muffin Tins. Bring 1 c. of the blueberries, and 1 t. of the sugar to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, Mashing berries with a spoon several times, and stirring until the mixture has reduced to 1/4 c. and has thickened. (about 6 min) Cool. (about 10 min)

3. Whisk Flour, Baking Powder and Salt together in a large Bowl. Whisk the remaining 1 1/8 c. sugar and eggs together in separate bowl until think- 45 sec. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla. using spatula, fold the remaining 1 c. blueberries and egg mixture into the flour mixture until just moistened. (The mix WILL be lumpy with spots of dry flour- DO NOT OVERMIX!)

4. Put batter into muffin pans equally. (Am ice cream scoop works perfect.) Spoon 1 t. of the cooked blueberry mixture into the center of each mound of batter. Using a skewer or chopstick, swirl it in. Sprinkle topping mixture over the muffins.

5. Bake 17-19 minutes. Rotate the muffin tins at 8 minutes through. Cool for 5 min until putting on rack. Cut in half, and put butter in the center.

Enjoy <3

*Remember to comment any personal tips and opinions! :D

Sugar Cookies! :D

Who doesn't want a nice sugar cookies every once and awhile. Or maybe even some of the dough :D This recipe is a family favorite- and makes the best sugar cookies!

Sugar Cookies
3 c. Flour
3/4 t. Baking Powder
1/4 t. Salt
1 c. Butter
1 c. Sugar
1 egg
1 T. Milk

Cream butter, sugar and eggs. Slowly add dry ingredients.

Refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 375*
Roll our cookies- cut out.
Cook for 7-9 min. Let sit on cookie sheet 2 min to cool (or else you will end up with a nice big pile of broken cookies :D)
If you would like to frost them- Let cool completely.

Comment and if you have any questions- ask! :)

Bon Appetit!

~Gabrielle

Carrot Cake (Dairy-Free!)

I received a phone call from my mom last night, saying that she would really like carrot cake. I decided that I did, too :) We have a recipe that originated from my great-grandmother. We like a no-nonsense carrot cake that is just carrots and spices- no raisins, pineapple, nuts, etc. As I am making the batter, I realize something- we are completely out of eggs. I hate the taste of egg-replacer, and needed to find something else. You will be shocked at my substitute: Flax. Yup. You heard me. 1T ground flax + 3T water = 1 egg. It was the best carrot cake ever- you would never have known a difference.

Carrot Cake

1 1/2 c. Sugar

1 c. oil

3 eggs OR 3T flax + 9T water

2 c. Flour

1 1/2 t. cinnamon

1 t. baking soda

1 t. vanilla

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. nutmeg

3c. shredded carrots

Mix ingredients. Bake at 350* for 45 min,

Let Cool

Cream Cheese Frosting (This is not Dairy-Free :P)

2 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 Pkg (8oz) Cream Cheese

1T Milk

1t Vanilla

Dash of Salt

Beat together and spread over top!

Try it and let me know how it went!!

Bon Appetit!

Easy Tomato Sauce

This recipe is tried and true. It is pretty all-purpose, as it is good for pasta, zitti, Lasagna, Chicken Parmesan and more! Just a good all-around sauce. It also freezes really good...

Easy Tomato Sauce:

(Please keep in mind this serves 10 :)

1 Onion

2T. Olive Oil

3 T. Minced Garlic

1 Can Organic Tomato Sauce

1 Can Organic Diced Tomatoes

1 Jar 365 Brand Pasta Sauce

Salt, Pepper, Thyme, Basil and Terragon to taste

Sauté onions, olive oil and garlic. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for 8-10 min.

Easy. :)

I am going to serve it over some really nice raviolis with a salad. You can also add some ground turkey, or ground beef and easily make it a meat sauce.

Bon Appetit!

Introduction

I have decided that I am going to start a blog. A friend (Christi) suggested awhile ago that I start a blog about cooking. A blog in which I can write down the recipe, how it turned out, comments, tips, etc. My favorite cook book is 'America's Test Kitchen'. They basically do the same thing. They take recipes, cook them, and make them better as well as adding tips, ideal brands, etc. So I finally decided to bring this plan into action! We will see how it goes! :)

I basically cook/bake something every day. Whether it be a dish for a certain meal, a dessert, bread, etc. I will write it down. This will get interesting!!

I never know what I will be making that day, so I will not have a weekly summary :)

So look over it, and let me know what you think!

-Gabrielle