Blueberry Power Muffins with Almond Streusel

As I mentioned in this post, I made blueberry power muffins with almond streusel on Saturday afternoon.  I love making muffins on the weekends because between the muffins and some hard boiled eggs, I have breakfast ready to go for the whole week.  I usually pack my breakfast in a small bag with a tupperware of milk and eat it once I get to work, allowing me more time to get ready during the time of day when I am moving the slowest!

I had never made streusel before and now that I know how easy it is, I will be topping lots of my muffins this way for a little extra goodness!  The yogurt (I used half yogurt/half sour cream because I ran out of yogurt!) helps keep these muffins, baked with whole wheat flour and oats, from tasting dry.  The fresh blueberries add beautiful color and help create little caverns inside the muffins themselves, which are delightful to bite into.

Ingredients:
For the muffins:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups organic vanilla yogurt--I used 1 cup of vanilla yogurt and 1 cup of organic sour cream
1/2 cup fat free milk
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, washed and dried


For the streusel:
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup slivered almonds, chopped
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted


Kitchen Supplies:
Muffin tins (the recipe makes 18 muffins)
Muffin paper cups, if desired--I just spray the tins with cooking spray and pop them right out afterwards--less waste!
2 tablespoon measuring spoon
Toothpick
Wire racks for cooling
Three mixing bowls (small, medium and large)
Whisk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine flours, oats, granulated sugar, baking powder and soda and salt in a large mixing bowl using a whisk.  Make a well in the center of the mixture.

 In a smaller bowl, combine yogurt, milk, egg, oil and vanilla extract, whisking until combined. 

Pour the wet mixture into the well of the dry mixture and fold in together until just combined.  Gently fold in blueberries.

Spray tins with cooking spray (or line with paper cups) and spoon two tablespoons worth of mixture into each cup.  We have some odd sized measuring spoons and cups from AllClad, including a two tablespoon measuring spoon that I use for this purpose. 

In the small mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, almonds, melted butter and flour until it resembles a crumb consistency.  Sprinkle some of the crumbs over the tops of each muffin and bake tins for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out cleanly.

Allow to cool in the tins for ten minutes on top of wire racks before removing.  Serve warm or at room temperature!

Serves: 18
Serving size: 1 muffin
Calories: 244

As you may recall from last week, I had eggs and bacon (prosciutto) for breakfast every day which leads me to today's question: do you like a sweet or savory breakfast better?  Or perhaps both?  I can't wait to hear your answers!

Pumpkin Bars recipe, or We Have A Lot of Leftovers

As I mentioned in this post, I made Pumpkin Bars this weekend for our dinner with JY and Ashlee.  I knew I wanted to make a dessert for them and when I thought about all of the dessert recipes in my repertoire and which I would like to make this weekend, Pumpkin Bars immediately came to mind.

You see, when I was growing up my mom would bake us a cake of our choice for our birthday every year.  As I detailed in this post, my mom is not big on baking, so this was a very nice gesture!  While my siblings would choose confetti or chocolate cake, my dad and I always chose Pumpkin Bars for our birthdays.  I loved them so much my mom even figured out how to mail them to me my first year of college!  Even before all that, my grandma (whose recipe this is and of Grandma D's Sugar Cookie fame) used to make these for my dad when he was young and I believe he brought some back from her to college too!

They are delicious and instantly remind me of all the great birthdays I've spent with my family over the years.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we have!

Pumpkin Bars

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups of sugar
15 ounce can of pumpkin
2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Frosting:
4 ounces of cream cheese (usually half of a regular box of cream cheese), softened
3/4 stick of margarine, softened
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups of powdered sugar


Kitchen Supplies:
Handheld mixer or stand mixer
Cookie sheet (my grandma's original recipe calls it a jelly roll pan)
Sieve for sifting
Medium size bowl for dry ingredients

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  Add ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to dry ingredients.  Next, mix eggs, vegetable oil, sugar and pumpkin well.  Slowly add dry ingredients to wet, stirring to combine.  Pour into a 12 x 18 pan (see notes above) and bake for twenty five to thirty minutes until toothpick, when inserted, comes out clean.

Allow to cool.  Combine cream cheese, margarine, milk, vanilla and powdered sugar.  Beat well until creamy and smooth.  Spread over top of cooled bars and serve.

This makes a lot of food.  On Sunday we each had two pieces and J and I have been eating some for dessert for lunch and dinner (and breakfast one day) every day this week and we still have a ton left over, hence the title of this post.

Alas, I didn't get any pictures of the finished product before we dug in, but trust me, it's great. As always, please let me know if you try the pumpkin bars and if you end up loving them as much as I do!

Weekend Events

This weekend was a busy but happy one. First, we saw two of our good friends get married in a beautiful and very personal outdoor wedding! Their siblings shared readings they selected for the couple which had all of us laughing, smiling and nodding our heads in agreement--the readings fit the couple and their relationship so well! A reception at a yummy local Thai restaurant that followed perfectly capped off the day.

You may kiss the bride!

Yesterday I spent the day reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I know I am a bit behind the curve on reading this book since they have already made a movie about it, but I tried to read it once when it first came out and couldn't get into the novel. This time, I couldn't put it down. Part of the novel is set in the township of South Haven, MI which is where my family has a vacation home. It was so fun to read the novel and recognize places I've grown to know and love, like St. Basil's Church! I started and finished this novel in one day, something I haven't done in a long time and felt oh so good. Her follow-up novel, Her Fearful Symmetry, is likewise haunting and delicious. I strongly recommend them both to you!

I also spent time on Sunday baking French bread, using my KitchenAid Stand Mixer as a bread maker for the first time. It was a smashing success and created a great aroma in the house that I enjoyed while reading my book and drinking some Irish Breakfast tea on our couch.

Fresh bread, anyone?

Overall, it was a very relaxing and beautiful weekend around here. How was your weekend, friends?