Baking & Organizing

As we get closer to the arrival of child #3 (2 months to go!), we’ve made some changes to our boys’ sleeping arrangements. We put them both in one room. Things have been a little rough. For me. They don’t seem to mind being up til we go to bed or up at 5:45 am when my husband wakes up to run. But I mind it.

Anyway, I’ve had a few grumpy mornings. But what have I been doing? Cooking. Organizing. And today, I baked. I had pinned this recipe a few months ago. Before blueberries were in season. And then I never had time to make it. Until today.

Last-Minute Christmas Prep.

We have been decorating cookies.

Neon cookies, to be precise.

Frosted Shortbread Cookies

You can't judge a recipe by its title. Meaning: I wasn't too excited to make shortbread cookies. But these are amazing. 

I made these cookies last week for a church function and received more than one request for the recipe.  I thought I'd share it with all of you. 

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Despite cooking every day, I tend to think I'm not all that good at it. In reality, I just don't love to cook. I do love to bake. And to eat. 

Blueberry Bread

Looking for another great way to use some yummy blueberries? Make this yummy bread.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
3 T oil
3 cups flour
1 t salt
4 t baking powder
1 cup blueberries

1. Beat eggs; mix in sugar. Add milk and oil. Mix well.
2. Stir dry ingredients together. Again, do not over mix. (I just added them to the egg/sugar/milk/oil mixture to save time and washing another bowl...do what you will.)
3. Carefully fold in blueberries.
4. Spray pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into a 5x12" loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Cool in pan but turn it out of the pan before it is completely cool.

Best Muffin Recipe

There were blueberries on sale for $1/pint today at my favorite grocery store. I just had to make muffins...here is my favorite recipe with some added instruction.

Best Blueberry Muffins*
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon salt
6 T butter, cold
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg

1 cup blueberries

1. To make your buttermilk (my grandmother taught me this!) you place 1 tablespoon of vinegar in a measuring cup. Fill the rest of the 1-cup measurement with milk. I even used non-fat dry milk to make these muffins and it turned out well. Stir; let the milk and vinegar sit for about 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Stir to combine.

3. Take the butter and cut it into small pieces. Then use a pastry blender or two knifes to chop it up and make small crumbs. My grandmother taught me that, too. Many pastries are made this way. This is what a pastry blender looks like in case you weren't sure you had one! See the crumbs?

4. Add the buttermilk (if you made your own with vinegar and milk it is actually considered "sour milk") and after beating the egg, add it, too.

Now this is another key instruction. My mother, who used to teach the cooking part of home ec, says not to overmix muffins. Over mixing can cause toughness. Just mix the ingredients together until combined.

5. Fold in the blueberries. I'd need to put a video up to demonstrate the proper folding technique, but I'm pretty sure it means 'mix gently so you don't smash the blueberries to smithereens'.

6. Bake in greased tins or paper-lined tins for 23-25 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove from tins and cool on a wire rack.

*I got this muffin recipe from a friend. I think she got it online somewhere. I love the fact that it contains butter instead of oil. I like to bake with butter as I think it tastes better.

Sugar and Health

There are really no redeeming health qualities about sugar. So next time you're measuring out a cup for baked goods, put a heaping tablespoon back into the container. It'll save sugar and calories and your baked final product will taste the same.