Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes

I absolutely love pancakes unfortunately they are traditionally not very healthy. Especially when they are smothered with butter and syrup. So when I saw these healthy pancakes on Cara's Cravings I was very excited. Not only are they good for you but they taste great and are filling too. A win, win in my book. I made these on a Sunday night for the coming week's breakfast, and they tasted just as fresh on Friday as they did when I made them.

Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes:
Source: http://carascravings.blogspot.com

1 cup quick cook oats
1/4 c flour
1 1/2 T brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 c non fat vanilla yogurt
1/4 c skim milk
1 egg + 1 egg white (I substituted 1/4 c egg beater for the whole egg)
2 T apple sauce
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup frozen blueberries

Directions:
1. Combine the first 6 ingredients is a microwavable mixing bowl and mix together, then stir in the milk and yogurt.
2. Microwave for 90 seconds.
3. Beat egg and egg white until light colored and frothy. (a few minutes)
4. Fold the egg into the oatmeal mixture along with the applesauce, cinnamon and the blueberries.
5. Drip by 1/4 cup fulls onto a non stick griddle and cook over medium low heat, flipping when tops are bubbly.
Makes 10 pancakes

Nutritional Information:
Serving Size: 2 pancakes
163 calories
2g fat
30.5 carbs
2.6g fiber
8g protein

Blueberry Coffee Cake

I almost always publish my posts as I finish them, somehow this one slipped through the cracks. I made this last August and thought that I had lost the recipe, until now I had no I idea that I had the post almost finished and that I just needed to write about it (the hard part). I'm so happy that this recipe is not lost forever because I could not remember where I had found the original recipe. Now that I have found it I can make it again and share the recipe with all of you. This coffee cake is so freaking good, I know that I say almost the same thing about everything I make, but for the most part I only blog about foods that turned out well.

Blueberry Coffee Cake:

Source: All Recipes

INGREDIENTS:

For the crumb topping:

1 cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup butter

For the cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Coat a Bundt pan well with cooking spray.
3. Make the streusel topping: Mix 1 brown cup sugar, 2/3 cup flour, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Cut in 1/2 cup butter or margarine; topping mixture will be crumbly. Set aside.
4. For the cake: Beat 1/2 cup butter or margarine in large bowl until creamy;
5. add 1 cup white sugar, and beat until fluffy.
6. Beat in egg and vanilla.
7. Whisk together 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt; add alternately with the milk to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.
8. Spread half the batter in the prepared pan. Cover with berries, and add remaining batter by tablespoons.
9. Cover with streusel topping.
10. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes, until deep golden brown.
11. Remove pan to wire rack to cool.
12. Invert onto a plate after cake has cooled, and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Blueberry Muffins

While looking through food pictures to see what else I needed to blog I came across these blueberry muffins that I made back in October for a staff meeting. These muffins are delicious and they freeze very well in an airtight zip lock bag. I had one around Christmas time and they still taste great. To defrost, I microwave for about 1 minute with a glass of water to add moisture.

Blueberry Muffins:
Alton Brown

Ingredients:
25 ounces cake flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 Heavy pinches salt
2 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 cups yogurt (I used plain, and blueberry)
3 cups fresh blueberries
Vegetable spray, for the muffin tins

Directions:
Preheat oven to 380 degrees F.
In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
In another large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, egg and yogurt. Add the dry ingredients reserving 2 tablespoons of the dry ingredients and toss with the blueberries. Stir mixture for a count of 10. Add 2 cups blueberries to mixture and stir 3 more times. Reserve the 1 cup of blueberries.
Using a #20 ice cream scoop, add the mixture to greased muffin pans. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of berries on top of muffins and press down lightly. Place into the oven and increase the temperature to 400 degrees. Bake for 16 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Remove from oven and turn out, upside down on tea towel to cool completely. Serve immediately or store in airtight container for 2 to 3 days.

Wilton Cake: Course 1, Cake 1

I finally found a Wilton class that was convient to where I live and to my schedule. I have been wanting to take these classes for awhile to brush up and to learn new skills. I think mycake turned out pretty well, except the colors were a little bolder than I would have liked. The bonus is that the cake taste great too.

Blueberry Cake with blueberry glaze and buttercream icing:

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 large egg whites (3/4 cup)

3/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1.5c blueberries

Glaze:
1T sugar
2/3c Ocean Spray Blueberry Cranberry Juice
1/8c Bircardi Gold Rum
2T sugar

Heat over medium heat, whisking gently until reduced some.

Brush the glaze onto the cooled cake and allow to soak into before icing.

Directions:

Set rack at the middle level in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
Butter the bottom of two 9-inch round or one 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan.

Line bottom with parchment or waxed paper or spray pans with Pam like I did.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Combine egg whites, milk and vanilla extract.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture then add half the milk mixture.

Continue to alternate beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Scape the bowl and beater often.
Add blueberries and sugar to food processor and blend for about one minute. Gently fold blueberries into finished cake batter.
Pour the batter into prepared pan(s) and smooth top with metal spatula. Bake cake(s) about 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean.
Cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack, remove paper and let cool completely.

Fresh Blueberries!

Today was a great day, Dan and I went out to breakfast, did a little shopping, and on the way home I convinced him to pick blueberries with me. It was a lot of work, especially since it was nearly 100 degrees out today. Dan pooped out about 10 minutes before I did and went to sit in the car with the A/C on full blast while I finished picking. I for see lots of blueberry recipes coming within the next few days/weeks. We picked 3 pounds, so I am storing them in the freezer.

Blueberry Pie

I have been wanting to make something with blueberries for the past few months, but for some reason never got around to it. Well yesterday was the day, I found this recipe on Annie's Eats and because it looked so good and she raved about it, I decided I should make it too. Plus blueberries are on sale this week, so its the perfect excuss to make it.

Blueberry Pie:

Recipe from: http://annieseats.wordpress.com/

Ingredients:
2 rolled-out rounds (see recipe below)
4 cups blueberries
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
¾ cup sugar
3 tbsp. cornstarch
½ tsp. finely grated lemon zest
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 egg
1 tbsp. water

Directions:
Line the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan with one of the rolled-out dough rounds. Set pan aside in a cool place until ready to fill.

To make the filling, place the blueberries in a large bowl, sprinkle with the lemon juice and toss to coat evenly. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, salt and cinnamon. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the berries and toss to distribute evenly. Immediately transfer to the dough-lined pan. Dot with butter pieces. Place the remaining dough round on top of the pie and trim the excess from the bottom and top rounds. Crimp the dough rounds together to seal the edges. Be sure to cut vents in the top crust to allow steam to escape during baking.

Refrigerate the pie until the dough is firm, 20-30 minutes. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 375°. In a small bowl beat the egg and water with a fork to make an egg wash. Brush onto the top crust just before baking.

Bake the pie until the crust is golden and the filling is thick and bubbling, 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely to set, 1 to 2 hours. Serve at room temperature or rewarm in a 350° oven for 10 to 15 minutes just before serving.