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Vanilla Streusel Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12 large muffins
There's nothing better than a muffin packed with sweet fresh blueberries and topped with a vanilla flavored streusel topping. Make a few batches with a friend, eat some now and
store the rest in the freezer for a future brunch with friends.
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup 1% milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blueberries, washed and stems
removed
Streusel Topping
¼ cup flour
3 tablespoons chilled butter,
cut into pieces
3 tablespoons light brown
sugar, packed
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Pre-heat the oven to 400
degrees.
In a large bowl, combine
flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. In a small bowl, combine
egg, oil, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture and mix well with a heavy
spoon. Carefully fold blueberries into the batter.
To make the streusel
mixture, cut the chilled butter into the flour and then add the sugar and
vanilla. Set aside.
Grease muffin pan with
baking spray and fill each cup. Distribute the streusel evenly on top of each
filled muffin cup.
Bake in the oven for approximately 14-16 minutes until golden and cooked through. Wrap each muffin well in plastic wrap and place in freezer bags. |
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Brown Sugar Maple Pecan Scones
Makes 16 scones
Glazed with a maple syrup sugar and
flavored with sweet buttery pecans, these scones are a perfect match for a cup
of coffee.
3 cups white flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup sugar
1 stick chilled butter
½ cup + 1 tablespoon half and half
1 egg
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Brown Sugar Pecans
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
½ cup chopped pecans
Glaze Topping
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 cup powdered sugar
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, sift together flour,
baking powder, salt and sugar. Next, prepare the pecans. Place the butter and
brown sugar in a medium microwave safe bowl. Using a microwave, melt the butter
and brown sugar together in 20 second intervals, stirring in between. Once
melted, add the pecans and stir to coat. (This should take less than 1 minute.)
Using a pastry cutter or your hands,
combine the butter into the flour until the butter is broken into tiny pieces
and the mixture becomes crumbly.
In a small bowl, whisk together ½ cup of
the half and half, egg and vanilla. Add to the flour and butter mixture and use
your hands to mix the dough together. Add the last tablespoon of half and half
to further mix the dough. Add the pecans to the flour mixture.
Using your hands, separate the dough into
two circles. On a well-floured surface, form the dough into two 6-7 inch rounds
that are about ½ inch thick. Cut each round into 8 pie piece wedges.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
and transfer the wedges, spacing them an inch and a half a part. Bake on the
center rack of pre-heated oven for about 10-12 minutes until golden. Remove
scones from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.
While the scones are cooling, in a medium
sized bowl whisk together the maple syrup and confectioners sugar until a glaze
forms. Drizzle the glaze onto the scones using a teaspoon into desired pattern.
Let the mixture dry before packing them up.
Freeze the scones by
wrapping them well in plastic wrap and sealing them tightly in freezer bags.
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Dear Friends,
It's warming up in many parts of the country, with signs of spring everywhere. As budding flowers come open, so do windows and doors, creating a mood to entertain our neighbors and friends. For us, our absolute favorite springtime meal is brunch. Whether it's for a holiday or to feed visiting out-of-town guests, brunch is a simple and elegant meal choice. Plan ahead and make some baked goods, quiches or breads with a friend and you'll transform it to a whole new level.
We hope you'll find some sweet, indulgent and inspiring ideas in this issue of the Cooking With Friends e-newsletter. If you have been enjoying our newsletter, please forward it along to your friends and family.
Cheers!
Alison and Shannon
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Brunch Basics
Brunch doesn't have to cost a fortune to be an impressive meal. In fact, it can be a cost- effective choice for entertaining. When we host brunch, we usually include an egg dish (see our Tortilla Espanol recipe featured on the home page of www.cookingwithfriendsclub.com), a green salad, some fresh seasonal fruit and an assortment of homemade muffins or scones. These home-baked goods, which use much of what you already have in your pantry, will cost very little to make, but will transform your brunch from an ordinary meal into something much more special.
There are many different forms your brunches can take. Here are a few of our favorites:
The Cooking Brunch. Nowadays, people like to be, and many actually prefer to be, included in the cooking and preparation of a meal. If you think your friends would enjoy coming over for brunch and pitching in to create the meal, invite them very clearly and directly with this in mind. Choose a theme and ask them to bring an ingredient or two. Once they arrive, break them into teams to chop, simmer or assemble together. This will most certainly be a memorable meal and may even start a trend within your circle of friends -- a Once-a-Month Brunch.
The Bed and Breakfast Brunch. At this brunch, all you really need to serve is a strong pot of coffee and a nice assortment of warmed home-baked goods. Muffins and scones, an impressive touch to any breakfast or brunch, can be made in advance and frozen. We like to get together with friends for baking dates with this in mind to stock our freezers. This makes impromptu get-togethers after soccer games or other weekend activities not only possible, but enjoyable. With very little effort on your part, your guests will feel as though they've stayed a night in a B&B.
Playdate Baking Brunch. Sometimes a ladies brunch is just what we need. Bring the kids and make it a playdate brunch. You and your friends can get together, choose a few brunch type foods to make one morning together - mini quiches, muffins, biscotti - sample your foods for brunch that day and then freeze the rest for later. You may enjoy it so much that you start a weekly play date brunch, rotating houses and making something new every time.
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Foods You and Your Friends Can Make in Advance for Brunch:
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1) Muffins
2) Biscotti
3) Quiche
4) Quick Breads
5) Scones
6) Potato Pancakes
7) Bloody Mary Mix
8) Homemade Lemonade or Limeade
9) Three Berry Jam
10) Apple Butter
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Tool-of-the-month:
Butter Cutter
 This nifty butter cutter has been used by home cooks since the 1950's. We found ours a few years ago at an estate sale and it has been one of our favorite kitchen tools since. Simply place the aluminum device on top of a 4 oz. stick of chilled butter, press down and within seconds you'll have perfect slices, making cutting butter into flour incredibly simple. You can find a vintage butter cutter on ebay for $15.95 or visit surlatable.com to purchase a new one for $4.95. |
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Alison Bermack and Shannon Henry
Visit our web site at www.cookingwithfriendsclub.com.
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