Two of my girlfriends had babies in the past few weeks, so that (and all of the fun ideas on Pinterest) inspired me to get into the kitchen and make some goodies.
I made buttermilk blueberry cake first. Thankfully, I had buttermilk in the fridge from a fried chicken making adventure, and who DOESN'T have blueberries in the middle of winter? (haha--they were on sale at the store)
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
(I used vanilla Greek yogurt)
2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar**
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
½ cup buttermilk
* 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
** This 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss
the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining
flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.
4. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with
butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle
batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes. Check
with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a
couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more
might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.
I admit...this was just OK. I used yogurt in place of the fat and it didn't translate as well as I wanted. But it still fit the bill and was pretty yummy.
Second, I made Snickerdoodle muffins, which actually are now called "dirty muffins" thanks to my friend's son, Owen, who deemed them delicious, yet "dirty." Now, these were GOOD! I made them in mini muffin pans and cut the sugar in half....these will definitely be made again!
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup)
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
3/4 cup sour cream
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar and 1 TBSP cinnamon mixed together for rolling*
1.Cream
the butter and sugar until soft about 3 to 5 minutes. Add in the
vanilla. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until each is
incorporated.
2.In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar and nutmeg.
3.Add
the flour mixture and the sour cream alternately to the egg-butter
mixture in the additions. Start with the flour and end with the flour.
Scrape the bowl occasionally.
4. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop
out muffin batter one at a time and drop into a shallow bowl filled
with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the muffin around in the mixture
until it is covered completely in cinnamon sugar. Place muffin into
muffin tin. Depending on the size of your tins, you should get about 12
to 14 muffins. Bake them for approx. 20-22 minutes in a 350F oven or
until they are golden brown.
