Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Binge, bender, jag - I get on these kicks, these I-can't-stop-obsessing-on-this-thing kicks. For instance, we ate this salad once a week, every week this summer and often times I also ate the leftovers for lunch. Its not just recipes either - I'm currently binging on books. I can go a few months without reading more than a magazine and then I get on a book bend and - poof - I'm gone. I've read three books this week and I'm trying to decide what to read next. Suggestions welcome.

I've also got a bit of a bread bend going. If you follow me on Instagram you know I'm currently on a quest for my ideal sandwich bread recipe. Last week I made a batch of soft pretzels just because it was a grey drizzly day. And muffins, I've come down with a case of the muffins.

In culinary school, there was kind of this running joke amongst us baking-and-pastry folks that muffins are kinda like the medicore back-up singers of the pastry world. I mean, they're no cupcake! Muffins are fine and lovely, but when you choose a muffin for breakfast what you're really saying is - 'I wish I was having a cupcake'. And let's be honest, muffins aren't really that much healthier than cupcakes. Sure, they usually have some fruit thrown in, but they're still full of sugar and fat.

I had forgotten how lovely a really good a muffin could be! I made a version of these muffins for Ella's preschool birthday treat with chopped strawberries and mini chocolate chips, which we all adored. I didn't want to sugar-load a bunch of 3 year olds with full sized cupcakes, but a muffin is sweet enough to feel like a treat, without too much sugar, plus like I said before, there's fruit in there! I've made another batch with diced pears. Today I needed to use up some blueberries that had been in the freezer a little too long. You can basically use any fruit you want here.

And easy, muffins can be thrown together in less time than it takes Ella to watch an episode of 'My Little Pony' - which is important because those 21 minutes of peace are more precious than gold.  My secrets to a really delicious muffin are yogurt instead of buttermilk in the batter and streusel on top. Streusel makes everything better*.

Some tips for muffin baking:
Do not over mix - Whisk together your dry ingredients, stir together your wet ingredients, and bring them together gently or you'll end up with a tough muffin.

 Use an ice cream scoop or fisher to make each muffin exactly the same size. Bake your muffins in a rising oven (I actually learned this from biscuit baking)

Preheat the oven to 375 degree fahrenheit but crank it up to 400 when you put the muffins in.

Cool the muffins in the pan for a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

*actual fact

Blueberry Streusel Muffins
yield: 12 muffins

streusel topping:
½ cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

blueberry muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup greek yogurt (or buttermilk, which I never seem to have on hand)
1 large egg
½ cup canola or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen,

Heat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. Line a 12 cup cupcake, er, muffin pan with paper cups.

Make the streusel: Stir together the 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Work the butter into the flour an sugar until it resembles coarse crumbs and holds together when pressed. Refrigerate while you prepare the muffin batter.

Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, egg, oil and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined. Batter will be thick. Fold in the blueberries.

Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups - about a 1/2 cup of batter per cup. Sprinkle streusel over the top.

Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Bake for about 20 minutes until the topping turns golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool for about five minutes, then remove muffins from trepan and cool on a wire rack.

Toasted German Chocolate Cake

I never forgot about the cake I promised back in September. And here we are in mid-December, with days until Christmas and I'm not wrapping presents or addressing cards because, well, let me be honest, I just order everything from Amazon this week. I have a really great excuse though: 

Meet Emmett, the newest addition to the Splawn family. He eats up every moment of my days and some of my dreams too. We're adjusting to life as four during the busiest, most joyous time of the year. My heart is crazy stupid full and so I, kind of, don't care that we didn't all the decorations put up and that my Christmas cards will probably be late, kind of. 

Here's to finally fulfilling my promise of cake, to filling your holiday with the things that make your heart full, and a some good ole procrasti-baking - from my crazy heart to yours. 

Toasted German Chocolate Cake

Makes one 9 inch layer cake, 10 to 12 servings

You can make the cake several weeks ahead, wrap them well in plastic wrap, and freeze. The buttercream, caramel, and toffee can all be made up to a week ahead. I made the parts of this cake over the course of one week after work and did the final assembly the day of. 

Presuming you have just one full day to prep this cake – it could be done all at once. Bake the cake first so that it has plenty of time to cool while you prepare the other ingredients. Make the caramel and let it cool while you toast the nuts and coconut. Make the buttercream while the cake cools and skip the toffee if you run short on time.

Coconut Pecan Caramel Filling

Makes 3 cups filling – enough for 1 triple layer cake

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup water

1 tablespoon corn syrup

1 cup full fat coconut milk, at room temperature 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup toasted coconut flakes, finely chopped

½ cup toasted pecans, finely chopped

Combine the sugar, water, and, corn syrup in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan. Attach a candy thermometer and cook over medium heat, without stirring, until the mixture turns golden amber and is approaching 320˚F. 

Immediately remove from the heat and add the coconut milk, vanilla extract and salt. Return to medium heat and cook until the mixture reaches 230˚F. Pour the caramel into a heat-proof bowl and cool for 20 minutes. Fold in the coconut and pecans and cool completely before storing in an airtight container. The finished sauce can be made up to a week in advance – store in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before assembling the cake.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Makes 6 cups of frosting – enough for 1 9-inch layer cake, with extra

1 cup egg whites, approximately 5 large

1 cup granulated sugar

5 ounces semi sweet chocolate, chopped

1 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extra

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Fill a 4-quart pot about half way with water. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat.

Combine the egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Set the mixer bowl over the simmering water (the boil should not touch the water) and whisk the egg whites and sugar until the sugar has dissolved completely, the eggs are foamy and the mixture is warm, approximately 5 minutes.

Set the bowl on the stand mixer and, with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites and sugar on high until they reach stiff peaks and the bowl is cool to the touch, approximately 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, microwave the chocolate for 30 seconds on high in a microwave safe bowl. Stir the chocolate and return to the microwave for an additional 15 seconds to melt the chocolate. Set aside the cool while the egg whites whip.

When the egg white mixture has reached stiff peaks begin adding the butter in 4 tablespoon pieces (about a half a stick at a time) with the mixer on low speed. Be sure that each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next. Once you’ve added about three-quarters of the butter – there will be a moment of panic – the frosting will look as though its curdled or separated. Be persistent and continue whipping and adding the butter. After the final addition of butter turn the mixer to medium high and whip for 1 minute.

Return the mixer to low speed and slowly add the melted chocolate followed by the vanilla extract and salt. Mix for an additional minute and remove the frosting from the mixer. Store the frosting in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days before assembling the cake.

Dark Chocolate Layer Cake

Makes three (9 inch) round layers

2 cups granulated sugar


1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour


3/4 cup dark cocoa powder, plus extra for the pans


1 teaspoon baking powder


1 teaspoons baking soda


1 teaspoon kosher salt


2 large eggs


1 cup whole milk


1/2 cup vegetable oil
, plus extra for the pans

2 teaspoons vanilla extract


1 cup boiling water

Heat the oven to 350°F.

Lightly grease three 9-inch round baking pans. Dust the pans with extra cocoa powder and knock out any excess. Set aside.

Whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Mix in boiling water. The batter will be quite thin. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center of each cake comes out clean.

Set the pans on wire racks and cool for 10 minutes. Then, lightly run a knife around the inside of the pans to help the cake edges release. Flip the cake pans over, one by one, and tap firmly with the palms of your hands. Carefully lift up the cake pan; the cake should release easily. If it doesn't drop right out, drape with a warm wet towel while continuing to tap.

Cool the cake layers completely before frosting.

Assembly

Gather the cake layers, filling, buttercream, toffee, a cake stand, an offset spatula, a piece of parchment paper, a zip-top bag, and a pair of scissors. A clean kitchen towel is helpful too.  I prefer to frost cakes at my kitchen table rather than my counter – its just a little bit more comfortable.

Prepare the cake stand by cutting the parchment paper into a few thing strips and place them around the edge of your cake plate (this will keep the plate clean while you frost).

Put a dab of frosting in the middle of the cake plate and center the first layer of cake on top of it. Fill the ziptop bag with about a cup of the buttercream and snip off one corner. Use the bag to pipe a border of buttercream around the edge of the first cake layer. Fill the buttercream boarder with half of the filling. Top with the second cake layer and repeat, using the remaining filling. Top with the final layer of cake.

Apply a thin layer of buttercream all over the cake – don’t worry if it is messy – this step is affectionately referred to as the “crumb coat”. Professional bakeries refrigerate their cakes after the crumb coat for about an hour – I find about twenty minutes set the thin layer enough to finish frosting the cake. 

Frost the cake with the remaining buttercream: Pile the buttercream on top of the cake and use the off set spatula to smooth the top of the cake while simultaneously pushing buttercream over the edge of the cake onto the sides. Smooth out the sides of the cake.

Press handfuls of the toasted coconut onto the sides of the cake. Remove the parchment paper and top the cake with broken toffee pieces. Enjoy.

Baked Oatmeal Donuts with Maple Glaze

I'm sort of sorry I'm bring you these Baked Oatmeal Donuts on a Monday. Sort of. I'm also not sorry for finding another way to force help my family to eat oatmeal. You might not be able to wait until next weekend to make these. 

I've been battling my grandmother's cake donut recipe for about the last year and a half. When she passed away her donut recipe went with her and the few notes that are left haven't yield that taste memory for me. After another fail last month - I needed a donut win. Also because my grandmother's donuts are fried - I wanted something sort of nutritious. 

By substituting the white flour in a typical baked donut recipe for whole wheat flour and oat flour these donuts are higher in fiber and so more filling. I might even consider an unglazed one an acceptable weekday breakfast. Okay, on a Monday I might consider a glazed one an acceptable breakfast. 

Around here we can't eat oatmeal without brown sugar or maple syrup - so I've included brown sugar in the donut and maple syrup in the glaze. You can easily find a donut pan at your local kitchenware store or online. 

Oatmeal Baked Donuts with Maple Glaze 

makes 12 donuts  

butter or oil for the pan 

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour 

3/4 cup oat flour* 

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder 

1 teaspoon kosher salt 

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

3/4 cup milk

2 large eggs 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

maple glaze 

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 

pinch of salt 

Heat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a donut pan and set aside. 

Whisk together the flour, oat flour, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl. In another small bowl, beat together the milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. 

Move the batter to a gallon sized zip-top bag. Cut a small corner off the bag and use it the bag to pipe the batter into the donut pan. Fill each cavity about 3/4 full. Bake for 8 to minutes of until the donuts are golden and spring back when touched. remove from the oven and remove from the pan to a cooling rack immediately. Re-grease and fill the pan until all of the batter is used. Cool the donuts completely before glazing. 

For the glaze: Whisk together the powdered sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla until smooth. Dip the donuts in the glaze and return to the cooling rack - let the glaze set for 30 minutes before devouring. 

*Make your own by buzzing rolled oats in the food processor or clean coffee grinder - 3/4 cup whole oats will yield just enough oat flour for this recipe. 

Cranberry Sauce Swirl Coffee Cake

Let's pretend that Thanksgiving isn't a week away and that we've made menu plans and picked up a turkey. Forget all that. Let's bypass straight to the weekend after Thanksgiving when we get to eat leftover turkey sandwiches, listen to Christmas music (officially), deck the halls, and start holiday baking! This Cranberry Sauce Swirl Coffee Cake is a great use of leftovers and perfect for serving lingering Thanksgiving guests over coffee. 

Easy Curried Pumpkin Soup

Sometimes I don't want to write headnotes. I want to skip any superfluous wording and head right to the recipe. This is one of those recipes - Crazy Easy Curried Pumpkin Soup that takes as little time as opening a can of soup would to heat. The smartest of smart supper recipes, I dare say. 

Feeding Baby | Strawberry Oatmeal Yogurt Pops

Honest mom moment here: Last weekend I let my daughter have a popsicle for breakfast. Actually she had two - because after she devoured the first one I couldn't help but answer her plea for "more, pease". These Strawberry Oatmeal Yogurt Pops were designed from breakfast anyway.

Strawberry Granita

"Keep it simple" is probably the best cooking advice to remember this time of year. Fresh peas, tart cherries, tender spring greens, even sweet strawberries don't need much to dress them up. 

But what kind of food blogger would tell you that the best way you could enjoy those tiny, tender, sweet, spring strawberries is with a little whip cream or a drizzle of red wine? A boring one, thats what kind.

Thirsty Thursday | Dirty Shirley

Oh, Shirley! You classy lady, you've been with me since I was a little girl. A Shirley Temple is the first drink I ever ordered at a bar. Really! My dad worked in restaurants throughout my early childhood and I remember bellying up to the bar, (before the restaurants were open), ordering this drink, and feeling like a real pro. 

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Ella's Carolina Sauce

This post is full of confessions:

1. I like to smoke things 

2. I'm kind of lazy 

3. I'm self-conscious of my non-Southern linage 

4. I've been hanging onto this recipe for a while. 

5. I like to make lists

I hadn't smoked a thing in my life until I moved to Georgia. The only smoked meat I'd eaten in the 22 years I lived before I migrated here consisted solely of smoked salmon. Once I landed in Atlanta, a veritable melting pot of smoked meat (because it doesn't "own" a particular style of BBQ as other regions do), I started eating a lot of barbecue. For my Northern friends and family, barbecue in the South doesn't just mean you just fire up the grill; Oh no, no - in the South barbecue means smoke and time. 

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Cookies are like the poor middle child of the dessert world; Not nearly as elegant and grand as a layer cake, or cute and charming like a pie. When asked to make something special for a celebration, I almost always rely on cake or pie. April has been such a busy, busy month filled with birthdays that I just haven't had time for my usual celebration cakes. 

Chickpea Burgers + Crispy Carrot Fries

The battle of my pantry has begun! So far I've actually managed to add things to my freezer (whole wheat pancakes and these burgers) while also using both pantry and fridge items up in the process. I'm seeing more pantry room already! 

Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies

Dear Lovely Neighbor:  

So sorry for the other night when my husband had a five-ton truck stuck in your driveway. Thank you for parking in ours while we waited for the tow truck. Also sorry about that patch of grass and for what was surely a lot of swearing coming from said husband. 
I hope your little boy enjoyed seeing that semi-truck lifter pick that five-ton off the ground and that you will accept these Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies as a token of both apology and thanks.  

Sorry and thanks again, Meghan 

Raw Cocoa-Nut Bites

Confession #1: I'm trying to quit eating refined sugar. 
Confession #2: It isn't going very well. Mostly, I don't think wine should count as sugar, because it is very clearly fruit. 

Chai Spiced Snickerdoodles and the Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2012

It is officially baking season! Yes, I believe there is a season for butter and sugar. Strawberries and tomatoes get their season in the spotlight, so why shouldn't cozy spices too? 

{Ubiquitous Dish}: Pesto

Ubiquitous is a one of my favorite words, I like the way it puckers my lips to say it. But I had to look up the definition before starting this post: 

Ubiquitous: adjective; Present, appearing, or found everywhere. 

Grilled Bruschetta

I'm having a fit of wants this week and wishing for inspirations and talent to miraculously be mine. 

I know that strength comes in working through the wanting, in putting my head down and forging ahead. Still I want. I want to write you clever recipes and shoot beautiful photographs. But I know that even after almost 5 years doing what I do, I am still new to this career and even newer to photography and to blogging. Its hard not to look at all the other lovely sites out there and feel like I am not enough, like this space is not enough. 

Donut Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Let's agree on two things: if it is not fried dough, call it a donut, not a doughnut and this motherhood thing is not for the faint of heart. The first, I just made up and the latter I am slowly learning.

I'm typing frantically, hoping that Ella sleeps twenty more minutes so I can finish this post and clean the toilets. You probably shouldn't mention toilets on a food blog. Also, you probably shouldn't talk about poopy diapers while you're at lunch with a bunch of lovely ladies, but its kinda par for the course today. All of this to say, that this time in my life is full of emotions. Emotions and complete craziness.

Some days I wish Ella would just learning how to walk/talk/use the toilet already. And then, in the same day, I will cry because she's almost getting too long to lay in my lap anymore and the elephant pajamas with the ruffles on the butt don't fit. I feel guilt for leaving her to work, obligated to work so I can give her everything. And in twelve years she will absolutely hate me, and five or so after that she'll leave completely.

My mom came to visit recently, and I am reminded and glad for the way our relationship has grown. It got me thinking a lot about the lineage of mother's before me. In fits of daydreaming and tired-mind wandering, I remember my mom's mother. Her house cast a sepia tone on everything in the summers I spent there. She kept a small garden and her cellar was lined with canned beans and carrots. Two freezers below the house kept blueberries we picked, popsicles, cool-whip, and bags of her cake donuts.

I wasn't one of those cooks who was taught at my grandmother's hip. I begrudgedly picked snap peas and peeled the toothy thread from the back steps of her little house on the corner. She always always took me blueberry picking under the guise that it was something I loved. I do now, but I was easily bored with it as a kid. Now I wish I had paid more attention to her in the kitchen. She made the very best cake donuts. My father loved them so much that she continued to make them for him long after my parents divorced. She made them every time I came to visit until her arthritis bothered her too much and then she'd ask a friend to make them for me. I never learned to make them from her before she passed.

On a trip home last fall I got to look through her recipes and found two notes regarding the infamous donuts. Neither is quite right, I'm sure something is missing. Now I'm sure the secret ingredient was her well word hands and heart. She too knew motherhood is not for the weak.

Donut Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze

serves 10-12

Inspired by my grandmother's cake donuts that were flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg and deep fat fried, this cake requires a few extra steps than most cakes; I promise its worth it.

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature, plus 2 tablespoons for the pan
2 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for the pan
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extra
1 cup whole milk

For the glaze:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup half and half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
Sprinkles, optional but highly highly recommended

Heat the oven to 350˚F and rub a large bundt pan with two tablespoons butter. Make sure to cover the pan well to prevent sticking later. Next coat the pan with 2 tablespoons of sugar: it easiest to do this by dumping the sugar into the pan, covering the pan with plastic wrap and shaking the whole pan until it well coated, remove the plastic wrap and tap out any excess sugar.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

Cream together the butter and sugar in a stand mixer on medium-high, until lighted, 3-4 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs one at a time, making sure each is incorporated before adding the next. Stir in the vanilla.

Add one third of the flour mixture and stir in at medium speed. Stop scrap down the work bowl and add half of the milk. Repeat, ending with the last third of the flour mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 45 minutes to an hour, until the cake is set and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in the pan, then remove and cool completely before glazing.

For the glaze: Combine the butter, milk, and vanilla in a small saucepan and bring just to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat and toss in the chocolate. Leave the chocolate alone for 2 minutes and then whisk until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and whisk, whisk, whisk until smooth. Pour over the cooled cake, sprinkle on your sprinkles and set for 30 minutes before slicing.

I suggest serving this cake with hot coffee and some good belly laughs.

More Donut Cravings? Check out:
Emma's Donut Cake
Luisa's Donut Cake 
Deb's Cinnamon Brown Butter Breakfast Puffs

Vanilla Roasted Strawberries

Keep it simple. That's what spring and summer cooking is for. Little ripe berries don't need a lot of fuss, so I won't muck them up with word upon words. Here are the only two things I feel compelled to say:

Heaven must smell like roasted strawberries. 

And roasting berries is pretty much like making instant sauce with absolutely no work. 

Peppermint Patty and the Food Blogger Cookie Swap!

This fall I signed up for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap organized by the lovely Lindsay of Love and Olive Oil and Julie of The Little Kitchen. Clearly I wasn't thinking - I knew I would be very pregnant, busy with work, and trying to fit in some Christmas crafting. I mostly forgot about it (a benefit of pregnancy brain) until the my first dozen cookies arrived (overnight, certified in fact!) from Sheri at My Judy the Foodie one Saturday morning.

Hot Cocoa Treats

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house. The lights are hung, the tree is decorated, and my Christmas gift crafting is well underway. It hasn't quite felt so much like winter in Georgia yet. The temperatures have dropped and snow is in the forecast this week, but today was the first day that a coat was really required.Still the snuggly-weather spirit moves me in December and I just want to drink hot cocoa under the Christmas lights and watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special, instead of tackling anything on my holiday "to-do" list.