A double dose of...recipes!

Two recipes in one day? Yup, this girl is on a roll.

Back in December, as part of my Christmas cookies, I made these almond-cherry ball cookies. Little did I know these were going to be a HUGE hit. Honestly, I wasn't even expecting these to turn out as well as it did. Some people have called them porcupine cookies, amaretti cookies, and cherry cookies. Whatever you decide to call them, try baking it yourself one of these days because these are gooooooooooood.

Cherry Almond Thumbprint Cookies 

2/3 cup butter, softened                                                         
1/2 cup sugar

2 egg yolks                                                                            
1 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 cups flour                                                                      
2 egg whites, lightly beaten and reserved

1 cup slivered almonds                                                           
1 cup maraschino cherries, sliced in half

In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar. Beat until well combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in egg yolks and almond extract until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer, Stir in any remaining flour. Cover and chill for about 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in egg whites, then in slivered almonds. Press half of a maraschino cherry down into each ball. Bake in the preheated oven for the 10 to 12 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Transfer to a wire rack, cool completely. 

Blueberry Pie

Second post using blueberries? Absolutely! Why? Because it is the greatest fruit known to mankind. It has the burst of explosion that is sweet and tart when you bite down on one or two or in my case a mouthful of blueberries.

So what would i bake next using blueberries? Blueberry pie of course :o)

My boyfriend is a huge fan of pies, and I absolutely love baking goods for him. So baking a dessert that my boyfriend loves while using a super fruit??? Mission accepted

I'm a huge fan of making my own pie crust. I've tried many many many different recipes for pie crust in my lifetime, and Paula Deen (my homegirl) has hit the nail on the head. It's buttery, flakey, light, and oh so heavenly. It's definitely not something I would have regularly, but sometimes taste trumps nutrition, especially when it's used to make amazing pie.

And as for the pie? I played around with a blueberry pie recipe to make six mini pies instead of one large pie. It's the easiest way to make pie and the tastiest that I've ever come across so far.

Paula Deen's Pie Crust 

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 3 tablespoons granulated white sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, cold
• 12 tablespoons butter, cold and cubed
• 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup ice water

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt and sugar. Add the shortening and break it up with your hands as you start to coat it all up with the flour. Add the cold butter cubes and work it into the flour with your hands or a pastry cutter. Work it quickly, so the butter doesn't get too soft, until the mixture is crumbly, like very coarse cornmeal. Add the ice water, a little at a time, until the mixture comes together forming a dough. Bring the dough together into a ball. When it comes together stop working it otherwise the dough will get over-worked and tough. Divide the dough in half and flatten it slightly to form a disk shape. Wrap each disk in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. 

*If you own a food processor, I suggest dumping everything into the processor and pulse until all the ingredients start coming together. It is definitely a lot easier.

Mini Blueberry Pie 

1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over blueberries. Roll pre-made pie crust out until it's about 1/10 of an inch thick (basically until it's a really thin piece of dough). Using a 3 1/2 to 4 inch circle cookie cutter, cut out several circle pieces out from the dough. Place one circle dough on a flat surface and put 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop of blueberries into the center of the dough. Get a second piece of dough and place it on top and crimp the edges using a fork. Repeat doing this with the rest of the dough and blueberries. Once completed, place mini pies onto cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. 

Cranberry Orange Tassie

One of my favorite flavor combination in the winter is the Cranberry-Orange combo. Nothing beats the tangy cranberry and citrus orange flavor. I'm pretty sure I've eaten it in a variety of ways...muffins, scones, cookies, bread, flavored tea...but my ultimate favorite? The Cranberry Orange Tassie.

What is a tassie? It's basically a miniature tart made by using pie dough as the crust and using miniature muffin tines to shape the dough. There are many tassie recipes out there, the most popular I've come across is the pecan tassie. Truthfully, I'm not a fan of pecan tassie's because they are overly sweet (ie: pecan pie in bite sized pieces).  The Cranberry-Orange Tassie? Well, it has perfected the sweet, tart, citrus combination and a great treat to have during the cold winter months. Plus, it's perfect to have one or two with a cup of hot tea.

Cranberry Orange Tassie 

1 cup water                                                                                          

2/3 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup orange marmalade                                                                   

1/4 cups walnuts (toasted and chopped)

3 ozs white chocolate chips

15 oz package unbaked refrigerated pie crust  (Found in the refrigerated cookie dough aisle) 

Combine water and cranberries in a small saucepan, bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let sit for 3 minutes. Drain well and let cranberries cool to room temperature. Stir in marmalade, walnuts, and white chocolate and set the filling aside. Per the package instructions, let the piecrust stand at room temperature. Unroll the crust and cut out 24 rounds using a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter. Preheat oven to 375F. Press the dough into ungreased mini-muffin pans. Spoon cranberry filling into pastry cups until almost full (do not overfill because the filling will make a mess). Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown. Carefully run a small knife around the edges of the tassies in the pan. Carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Chewy Granola Bar

While I was growing up, one of my least favorite food to eat was oatmeal/oats. I didn't like the grainy texture if it was in cereal form or the soup like texture if it was the instant oatmeal packs.  As I got older (late teens early 20's) I realized I need a nutritious snack while I'm on the go rather than grabbing a bag of chips or cookies. I think it was also because the dining center in my dorm usually served junk food with very minimal nutritional value (Burger and Fries? Pizza? Pasta? Tacos and Nachos?  Yes Please!). 

I usually bought Nature Valley or Special K granola bars from Costco when I came home for the weekend and hauled it back down to ISU. It usually lasted a month because I always put 3 granola bars in my backpack in the morning before heading to class. 

So why am I bringing up granola bars? Because I'm still always on the go except now I'm a working professional and I always grab a granola bar for my morning commute to work. During the last 2 years I've tried every granola bar available at jewel and meijer (minus the protein bars) so I thought it was time for me to make my own. 

I did a lot of googling (my internet best friend) and came across this granola bar recipe from Taste of Home. It...is...AMAZING. It's chewy, packed with oats, and has an amazing texture from the slivered almonds and rice cereal.  Move over grocery store granola bars! Suko's homemade granola bars are in town :o)

Chewy Granola Bars

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar  (I left this out) 

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 1/4 cups crisp rice cereal

1 cup chopped nuts

1 cup dried cranberries 

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the honey, vanilla and egg; mix well. Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in oats, cereal, nuts and dried cranberries  if desired. Press into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Yield: 2 dozen.

Yummy in Suko's tummy :o)

Not so crunchy ginger cookie

Whenever someone mentions ginger cookies, I automatically think cookies that are flat, dry, and crisp. Which is why I've never been a fan of ginger cookies. Especially since I'm a huge fan of cookies that are thick, chewy on the inside, and slightly crunchy on the outside.

Then in December while looking for Christmas cookies to bake, I came across a ginger cookie recipe which I was a little hesitant to try (but made nonetheless). I can honestly say these cookies are the best ginger cookies I've ever tried. Plus, rolling the dough in sugar before baking the cookies give them a nice touch.

Sugar Coated Ginger Cookies 

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons Ginger, Ground

1 teaspoon Cinnamon, Ground

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg, Ground

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1 egg

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup granulated sugar 

Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies just begin to brown. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days.

Do you know the muffin...woman?

One of my favorite nursery songs while growing up was Do You Know The Muffin Man. I first heard it in Kindergarten, and I passionately belted the lyrics of the song each and every time. However, when I came home from school, my mom was not as pleased as my teacher. I guess hearing it 10+ times a day, everyday, for one week was more than she can handle. I think she's still traumatized by it to this day.

Why am I bringing up the muffin man? Because muffins are my ultimate favorite breakfast sweet. More specifically, blueberry muffins. I absolutely love the tartness blueberries add to muffins. I don't skimp when I add blueberries to my muffins, I firmly believe there should be blueberries in every bite. 

Is it surprising that I have tried over 30 different recipes of blueberry muffins in my lifetime? Absolutely not. It just shows my dedication to finding the best muffin recipe out there...and I think my search is over. 

Over the weekend, I made the most moist, fluffy, tart, tangy blueberry muffin I've ever tried. So much so that I ate 4 in one sitting straight out of the oven.  I think using oil instead of butter made these muffins so much lighter and the sour cream gave a hint of tangyness which balanced out sweetness from the batter and tartness from the blueberries. Like I said, best blueberry muffins ever! So without further ado, let the pictures  entice you, and go buy some blueberries to make these muffins!

Blueberry Cream Muffins 

www.allrecipes.com

• 4 eggs
  2 cups white sugar
  1 cup vegetable oil
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  4 cups all-purpose flour
  1 teaspoon salt
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  2 cups sour cream
  2 cups blueberries (I used 3 cups)
  
  
  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 24 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners. In large bowl beat eggs, gradually add sugar while beating. Continue beating while slowly pouring in oil. Stir in vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking soda. Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture alternately with sour cream. Gently fold in blueberries. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.