Lemon Ricotta Blackberry Muffins

Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum!  These were the last thing I made in Knoxville (mildly random, no?) and super delicious.  In fact, so good I still remember how good they were.  I’m kind of anxious to try them with other berries too…really the only thing to note is that I preferred them once they had cooled to room temperature…not big on warm berries.

Lemon Ricotta Blackberry Muffins

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• Zest of 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup ricotta cheese (whole or low-fat is fine)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup fresh blackberries
• Turbinado sugar-for sprinkling on muffin tops

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a small bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest. Rub the lemon zest and sugar together with your fingers. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar and lemon zest mixture together until light and fluffy, about two minutes.  Add the ricotta cheese and beat until smooth. Then, beat in the egg, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, fill each muffin cup half way with batter. Add three blackberries to each muffin cup. Top the muffins with remaining batter so blackberries are covered. Generously sprinkle turbinado sugar over each muffin top.

Bake muffins for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown. Let muffins cool for at least five minutes before serving.

Yields 12 muffins

Recipe Source: Two Peas and Their Pod

Banana Crumb Muffins

Inevitably a few forgotten bananas start to turn brown on the counter, and since I have completely normal texture issues, the moment bananas start to get soft, soft, I lose all interest.  The obvious choice to use these bananas up is banana bread, and this one is pretty darn tasty.  In fact, Monya (she was originally “Corrie’s” Monya aka Grandmother, but she’s so fabulous, I’ve claimed her as my own!) and Aunt Marti apparently liked it too.  Monya sent me a new recipe today for banana bread, so I’m going to have to ignore some more bananas pronto!

Until I try that use for bananas, these were TASTY.  I’m a sucker for streusel topping, and I would definitely make these again.  My only recommendation is if you’re not going to use them up all at once (I tried to eat them all in one sitting), I wouldn’t use a completely airtight container as the topping will start to get soft after a few days.

Banana Crumb Muffins

I got 12 muffins out of this recipe.

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Topping:

• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes (mine were done closer to 16 minutes), until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Recipe source: allrecipes.com; found at Dinner and Dessert

Oatmeal Raspberry Scones

Oatmeal Raspberry Scones

• 1 large egg
• 1 cup cold buttermilk
• 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• Pinch of nutmeg (I omitted.)
• 10 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, grated on a large grater or cut into small pieces
• ¾ cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Preheat the oven to 400˚ F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Combine the egg and buttermilk in a liquid measuring cup.

Whisk flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.  Add the butter to the bowl and toss.  Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture so that the mixture is crumbly.  Pour the egg and buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a fork just until incorporated.  The mixture will be sticky.  Fold in the berries gently only until incorporated.  Gently knead the dough 6-10 times, just until it comes together into a sticky dough.  Portion the dough out into 8-12 scones, depending on the size you prefer, and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Found at Annie’s Eats, adapted from Joy the Baker, originally from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Cheddar Dill Scones

I love cheddar, and dill is probably my favorite herb, so needless to say once I saw these I was immediately intrigued.  Eventually I ended up with 1/2 a package of remaining dill, and I thought YUM!  My only change was that, as you can see, the cheddar tends to “weep” while melting.  I think next time I’d like to try using freshly shredded cheddar and see how that works!

Cheddar Dill Scones

• 2 cups plus 2 tsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 12 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, diced
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup cold heavy cream
• 4 oz. extra sharp yellow cheddar cheese, diced small or shredded
• 1/2 cup fresh dill, minced
• 1 egg beaten with  tbsp. water or milk, for egg wash (I didn’t use.)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine 2 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is in pea-sized pieces.  Whisk together the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add them to the flour-and-butter mixture.  Combine until just blended.  Toss together the cheddar, dill, and 2 teaspoons flour and add them to the dough.  Mix until they are almost incorporated.

Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead for 1 minute, until the cheddar and dill are well distributed.  Roll the dough into a 3/4-inch thick, 8-inch square.  Divide into 4-inch squares and then cut those in half diagonally to make triangles.  Transfer the dough triangles to the prepared baking sheet.  Brush the tops with egg wash.  Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden and the inside is fully baked.

Recipe found at Annie’s Eats, adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Fourth of July, Birthday Party, and Cranberry Buttermilk Scones

Why did the long weekend go so quickly?  How does that happen??  I guess an 8-hour car trip (each way) and good times eat up a lot of it.  We traveled home this weekend to Cleveland, Ohio, and I already wish we could turn around and go back.  My brother came in from Philly, and we had a little birthday party for him which included these scones amongst other items.

To round out my interest in items not really age appropriate, I also enjoy making stationary and invitations, so once I found out my brother was also coming to town, I threw together some quick invites and menus to add a touch of “this is a party” to the celebration and to make him laugh.

In other news, these scones are tasty – not at all dry like the variety you’re usually subjected to!

Cranberry Buttermilk Scones

I found these at Pinch My Salt

• 2 c.  all-purpose flour
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. cold unsalted butter (one stick), cut into chunks
• 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1/3 c. sweetened dried cranberries, chopped
• Zest of one small lemon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt.  Add butter chunks and toss lightly with flour.  Refrigerate.

Whisk together egg, buttermilk, and lemon zest in another bowl, and then refrigerate that bowl as well.

You want to work as quickly as possible, so make sure to have your already chopped cranberries ready to go, a lightly floured counter top, and your baking sheet prepared.  You can line the baking sheet with parchment or use a Silpat.

Take out the bowls from the fridge, and cut the butter into the flour with a pastry blender or rub together with your fingertips until it resembles coarse crumbs.   Then stir in the cranberries.

Add the liquids all at once to dry ingredients and combine until it just comes together.   Transfer the mixture onto your floured counter top and, with floured hands, shape together and knead just a couple times to combine.  Pat into a circle about 1/2 inch thick.   I cut mine like a pie, but you can also use biscuit or cookie cutters like they did at Pinch My Salt.  Put scones on lined baking sheet, and bake for 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Transfer to a cooling rack.