Blueberry Muffins w/ Lemon Sugar Topping~Crazy Cooking Challenge

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My favorite thing about the Crazy Cooking Challenge is the hunt! Every month we are given a food which we are to find a recipe for, on a blog somewhere on the world wide web, make the food, and then blog about it! It is such fun!! This month the food we were to find a recipe for is one of my favorites, Blueberry Muffins! I found the perfect Blueberry Muffin recipe on a blog called Tracey's Culinary Adventures Blog. Tracey had several Blueberry Muffin recipes posted on her blog,and I had a difficult time deciding which one to go with, but the recipe I picked stood out to me because I love the sweet and tart topping that goes on top of the muffins. Stop by Tracey's blog and check out her posts. She has a Lasagna Roll recipe that is definitely calling my name, along with a Milk and Cookie Smoothie that looks incredible, as I am a lover of all things smoothie, and a recipe for Boston Cream Whoopie Pies that has gone to the top of my "must bake next" list. So, may I present, the best Blueberry Muffins I have ever had!

Blueberry Muffins w/ Lemon Sugar Topping

printable recipe

 Lemon-Sugar Topping
1/3 cup sugar (2 1/3 oz)
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest (about 1 lemon)

Muffins
2 cups (about 10 oz) frozen blueberries
1 1/8 cups sugar (8 oz) plus 1 teaspoon
2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 oz) all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Make your topping by mixing the sugar

and the lemon zest together by rubbing them 

together with your fingertips until fragrant.

Set aside for a few minutes. 

Place your oven rack in the top third of the oven.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Place 1 cup of blueberries and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a saucepan.

Bring to a simmer over medium heat, mashing the berries,

and stirring. Let the berries continue to cook until the berries begin

to take on a jam like consistency. The volume should be reduced

to about 1/4 cup. Transfer to a bowl, and let cool at room temp.

Whisk your flour, baking powder, and salt together.

In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar,

and the eggs together. Whisk in the butter and oil until combined.

Add the buttermilk and vanilla.

Add the remaining blueberries to the flour mixture.

Toss the blueberries in the flour.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients~just

until moistened. The batter should be lumpy. Be careful 

to not over mix.

Add batter to each muffin tin. The tins should be sprayed

with pan spray before adding the batter. 

Then place a teaspoon of the jam that you made earlier

on top of each muffin batter. 

Use a skewer to swirl the jam into the batter.

Sprinkle each muffin with the sugar lemon mixture.

Bake the muffins until the tops are golden and they

spring back when gently pressed, about 17-19 minutes.

Let cool for 5 minutes before you remove the muffins from the pan.

 Enjoy!

Thanks Tracey for a wonderful recipe!

Crazy Cooking Challenge~Chicken Noodle Soup

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Today for the Crazy Cooking Challenge we were asked to find a Chicken Noodle Soup recipe posted on the web from a fellow blogger. After we find the recipe, we are to make the recipe ourselves, and then post about it. This is so much fun! I spent a lot of time looking for the perfect recipe, and I think I found it. My recipe is from Fields of Cake and Other Good Stuff. It is beautifully written by Carrie Lynn, and it has some really great recipes, and some wonderful photography to go with it. Stop by and browse her blog. It has a great tutorial on how to cover a round cake with fondant (something I need help with), a snickers cake I want to make for a friend who is a snickers fanatic, and several drink recipes that look scrumptious! I think that there is no greater comfort food than chicken noodle soup, and even the name of this soup agrees with me!!

Heart of My Heart Chicken Noodle Soup

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1 teaspoon Poultry Seasoning
Pinch Salt
3-4 Grinds Black Pepper
1 pound Boneless Chicken (cut into 1/2" chunks)
2 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 medium Onion, diced
10 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Celery Ribs, diced
3 medium Carrots, diced
1 teaspoon fresh Rosemary
2 cups dry White Wine
5 14 ounce cans low sodium Chicken Broth
3 teaspoon Better than Bouillon Chicken flavor
1 tablespoon Fresh Thyme, chopped

1. In small bowl, combine the garlic powder, onion powder, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. 
2. Mix in the chicken chunks.
3. In a large soup pot (please no non-stick on this, you want the good caramelization bits from cooking to enhance the flavor of your broth however it will still be tasty in a nonstick) heat the oil over medium heat and add the chicken. Cook until juices run clear. Remove from pan and set aside.
4. Add the veggies and rosemary. Saute until fragrant.
5. Add the wine to the pan of veggies and scrape up all of those tasty bits from the bottom of the pan. You may notice the wine get very dark. That is OK, it is delicious! Once the bottom of your pan feels free of the bits, add the remaining chicken broth to the pot, along with the bouillon. Raise heat to medium high. Bring to a boil.
6. When it is at a boil, add the noodles, boil for 5 minutes and add the chicken, boil another 3 minutes. Turn heat to low and add thyme. (I would have added fresh chopped flat leaf parsley as well, I just didn’t have any on hand…so DO it!  It’s a lovely addition)

Crazy Cooking Challenge~Fudge!!!

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The December Crazy Cooking Challenge featured my favorite holiday treat ~ Fudge! The ultimate Christmas treat! I say that because I don't think I make fudge any other time of the year, except at Christmas. I really should though because it's so good. As soon as I saw that Tina picked Fudge for this months challenge, I knew what I wanted to make. I went looking for Biscoff Fudge! I found it at Tracy's Blog, Sugarcrafter!  Tracy has a wonderful blog full of recipes like Hush Puppies, Hashbrown Breakfast Bake, and Pecan Pie...Without the Pecans. Stop by her blog and be wowed!
     This Biscoff Fudge recipe is a simple, quick recipe with sweet results! I love all those things in my recipes at the holidays! Don't you?

 

Creamy and Dreamy Holiday Fudge!

1 cup unsalted Butter

1 cup Biscoff Spread

2 pinches Salt

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

3 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted

1st things 1st!!

Line an 8" X 8" baking dish with foil.

Spray with pan spray.

Melt your butter in a pan over low heat.

Add your biscoff spread.

Mix the butter and the spread together.

Stir in the salt and vanilla. 

Take off the heat, or turn your burner off.

Add your powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time until

completely combined. Then add the other 2 cups.

It's starting to look great!

Pour into your pan.

Cover with plastic by placing the plastic directly on the fudge.

Place in the fridge and chill until firm.

After removing the fudge from the fridge, cut the fudge into strips.

I cut the pieces small because the fudge is rather rich.

Enjoy!

A little about this recipe: I only changed two things.

#1~ I used less salt than the original recipe called for.

#2~ The original recipe also was made in a microwave. 

I don't have one, so the stove top had to do. It worked great!

Other info: 

This recipe makes about 1 pound of fudge.

You should eat or freeze this fudge within a week.

What is Biscoff?  It is a European alternative to Peanut Butter.

It is sweet, and is great as a spread on toast, with jam or apples.

It is a product from Belgium.

I purchased my jar at World Market for $4.99.

Thank you Tracy for a great recipe!

If you are interested in joining the fun at

The Crazy Cooking Challenge, just stop by 

and see what we are all about!

The more,  the merrier!



 

Crazy Cooking Challenge~Mashed Potatoes

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This month at Crazy Cooking Challenge the recipe search was on for a mashed potato dish. I never realized how many different ways there are to make mashed potatoes!! I searched quite a few sites and looked at a lot of recipes, but the one that intrigued me the most was the Mashed Potato Casserole at Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This is a wonderful site that is is written by Lynn, a busy wife and mother. Her site is full of creative recipes, kitchen tips, and some knock off recipes (Yum~I love those!) She also writes a blog called Lynn's Recipe Adventures,  her journey of  learning to cook gluten free and allergy  free. I chose Lynn's Mashed Potato Casserole for a couple of reasons. First of all, I have never had mashed potato casserole, and second, it seemed different, but true to the mashed potato! And it was. It was delicious! It had lots of flavor, it was easy to prepare, and I think you could serve this dish at Thanksgiving for a welcome change of pace. Thanks Lynn for a great recipe!

Mashed Potato Casserole

3 tablespoon Butter

3 pounds Potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 Eggs 

1 1/4 cup Milk

1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar Jack Cheese

Wash the potatoes, then peel.

Cube potatoes, by cutting them in half. Cut each half in fourths,

then turn them around, and slice each one resulting in cubes!

Place the potatoes in a pot, and cover the potatoes with water.

Add the butter.

Bring the potatoes to a boil, and then lower the temperature,

and cook until they are done.

Drain the potatoes.

Place the potatoes in a mixing bowl.

Add the eggs....

and the milk.

Mash the potatoes. Add 1cup of the shredded cheese

and mix well.

Place the potatoes in a baking dish.

Spray the dish first with pan spray.

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on the top of the potatoes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Cut and serve!

Delicious!