Lemon Blueberry Loaf

Last Spring my family and I decided that we wanted to go pick fresh fruit.  After some searching I was able to find a few local farmers that allowed fresh picking.  At the time my daughter was going through a blueberry kick, so it was decided where we were going.  We had a great time and probably picked about 3 pounds of fresh blueberries.  Now, of course I needed to fine something make using the berries.  I came across a recipe on Pinterest.  Here is the direct link:  Sweet Pea's Kitchen.

My version

The only thing that I didn't do was add the lemon glaze, but even without it was still delicious.  I still have plenty of blueberries.  I know I will be making this again.  Maybe next time I will add the glaze.  If I do, I'll be sure to let you all know how it turns out.

If you happened to check out the Sweet Pea's Kitchen website, you may seen that there were other recipes for similar loaves/cakes.  For the record I have also made the Orange Pound Cake.  That was just as good.  That version I did use the glaze.  All I will say is yum!

I am not sure which I will try next.  Maybe just the plain lemon.  But, I doubt it will be "plain".

Until next time....... Happy Baking!

Pumpkin White Chocolate Muffins

I have a confession to make..... I am not a big fan of anything that is made with pumpkin.  I can't lie I have carved enough of them over the years and saw the lovely ooey gooey insides that it didn't help with my aversion to pumpkin-made things.  So, unless I asked to make them for something I didn't, until recently.

I was discussing with my husband want he wanted me to make for Thanksgiving dinner.  He had this look like he wanted a pumpkin pie, but he knew it would be a waste to make an entire pie just for him.  I told him I would see what I could find on the internet.  I thought I could find something that was a mini version or something similar.  I figured it wouldn't be hard since I have found recipes for mini cheesecakes and individual pineapple upside down cakes.  I didn't search long before I found a recipe for muffins.  I found it originally on Pinterest, then found the original post on Culinary Concoctions by Peabody.  Here is the direct link to the web page....  http://www.culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com/2012/09/04/pumpkin-white-chocolate-chip-muffins/

If you don't feel like going over the page here is the recipe:

Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Muffins

1/2 cup of walnuts, chopped
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
4 oz unsalted butter, melted
6 oz white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, spices, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. In another bowl, mix together the eggs, vanilla bean paste, pumpkin, and unsalted butter. Add in the chocolate chips and nuts.
4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix.
5. Scoop batter into greased or paper cup lined muffin cups. Bake for about 20-22 minutes or until puffed and springy to the touch. Cool then remove from cups. Makes 12 muffins.

I only made a few slight adjustments to fit my needs.  First was I didn't add the walnuts.  Truth, I just don't care for baked goods with nuts in them.  The second item I changed was the vanilla bean paste.  I just used pure vanilla extracted.  I did this mainly because I didn't know what vanilla bean paste was or how to make it.  The extract worked just fine in my opinion.  One thing I found out was if you use regular muffin tins, you can get about 18 muffins instead of 12.

This is a picture of one the many batches I made.

Ok, I will admit these muffins have definitely changed my mind about pumpkin.  They were soooo good.  The white chocolate gave them a very nice sweet taste.  They have been something I have made several batches.  They even have made me think of trying some more things with pumpkin.  I guess I need to hit the internet again and see what I can find.

Next time I will talk about a blueberry lemon loaf that I tested out with some very good results.

Until next time...... Happy Baking!

Meringue Cookies

Happy New Years, Everyone!

I know, I know, it has been way too long since my last post.  I hope you can all forgive me.  I won't bore you with the details, but I believe I finally was able to make some order to the chaos that was my life.  With that said, I hoping to come to at least twice a week to begin.  (I must take baby steps, don't want to get overwhelmed again.)  So, without further ado, here is my latest addition.....

After all the indulging over the holidays I decided to make something that is fat free and relatively low calorie..... meringue cookies.

I have not made these in quite some time.  They actually very simple to make.  The hardest part is just letting the egg whites mix.  I do strongly suggest that you use a stand mixer, but then again it could give you a very good arm workout.

This is the recipe I use:

2 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 almond extract
1/2 cup sugar

1) Preheat oven to 225.  Line cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper.  If you use foil make sure you spray it lightly with cooking spray.

2) Combine egg white and cream of tartar, beat until foamy.  Then add extract and sugar 1 tablespoon at a time.  Beating constantly at high speed for about 4 to 6 minutes until the sugar is fully dissolved.  The whites should be glossy and form stiff peaks.

3) Spoon the meringue into a pastry bag with any tip you want or a plastic storage bag and cut a corner off.

4) Pipe meringue onto cookie sheets.  You can make them as small or as big as you want.

5) Bake in oven for at least 1 1/2 hours.  After baking, turn off the oven and leave the cookies in the oven to cool for an hour.


This is just a basic recipe and has so many possibilities.  The first thing that has no limits really is the extract.  Almond is usually the standard.  This will usually give you an angel food cake taste to them.  There is nothing wrong with that, but why stop there.  You can use orange, mint, lemon, strawberry... the list could go on.  I have just a few suggestions.  I have found out a few things after making them a few times.  First thing would be if you can, the pure extract will give a better taste then imitation.  I know pure extracts can be expensive, so if you rather not then I would suggest adding more or the imitation, increase the amount to at least 1/2 teaspoon.  You could also add more on the pure.  I usually do.  It comes down what you like in taste.  Another suggestion I have is try not to make them more them about 2 inches in size.  If you start going bigger, you are looking at longer baking time.  Something fun you could do is to add food coloring.  You can match the color to the flavor or the holiday you are making them for.  Just add the color in a little at a time until you reach the desired color.  You may want to go just a shade darker because while they bake the color fades some.

I hope some of you decide to try these easy to do cookies and my suggestions help.  I would be curious if anyone tries.

Until next time.... Happy Baking!