Ok, maybe lazy isn't the most accurate word....it sure isn't the most flattering! So instead, let's go with busy. I am a busy cook. I like to eat. I love food. I even like to cook. But I also have a job that keeps me really busy, so don't have a ton of time to spend preparing meals. But I also don't like eating a lot of packaged or pre-prepared foods, because they are just so bad for you.

I don't have little kids to try to feed, but I do have an 18 year old nephew living with me. So the trick is to try to balance meals for me and for him. On my side, you've got an adult female who is trying to eat in a healthy way and lose weight. On Josh's side, you've got an 6', athletic teenage boy who could happily eat 4,000 calories a day and stay slim and athletic. Sometimes, he makes me crazy! And let me add that I love to try new things and be adventurous in my cooking, and Josh would be happy always eating the same 5-6 meals, every 5-6 days. So the happy medium is that I cook healthy meals, making them in ways that make Josh's teenage boy appetite happy, provide lots of veggies, and always have a batch of cookies in the cookie jar.

So anyway, to wrap this up. I know I have a lot of friends who find themselves to be in the same meal preparation situation as me. I've found and collected some really great, simple recipe's. And, since I like to play with things when I'm cooking, I've created some dishes of my own that are pretty darn tasty! Soooo....I figured I'd start a blog to share those recipe's with my friends. I'll only post recipe's that I've made and have passed approval from my family. If they're my own creation, I'll claim credit. If I lifted it from somewhere, I'll give credit to the culinary genius I stole from!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

THE.BEST.MUFFINS!!!

Truly, these are the best ever muffins.  They were delicous, both the first time I made them, and then again this monring.  And an easy way to feed a houseful of teenage boys!


Sugar Topping

1/3 cup (21/3 ounces) sugar
1½ teaspoons finely grated zest from 1 lemon

Streusel Toppi
ng

3 T white sugar
3 T brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
5 T melted butter


Muffins

2 cups (or less if you are me!) fresh blueberries, picked over
1 1/8 cups  plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon water
2 1/2 cups  unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

If topping with lemon sugar, stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined; set aside.

If topping the muffins with streusel, combine ingredients until it is the size of peas and set aside.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. If your oven cooks on the hot side normally, reduce the heat.  Some people have commented that 425 was too hot.  I would recommend getting a thermometer for your oven if you aren't sure. 

Prepare standard muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray or liners. Bring 1 cup blueberries, water,  and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing the berries with your potato masher or fork several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced by about half.  This will take about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and well combined. Slowly mix in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not over mix.)
Using a cookie scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar or streusel evenly over muffins.

Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.