Blueberry Muffins

These blueberry muffins are absolutely amazing. I've shared some other muffin recipes before and these are definitely tied for first place (if not the winner!) with the oatmeal blueberry muffins. I love blueberry muffins, even though I don't like blueberries by themselves. These muffins have intensified blueberry flavor with the addition of a simple syrup. People make the mistake of adding more and more blueberries to boost flavor, but then they get a soggy muffin. The genius chefs at Cook's Illustrated have proven that concentrating the blueberry flavor is key. And then they decided to take delicious to the next level and add a lemon sugar topping that really makes these muffins special. You have to give these muffins a try!

Blueberry Muffins
Prep: 20 minutes / Bake: 16-18 minutes
Yield: 12 muffins

Blueberry Syrup:
1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
1 teaspoon sugar

Muffins:
1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 cup buttermilk
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Topping:
1/3 cup sugar
zest from one lemon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. In a small saucepan, combine blueberry syrup ingredients. Cook and mash berries slightly over medium heat for 6-8 minutes, until the mixture is thickened and reduced to about 1/3 cup. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature, 10-15 minutes. I stuck mine in the fridge to cool. You may find that the frozen blueberries take longer to cook down.

2. While the syrup cools, wash remaining blueberries and dry on paper towels. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt together. In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar and eggs until thickened. Slowly add the butter and oil into the egg mixture, whisking continually. Whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla. Fold egg mixture into flour mixture just until moistened. Do not overmix, the batter will be lumpy.

3. Combine the lemon zest and sugar in a small bowl.

4. Fill the muffin cups until 3/4 full. Spoon a teaspoon of the cooked blueberry syrup into the center of each cup. Use a skewer or toothpick to gently swirl the syrup into the batter. Sprinkle lemon topping over the muffins.

5. Bake for 16-18 minutes until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let rest in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire cooling rack. Wait 5 minutes before serving.

Click here to print this recipe!

Recipe adapted from Cook's Illustrated and My Kitchen Cafe

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My Review

Milk and Honey White Bread

It has been months since I bought a loaf of bread from the grocery store. Making homemade bread is very rewarding in several ways. Number one, you know exactly what ingredients are in the food you're eating. Number two, you can alter it according to your personal preferences. I have experimented with wheat flour, vital wheat gluten, wheat gluten, flax meal and oatmeal; the possibilities are endless! Number three, smelling bread in the oven that you made yourself is very satisfying. And finally, the taste! Nothing beats the taste of homemade bread.

This bread was the most like store-bought bread that I have ever made. It was extremely soft and tender, with an airy texture and just the right amount of crumbles. The flavor was mildly sweet and very addicting. I would like to adapt this recipe to include part wheat flour and possibly some other healthy add-ins, like wheat germ and grains.

Bread can be intimidating to many people, but I think you just have to go for it! I make mistakes along the way but always learn from them. My bread making skills have definitely improved since my french bread post and I'm still learning. Please ask me any questions that you may have, I will be happy to offer my advice!

Milk and Honey White Bread (Print)
adapted from Taste of Home Baking Book
Prep: 15 min. + rising / Bake: 30 min. + cooling
Yield: 2 loaves

2 packages (or 4-1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
2-1/2 cups warm milk (110 to 115 degrees)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (optional)
7 to 8-1/2 cups flour*

1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm milk and allow to rest for a few minutes. Add the honey, butter, salt, wheat gluten, and 5 cups flour. Mix with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. *The original recipe said 8 to 8-1/2 cups flour. I found that it was nearly impossible to mix the dough by hand after 7 cups. So I kneaded the dough in the bowl for a few minutes to incorporate the 7th cup of flour. Then probably used an additional 1/2 cup when I kneaded it on the counter. The amount of flour varies depending on humidity and the size of your 'cup.'

2. Turn onto a lightly floured counter and knead until smooth and dough is elastic when stretched, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl. Turn the dough once to grease top. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.

3. Punch the dough down. Divide the dough in half and shape each portion into a loaf. Place each in a greased 9x5 loaf pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

4. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. When I think the bread is done, I take it out of the pan to inspect the bottom. I say it's done when the bottom is evenly golden and it sounds hollow when tapped; others may tell you differently but I have found that only judging doneness by the top of the bread is unreliable. You can cover the top loosely with foil if it browns too quickly.

5. Remove from pans and place on wire racks to cool. Important: do not cut the bread until it is completely cool! It is tempting, I understand, but if you cut it too soon you will have a gummy interior that will make you think the bread is not done. I know this from experience.

It was taller than my bread box!

 My Review

Cinnamon Muffin Melt Copycats

Have you ever enjoyed the Cinnamon Muffin Melts from Tastefully Simple? They are delicious!

Well, they look like these, smell like these, and best of all, TASTE like these! I found a recipe in my Taste of Home Baking book for cinnamon doughnut muffins. I swapped out two-thirds of the white sugar for brown sugar, and voila! I had my Tastefully Simple copycats...and I was so excited!

The recipe in my book suggested filling them with jam. I filled two with grape and two with strawberry jam. But I didn't like them that way, so I say just leave it out. I considered that apple butter would be good, you can't go wrong with apples and cinnamon to be sure, but I didn't try that one. My husband and I thought that the jam almost tasted sour inside the sweet muffin. All in all, these are very addicting and fantastically scrumptious. And I'm so excited to be able to make these delicious muffins from scratch without the Tastefully Simple mix!

Cinnamon Muffin Melt Copycats
adapted from Taste of Home
Prep: 15 minutes / Bake: 8-10 minutes
Yield: about 30 mini muffins or 10 large muffins (I made mini)

Muffins
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed (I used light)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
3/4 cup milk (I used skim)

Topping
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tin or fill with paper liners.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir until combined. In a small bowl, combine sugars, oil, egg, and milk. Beat with a fork or whisk until mixed. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

3. Fill muffin cups three-fourths full. If you have any unused cups, fill them with water to help the muffins bake more evenly and prevent the pan from warping. For mini muffins, bake 8-10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. For larger muffins, the original recipe states 20-25 minutes.

4. While the muffins are baking, prepare the topping. In a small bowl, melt the butter in the microwave and set aside. In another small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Immediately after removing the muffins from the oven, dip the tops in butter and then in the cinnamon-sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.

My Review

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

I love a good piece of toast, slathered in butter and sprinkled with a mound of cinnamon and sugar. Imagine this delicacy on a piece of cinnamon bread. Heaven!

Or you could use it to make the most AMAZING french toast, as I did here. I do recommend leaving out the raisins if you are going to make french toast though.

This cinnamon swirl bread is absolutely delicious. I know that I will be making it again. It freezes well and makes for a great breakfast or midnight snack.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread (Print)
from Taste of Home
Prep: 30 + rising / Bake: 30-40 minutes
Yield: 2 loaves

5-1/4 to 5-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups quick oats
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 packages (4-1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
3 teaspoons salt
2-1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour, oats, milk powder, brown sugar, yeast, and salt. In a small saucepan, heat water and butter over medium heat until 120-130 degrees. Add to dry ingredients, beat just until moistened. Add egg; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a firm dough. Stir in raisins.

2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, about 1 hour.

3. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half with a pizza cutter. Roll each portion into an 18-in. x 9-in. rectangle. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Set aside 2 tablespoons for topping. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon and sugar over rectangles to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up, starting on the short side; pinch seams to seal.

4. Place seam side down into two greased 9-inch loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with reserved cinnamon and sugar.

5. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cover loosely with foil if tops brown too quickly. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Sour Cream Fan Rolls

I was having a hard time deciding which roll recipe to make today, but I am very glad that I chose this one! These rolls are light and fluffy; perfectly soft on the inside, with a slightly crispy outside. They have a touch of sweetness and pull apart into bite-size pieces! What more could you want in a roll?

These rolls would be a perfect addition to Christmas dinner. They look pretty too, especially if you don't overcook them like I did. I highly recommend you give them a try. If you don't believe me, I'll have you know that my husband said after lunch today, "The rolls were fabulous." There's your proof, now get baking!

Oh, and a bit of advice before you start, make sure you have enough flour! I halved the recipe but only had 3 cups of flour... which meant that my dough was very sticky and I had to use bisquick to 'flour' my surface. Thus the funny white specks on the rolls! As a side note, I cooked the rolls for 16 minutes, and they got a little overdone. I also made mini rolls with the scraps, those only needed to be baked for 10 minutes.

Sour Cream Fan Rolls (Print)
from Taste of Home
Prep: 30 minutes + rising / Bake: 20-25 minutes
Yield: 2-1/2 dozen

2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups warm sour cream (110 to 115 degrees)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
7 to 8 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a small bowl, add yeast to warm water and stir slightly to dissolve. Add 2 tablespoons sugar; let stand for 5 mintues. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine sour cream, eggs, butter, salt, and remaining sugar. I warmed the sour cream in the microwave on 50% power for 60 seconds.

2. Stir in baking powder, yeast mixture, and 4 cups of flour until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

3. Turn on to a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

4. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each portion into a 23-inch x 9-inch rectangle.

5. Cut into 1-1/2-inch strips the long way. Stack 5 strips; cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces and place cut side up in a greased muffin cup. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 20 minutes. I acually didn't grease my muffin tins and they didn't stick at all.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25* minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks.

Nutrition Facts: 1 roll equals 182 calories, 6g fat, 31mg cholesterol, 158mg sodium, 27g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 4g protein.

Homemade Waffles

Jeremiah and I tried an elaborate waffle recipe a while back, and let me just say that the work was not worth it in the end. The waffles weren't great, they kind of tasted like eggs. I decided to give homemade waffles another try. This recipe is more simple, and tastes better. However, I was skeptical; why is there no sugar in these things?? But that's where powdered heaven (aka powdered sugar) comes in!

You'll have to excuse the uneven edges. I may have found a better waffle recipe, but I have yet to master my waffle iron. It is designed for Belgian waffles and uses a ton of batter. I always feel like I'm pouring too much batter, and then when it's done, the batter didn't even make it to the edge! The first time we used the waffle iron, we thought the issue was because our counter is crooked. This may have contributed somewhat, but the fact is, I'm just not using enough batter. I'll get it right sometime.

And by the way, our counter is crooked. It slopes downward; I know this because I almost lost a few eggs last week as they were rolling toward their death. Thankfully, I caught them. But hey, the crooked counter fits right in with my 3 crooked stove burners that I mentioned in my favorite things post from Monday!

Homemade Waffles (Print)

from Taste of Home

Total time: 20-30 minutes

Yield: 4 waffles

1-1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, separated

1 cup milk

1/4 cup butter melted

1. Turn on waffle iron to preheat. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, milk, and melted butter. Stir into dry ingredients until just moistened.

3. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gently fold into batter. To test for soft peaks, stop your mixer and lift the beaters up. The peaks of the egg whites should curl down.

4. Bake in waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions. Top with powdered sugar, fruit, syrup, peanut butter, whipped cream, or anything else you can think of!

These waffles made for a great Saturday morning breakfast! They aren't very difficult and can easily be frozen too! As a tip, turn your oven to warm, or between 150 and 200 degrees before you start. Then as each waffle is done, put it on a plate in your oven to keep it warm. While the waffles will lose some of their crispiness, they stay warm so that everyone can eat at the same time. If I discover a way to keep them warm and crispy, I will definitely let you know! Read more for my complete review, and have a great weekend!

Apple Cinnamon Pecan Muffins

I would like you to read the title one more time. Apple Cinnamon Pecan Muffins. Read it slowly and really ponder those words.

Now allow yourself to imagine the flavors, all combined into a delicious muffin drizzled with a sweet glaze. Visualize yourself eating these on a chilly Saturday morning, at 10:00, in your pajamas with a glass of milk, or coffee, if you're into that sort of thing.

Are you hooked yet? Because these are amazing!

I think that muffins are becoming one of my favorite things to make for breakfast. They are easy, versatile, and delicious, what more could a girl want? Check out my Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins if you missed those last month, and make sure to give this recipe a try!

Apple Cinnamon Pecan Muffins
adapted from Taste of Home online
Prep: 20 minutes / Bake: 12-15 minutes
Yield: 12 muffins

For the muffins:
1/2 cup pecan pieces
1 medium tart apple
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1-1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened or light apple juice

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toast pecans: place pecans in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occassionally. Between stirring, peel apple (I used a honeycrisp), and cut into small pieces.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Stir in milk. Tip: save the butter wrapper to grease your muffin tin in step 5.

The sight of butter and sugar in my mixing bowl makes me giddy

4. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Pour into butter mixture, stirring just until moistened. Fold in the apples and pecans.

5. Grease a 12-muffin tin or line with paper cups. Fill muffin cups about three-fourths full. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

6. While muffins are baking, combine the powdered sugar and apple juice in a small bowl. Mix until smooth. Cool muffins for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Place muffins on a plate or serving platter and drizzle evenly with the glaze. Serve warm.

Nutrition Facts: 235 calories, 10 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 32 mg cholesterol, 240 mg sodium, 37 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein

Click below for my review, freezer tips, additional mix-ins, and a link to my beloved muffin tin! P.S. I am working on getting a link to a printable version of my recipes to make cooking easier for you!

Garlic Bread

I made up this garlic bread recipe several years ago and it has become a staple whenever we have spaghetti. It is super simple and very delicious! Most of the time I just use normal slices of bread, but I had some of my french bread on hand, so I decided to make it with that. Either way, it's a winner!

Garlic Bread
Prep: 5 minutes / Bake: 5-10 minutes
Yield: how ever many you want!

Bread, as many slices as you need (whole wheat, white, french...whatever you have)
Butter (real butter, margarine, or spread. Again, whatever you have on hand. We use Smart Balance)
Garlic Garlic (from Tastefully Simple)
Parmesan cheese (I use the pre-grated, processed kind haha)

1. Butter your bread!

2. Sprinkle with Garlic Garlic

3. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, however much you like!

4. Bake the bread. This can vary. I range anywhere from 350 degrees for 10 minutes or 400 degrees for 5 minutes. I usually just gauge it off of when my pasta will be done. There's no real set time. Just check the crust and when it gets to your desired crispiness, it's ready!

I hope you enjoyed my super simple garlic bread! I'm not even gonna bother with a review... I made it up on my very own, I eat it often, aaand I'm feeling kinda lazy! Have a good weekend and don't forget to set your clocks back tonight!

 

French Bread

I think that most people would agree, there is nothing like the smell of homemade bread baking in the oven. Slicing your very own loaf of bread that you made from scratch is a great feeling. You feel powerful, accomplished, successful, amazing, and... hungry!

One of my favorite memories is my grandma's homemade bread, it was absolutely delicious, and it smelled sooo good! She would save old bread bags and then use them to give away her homemade loaves to her children, which meant that I had one of grandma's yummy loaves in my own house! I never had the chance to make bread with her. She cooked with all her grandkids, but you had to be a certain age before you could make bread. At the time, I didn't mind not being able to make bread with her; I thought of it as such a priviledge and I anticipated the day when I would be old enough. I wish now that I could have at least observed her while she prepared her famous bread. This isn't her recipe, I still have yet to get my hands on it and give it a try. My aunt has tried to make it but said it never turns out the same. My grandma swore by her old-fashioned bread mixer; someday we'll see if I can make it just like her.

I have so many wonderful memories in my grandma's kitchen, and I am starting to make new ones in my own kitchen. I never had anyone teach me to knead bread or the best way to mix it, but I am learning along the way, which I think is one of the best ways to do so. Then someday, when I'm old and have grandbabies, I can pass on all of my learned wisdom to them. And I will sound very smart, even if I'm not there yet. To get to my point here, this is a relatively easy bread to make. And if you are willing to follow my novice, self-learned advice, you can make it too!

This one's for my grandma.

French Bread

from The Old Farmer's Everyday Cookbook Almanac

Prep: 25 minutes + rising / Bake: 22-30 minutes

Yield: 2 loaves

2-1/4 teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast  

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter, melted

4 to 5 cups all-purpose flour

melted butter, for the top (I leave this part out)

1. Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm (110-115 degrees) water and set aside. Add the yeast to the water and give it a few stirs. It will do the rest on it's own. I use a meat thermometer to test the water temperature.

2. In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup warm water with the sugar and salt. Add the yeast and the melted butter, stir with a wooden spoon until blended.

3. Mix in the flour, one cup at a time, until a soft dough forms. I used 4-1/2 cups but probably should have used 5 because it was pretty sticky when I first started kneading it. If you're not sure how much to use, go with 4 and you can add flour while you are kneading. When you have enough flour, the dough will start to pull away from the sides of the bowl (see photos). The first cup or two of flour will be lumpy, don't worry about that, it will smooth out. The easiest way I found to mix the flour is to stir the spoon around the edge of the bowl; the dough will sort of mix in the flour itself. Trying to fold the dough over to mix in the flour is more difficult.

1 cup flour, don't fret over the lumps.

2 cups flour

3 cups flour

4-1/2 cups flour, notice how the dough pulled away from the side of the bowl.

4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 1 minute. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Knead again for 1 mintue and let it rest 10 more minutes. To knead: sprinkle a small amount of flour on a clean counter. Place the dough on the counter and dip your fingers in the flour if you dough is sticky. Fold the dough towards you, then, using your palms, press the dough away from you. Rotate the dough a quarter turn and repeat. Add flour as needed, yet sparingly. Adding too much flour or overkneading will make the dough tough.

After the first minute

After the second minute, notice how it's smoother

5. Divide the dough in half and use your hands to gently shape each half into an 8x12-inch rectangle. Starting at the long end, roll up tightly. Place the dough seam side down on an ungreased baking sheet. Using a sharp kife, slash the top every 2 inches, cover and let rise until doubled in size. I used a pizza cutter to divide the dough. The shaping part is easier said than done. Press with your palms initially and then use your fingers to do the edges. Don't worry if it's not perfect! Mine sure wasn't! After rolling up the dough, tuck the ends under to hide any uneven edges. I let the dough rise in the oven (turned off of course) so that there weren't any drafts. To speed up the process, fill a 9x13 pan with hot water and place it on the rack under the bread. This will take about 30 minutes.

My very imperfect rectangle

6. Preheat the oven to 400. Bake for 24-30 minutes, or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Place on racks to cool and brush the tops with melted butter, optional. The recipe says to bake 30-40 minutes, but mine was done at 24 minutes. Go by how your oven cooks, mine usually cooks faster than most recipes say. I don't use the melted butter on top.

I know this was a long post and thanks for sticking with me! I felt that the many pictures and explanations with each step were necessary. If you're not too bored yet, click below for my review. This bread is great with soup and it freezes very well. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

It's been a gray and rainy Saturday here in Texas. The day started humid and is now cool and breezy after the storm. We don't get much rain here, so I have started to appreciate it more. The sun is starting to peek through the clouds now, but it will be dark in about an hour. I have noticed myself missing home more and more as the weather grows colder and the year gets older. I hear about corn mazes, pumpkin patches, bonfires, raking leaves and even snow! And I miss home, good ol' Iowa. I don't think corn mazes and pumpkin patches exist in Texas, not to mention the lack of fall foliage. These too-proud Texans don't know what they're missing!

Now that I'm through with my weather musings, I will get to my recipe. You see, I started on the weather kick because these muffins are perfect for a rainy weekend morning! The toasted oats give these muffins a subtle nutty flavor, while the sweet blueberries constrast perfectly with the ever-so-slightly salty and crispy outside. As my husband said, most blueberry muffins are too sweet and cakey, but these are just right!

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins
from Brunch, Recipes for Cozy Weekend Mornings
Prep: 20 minutes / Bake: 18 minutes
Yield: 12 muffins, 6 servings

1-1/4 cups quick oats (I used whole grain quick oats)       
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk (see my review for substitute)
1 egg
4 T unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. (I didn't have any liners so I just greased the pan and they came out perfectly).

2. In a skillet over medium heat, toast the oats, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until they are fragrant and show just a hint of gold, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

3. In a bowl, whisk together the toasted oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the buttermilk, egg, and melted butter and mix with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are moistened. Gently stir in the blueberries.

4. Divide the batter among the 12 cups, they will be nearly full. Bake until they are puffed and lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes. (I only had to bake mine for 18 minutes, so keep an eye on them). Serve warm or at room temperature.

Step 2, toast the oats. Just stir for 4 or 5 minutes, they'll start to smell really yummy!

Step 3, whisk the dry ingredients.

Step 3, add blueberries. Try your best not to break them!

Step 4, fill the muffin cups.

There you have it, simple and delicious, these muffins are a spin off of your typical cakey and sweet muffin. I hope you will give these a try, they are worth it! Click below to see my complete review.

Saturday Morning Cinnamon Rolls

I love to make breakfast on Saturday mornings. Today I decided to make a recipe that I had clipped out of the newspaper a couple years ago but had lost track of and never made. The recipe below is the original, but I made some changes, so pay attention when reading the review!
______________________________________________________________________________
Sarah's Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:

3/4 c butter

2 tsp salt

3/4 c sugar

1 c mashed potatoes

1 c hot potato water

1 c hot water

2 packages yeast
1/2 c warm water
2 eggs
7-8 c flour
1/2 c butter, softened
1 c sugar
1 1/2 T cinnamon

Frosting:
3 c powdered sugar
6 T butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
6 T milk

Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl and stir until butter melts. In a separate bowl, combine yeast with warm water and allow time to activate. Add yeast to potato water mixture and stir. Add flour, one cup at a time, until a soft dough forms.

1 cup flour



3 cups flour



5 cups flour

   

8 cups flour

  

Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, about 7 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease all sides. Cover and let rise until double, about 1 hour.



Place dough in bowl

Let rise until double

Then punch it!

Roll dough into a long rectangle. Spread softened butter over top and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough the long way and cut into about 24 equal pieces.



Yes, it was huge!



Roll it up and cut

Place rolls into two 9x13 pans. Cover and let rise until double, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350 until golden, about 25-30 minutes. Let rolls cool for 10 minutes. Combine frosting ingredients and spread over rolls.






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My Review

• Preparation: 2.5
• Let me make a disclaimer here, I enjoyed all the prep work! But, for the sake of a standard, this recipe takes a lot of time and work. I got a workout stirring the dough!
• Taste: 4.75
• These were delicious! So warm, gooey, and sweet! I couldn't give it a five though. I think they could have had more cinnamon flavor, and I think there's a better recipe out there. I have 3 more cinnamon roll recipes I need to try, so be on the lookout!
• Cost: 5
• This is hard to estimate, but considering I had everything on hand except the potatoes and butter, I think it was pretty cheap.
• Clean-up: 3
• Lots of dishes I must say. But I washed them while the rolls were rising in the pans, so it wasn't too bad.
• My changes
• Eggs! Did you notice that the recipe doesn't say when to add the eggs?? And I didn't realize I neglected to use the eggs until I was writing this post. They probably would have been added before the yeast was, but I can't be sure. Either way, they turned out great!
• I have a jar of yeast that I keep in the fridge, it is much cheaper that way and it lasts for 6 months. One package equals 2 1/4 tsp of yeast.
• I would definitely recommend dividing the dough in half before rolling it out, it went off the edge of my counter!
• Instead of 1 sup sugar, I used 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar for the filling. I love brown sugar and I thought it would make the taste richer.
• I didn't have two 9x13 pans, so I used one 9x9. The ends of the roll produced smaller cinnamon rolls, so they all fit. I ended up with 24 cinnamon rolls.
• After the rolls come out of the oven, the middles will be sticking up. You can leave them that way or just poke them back down like I did (see above pictures).
• I added an extra tablespoon of milk (to make 7) to the frosting, I thought it needed to be a little thinner.
• It's a big batch! So I stuck a dozen of them in the freezer to enjoy later!
• Summary
• Delicious cinnamon rolls! Be prepared for a time investment. The first stage took me an hour, then I went back to bed while the dough was rising lol. Then the next part took me about an hour too. Of course, it was the first time I had made them and snapping pictures takes extra time. Add in 90 minutes of rising and 25 minutes of baking and they took a while. But I loved it! So throw on your apron and give it a try!