Bakery Blueberry Muffins

Hands down, these are some of the best blueberry muffins I've ever eaten.  Moist does not even begin to describe these babies.  They're dense and moist and really more like cake.

Cake for breakfast!  I'm all about it.

Frozen blueberries work fabulously in these muffins.  The only thing you should NOT do is overmix the batter.  And don't overbake them.

You know. The usual.

They're just really good.  I think it's the sour cream.  It makes the batter super-thick and just amazing.  You'll think you went to a bakery for these.

Bakery Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from Kelsey Nixon

1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
Juice & zest of one lemon
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Whisk together the oil, sour cream, sugar, egg, lemon zest & juice, lemon extract & vanilla extract.  Use a spatula and fold in the remaining ingredients.  Don't overmix the batter.

Spray a 6-count muffin tin with nonstick baking spray.  Use a large ice cream scoop to scoop the batter into the muffin tin.  The muffins will be very full.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes, until just set (the tops should spring back when you press lightly).

Cornbread Poundcake

Last summer, we renovated our kitchen.  I know you know this.  But you don't know about the cornbread my mom brought us one night from the Fresh Market while our kitchen was out of commission.

She brought us a whole dinner to go with the cornbread, but really all I remember is the cornbread.

It was memorable, to say the least.  Almost worth renovating an entire room of my house again, just so I might get another delivery of Fresh Market cornbread.

The packaging of this cornbread is totally deceiving, too, because it looks completely innocuous.  Like just a regular chunk of cornbread.

It's so not.

It's so amazing.

So, being that it's January and cold and snowing and I'm pregnant and inside with three (wild) children, I thought it would be a good time to try to knock off Fresh Market's cornbread.

I stirred together some dry ingredients (using my favorite coarse-ground yellow cornmeal from Weisenberger Mill, naturally) and then stirred in some wet ingredients...

and while my girls licked the spatula (we have no fear of raw eggs in this house), the cornbread baked.

And when it came out, I put butter and honey on top.  And called it lunch.

This recipe makes a LOT of cornbread.  Fortunately, I was taking my friend half of it with some vegetable soup, so it was perfect for two families.  But if I were just making it for my crew?  I'd definitely halve it.

Lastly, this recipe isn't quite as heavy and dense as Fresh Market's, but I've decided that's a good thing?  It feels a bit less heavy.

Oh! And one more thing.  The original recipe calls for whole milk, but I subbed half of the milk for buttermilk (it was in my fridge and I was afraid it would go bad before I used the whole thing), and it was great.  But all milk would be great too.  Whatever you have on hand.

Cornbread Poundcake
Adapted from Daily Dish Recipes

1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal (I like coarse ground if you can find it)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 T honey
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk (use all whole milk or a combo of whole milk/buttermilk)

Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until just moistened (there may be a few lumps left).

Pour the batter into a well-greased 9x13 baking dish (it would be a good idea to use parchment paper in the bottom...I'll do that next time).  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, until just set (a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just a few crumbs sticking to it).

Sunrise Muffins

I watched Pioneer Woman make these muffins a few weeks ago (I told you I was on a PW kick!).  I thought they looked great, but she used a combo of butter/shortening and cut it into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter.

I hate cutting fat into flour.  It's just an annoying step I'd rather avoid.  And I think that oil makes things moister than butter, so I try to use oil in my muffins.

By all means, learn from my mistake and use a bigger bowl.  I made a huge mess.

But then I run into another problem...if I only use oil, I miss that buttery flavor.

Life is so complicated sometimes.

And then I read the reviews of these muffins on foodnetwork.com and they didn't get great reviews.  Everyone said they were not sweet enough.

Well, I solved that problem.  And I mixed oil with butter-flavored shortening to solve the moisture/butter-flavor problem.  And lastly, to solve the "cut the fat into the flour" problem, I melted the shortening.  No cutting necessary.

Just stir it together!

My family loved these muffins.  They were orange-y without being bitter, very moist and had a great crumb topping.

Needless to say, I'll be making these again.  For sure.

They were great with cheesy eggs and fruit!

Sunrise Muffins
Inspired by Pioneer Woman

1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup butter-flavored shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (about a 10-12 oz. jar) orange marmalade
1/2 cup orange juice
1 egg
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour

Topping:
1 T butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Melt the shortening in a bowl in the microwave just until melted.  Stir in the oil, sugar, vanilla, marmalade and orange juice.  Add the egg and combine.  Add the remaining dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Scoop into muffin tins that have been well greased with cooking spray.  This recipe makes 12 muffins.

For the topping, whisk together the melted butter with the remaining ingredients.  Sprinkle about a teaspoon over each muffin.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 13-16 minutes, until just set in the middle.

Cinnamon-Sugar Quick Bread

Well.  This recipe is a no-brainer. I made a loaf one Friday afternoon for our breakfast on Saturday morning.

Because it's fun to have a treat on Saturdays.

Except that my family came on Friday afternoon, right as the bread was coming out of the oven (it made my house smell heavenly) and devoured.  The. Whole. Loaf.  Gone.

Right then and there.

So, I did what any sensible person would do.  I whippped up another loaf of this bread and we had it.  Again.  On Saturday morning.

Quick bread.  Cinnamon-sugar layered in the middle and on top.

I mean, how bad can that be?

Right.  Get a cup of coffee because this comes together quick.

Hence the name.

Oil (makes it oh-so-moist), sugar, eggs, vanilla.  You know, the usual gang.  Plus milk.  Add the dry ingredients, stir it up.  Layer it in the pan with cinnamon and sugar.

You're supposed to let this cool before you cut it.  Well, I tried it both ways - hot, right out of the oven, and cooled overnight.

Both ways were so good.  I'm just not sure which way I liked better.  I guess I'll have to make it again.  And then I'll maybe be able to decide.

Go forth and conduct your own experiment using this bread.  You won't be sorry!

Cinnamon-Sugar Quick Bread
Adapted from A Whisk and a Prayer

1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 T baking powder
2 cups flour

Cinnamon/Sugar Mix:
2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup sugar

Whisk together the oil, sugar, salt, egg, vanilla and milk.  Add the baking powder and flour.  Stir until combined.  Pour a little more than half the batter into a greased loaf pan.

Combine the cinnamon and sugar.  Sprinkle most of the cinnamon/sugar on top of the batter in the pan.  Pour the remaining batter on top.  Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture on top.  Use a knife to swirl it a little bit.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 50-55 minutes, until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Let the bread cool in the pan for about 30 minutes.  Carefully remove it, wrap it in foil and let it cool completely.  (Yeah, right!)  Or you can slice it and serve it hot.  It may fall apart a little, but it's fabulous still warm.  Enjoy!

Butterscotch Zucchini Bread

I made this bread a few weeks ago.  We liked it, so I'm sharing it with you.

This is how I cut bread.  Is there a problem?

And now I need to tell you that our big girl started kindergarten last week.  It is only half day, but it is every day, and it is still kindergarten.

It is bittersweet.

I am happy and sad.

And I'd like to publicly apologize to all the parents I scoffed at (when I was young and stupid, i.e., before I became a parent myself) who were emotional because their child went to kindergarten.

I was sure I would never be that parent.  You know, the overly-attached, enmeshed parent.

And here I am.  Crying because my little girl went to kindergarten.

I mean, where did the last five years go?

I'll stop.

Have some zucchini bread.  It's good because you can't taste the zucchini.  You know it's true.

And put some butterscotch pudding mix in it.  Because we all  know by now that pudding mix makes everything better.

Butterscotch Zucchini Bread

1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 cup grated zucchini
1 cup flour
1/2 cup oats (either quick-cook or regular; not instant)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3 oz. package butterscotch pudding

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, vanilla and sugar.  Add the remaining ingredients and whisk (or stir) together until combined.  Pour into a greased loaf pan (I used a 9x5 pan).  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 55-65 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Corn Muffins

I've shared cornbread recipes before, but I'm a firm believer that I can't have too many cornbread recipes!

And thus, neither can you.

These muffins are moist (they stayed very moist and good for about 3 days) and puffed up perfectly in the muffin tin.

They're sweet - sweet cornbread is a requirement in our house - but not too sweet.  Just enough for balance.

Or something like that.

This is my go-to corn muffin recipe.  Not to be confused with my go-to cornbread recipe.

Go forth and make corn muffins for dinner.  Your family will thank you.

Corn Muffins
Adapted from Paula Deen

1 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 T plus 1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
8 oz. sour cream
8 oz. can creamed corn

Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, salt and baking powder.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir until just combined.

Spray a 12-count muffin tin with nonstick spray.  Use an ice cream scoop to scoop the batter into the muffin tin.  Bake at 375 degrees 15-19 minutes, until the tops spring back when touched.  Don't brown the muffins, though, or they won't be as moist.  Serve warm with butter or serve at room temperature.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

My cousin gave me this recipe a few years ago and I've been making it ever since.

These cinnamon rolls are SO GOOD and SO EASY!

It's a great recipe to make when you're feeding company for breakfast...I've done that many times.

Here's the beauty of this recipe: you prepare it the night before and the rolls rise overnight...in the morning, all you have to do is bake it.

So here's how to do it.  Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and then evenly space 15 frozen dough balls in the dish.

Sprinkle on top a package of cook-n-serve vanilla pudding

then sprinkle on a cup of brown sugar

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

and then drizzle on a stick of melted butter.

Now just cover it with a piece of plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter overnight.

Sorry for the weird lighting.  It was night when I made these so my kitchen was dark!

In the morning, this is what you will have waiting for you!

Puffy dough balls in a buttery, sugary, cinnamon-y bed.

As the rolls bake, the pudding, butter and sugar blend together to form the most fabulous, gooey, stick sauce ever.

Not even kidding.

So you can serve them straight out of the pan like this, or you can invert them in another 9x13 dish.

If you invert them, the sauce drizzles all over the rolls and coats them.  Ugh.  Too good to even describe.  But it can be a messy job to invert the dish, so if you leave them in the baking dish, then just turn them over on the plate when you serve.

Like this.

Company or not, please make these soon.  Beyond good.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

15 frozen dough balls (like Rhodes' brand)
3 oz. package cook-n-serve vanilla pudding
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 stick butter, melted

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.  Evenly space the frozen dough balls in the dish.  Sprinkle on top the pudding, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Drizzle the melted butter on top.

Cover the dish with plastic wrap and sit on the counter overnight. (at least 8-10 hours)

In the morning, remove the plastic wrap.  The rolls have risen!  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.  Don't overbake.  Invert the rolls on a large platter or a clean 9x13 baking dish.  You want the sticky sauce to coat the rolls!  (Or you can scoop the rolls out and invert them individually on each plate.)