Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Yet again in the search for the perfect muffins. Browsing through my Recipes-Sweet board this morning these stuck out. Just made the batter and it was DELICIOUS! I modified the recipe a bit to what I had and higher altitude. Note that this is one of the weirdest recipes I've tried for mixing the batter but it still looked good. Just took them out of the oven. They are soooo good! Tender, lemony, poppy seedy! On a couple I put a little bit of powdered sugar glaze. You can go either way. Hope you love these too!

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
finely grated zest from 1 lemon (I also used pulp)
2 large eggs
2 tbsp lemon juice (fresh squeezed from lemon)
1 cup sour cream
Poppy Seeds (I only used 1/2-3/4 tbsp)

Directions
Preheat your oven to 365 degrees F.

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl, and reserve until needed.

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest, until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly before adding the next. Stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the lemon juice, and 1/2 of the sour cream until combined.

Add half of the remaining flour mixture, and stir until combined. Stir in the remaining sour cream. Stir in the rest of the flour mixture, and then the poppy seeds.

Line a muffin tin with paper baking cups or spray with cooking oil. If you are making regular sized muffins, it will be about 17. 

Fill each muffin only have way full. Bake about 15-20 minutes for regular muffins, or 6-12 minutes for mini muffins or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Thanks to The First Year Blog. 

Crepes and Cream

These are just a good crepe recipe. Not spectacular but good. The thing that really makes them is the cream! I found this recipe via Pinterest and just love the cream!

Courtesy of Susan’s Kitchen.

Crepes:
4 eggs

1/2 c butter, melted

1/3 c sugar

1 c flour

1 c milk

1/4 c water

1 tsp. vanilla

dash of salt

In a blender place all ingredients, except flour.  Blend.  Sprinkle in flour, blend until incorporated.  Refrigerate for at least one hour.  Remove from refrigerator and blend for about a minute.  Heat 8-inch non-stick skillet.  Butter pan (about a 1/2 tsp).

Pour 1/4 cup of batter into skillet.  I pour straight from my blender container.  Just make sure there is enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan with a THIN, THIN, THIN layer of batter.

SWIRL pan around until bottom of pan is covered with batter.

 COOK for about 30 seconds, or until edges easily lift up with spatula.

FLIP, COOK for 5-10 seconds.  Crepe should slide right out of pan.

Cream Filling:

1 c sour cream

1 8oz pkg. cream cheese SOFTENED

1 c powdered sugar

Enjoy!

Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins

I was looking for a delicious, moist, tender blueberry muffin with a yummy topping. I FOUND IT! These are the BEST blueberry muffins I have ever had! You've got to try them! Browning the butter was kind of daunting but you just cook it till you think it's ready and you're good to go. Hope you enjoy these as much as we do. 20/10

I served it with nectarines, blueberries milk and sugar. Yummy! And at the end of B's brunch he found this in his bowl. :)

 

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

Brandon likes to find his own creations sometimes. He found this one day looking on his favorite recipe  site: allrecipes.com. This recipe is delicious. It tastes almost like there is a pesto on it...which would also be good. Very fast and easy. We half the recipe and have leftovers. A full recipe would serve about 8. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter
3 TBSP mayonnaise
2 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 tsp dried basil (fresh would be awesome too)
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp celery salt
2 pounds tilapia fillets

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.


3. Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

Serve on a bed of rice with a veggie side. We got green bean at Sprouts, blanched them then sauteed them in a TBSP butter and a clove of minced garlic. Delicious!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these Lettuce Wraps! They are so easy and you can really do whatever you want to them. This last time I made them I chopped up carrots, onion and celery. I really enjoyed all the textures. At Costco they sometimes have a double pack of butter lettuce for like $3.29.  In Utah that's pretty much the only place I could find it. The butter lettuce allows them to hold the filling better and it has great flavor and a lighter less watery texture. I love to drizzle some sweet chili sauce with these. I just buy whatever is cheapest. 

Cook in a Wok or Skillet:

Drizzle some oil in a pan (about 1-3 TBSP)

2 Chicken Breasts ( I usually just use whatever leftover chicken I have since I'm always boiling chicken because we eat it so much). 

Make sure chicken is cooked through.

If you want to add a carrot/ a bit of onion and a stalk of finely chopped celery be sure to add it and cook until tender. 

Add 1 can of chopped water chestnuts

3 TBSP. Chopped green onions

1-2 tsp. minced garlic

Cook all those ingredients. 

Sauce:

2 TBSP Soy Sauce

1-2 TBSP Brown Sugar

1 tsp. rice vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)

Mix up sauce and add to your chicken mixture. 

Serve:

I put the washed lettuce and chicken on the table and serve it family style. Drizzle some Sweet Chili Sauce over the top and you're done. DELICIOUS! Fast and Easy! Hope you love them too!

*Note: I also love to turn these into an asian salad for lunch if I have leftovers.*

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Found this awesome recipe on theidearoom.net and had to try them. I am not the best baker and now living in Denver and yet again adjusting to a higher altitude it always makes me even more nervous to make. I made a few modifications and they came out really good. Nice and soft, chewy on the inside, crispy on the outside. Made a perfect 2 dozen.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

*recipe from BHG with some modifications.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used creamy)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 
• *Note that at high altitude you can decrease sugars and it's supposed to help by 1-2 TBSP*
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I make sure the cups are both heaping)
• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon milk (add this at the very end just to make dough smooth and creamy)
• 1/2 to 1 cup semi-chocolate chips (depending on your preferred chocolate needs)

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Add milk (from 1/2 Tablespoon to 1 Tablespoon just enough to make the dough moist and creamy. Add chocolate chips and mix till just incorporated.  If necessary place the dough in the freezer to make easier to handle.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Drop cookies by scooping them out of the bowl with a spoon dropping them in balls onto your greased cookie sheet. (I use my nifty Pampered Chef cookie scoop.) You do NOT need to smash them like normal peanut butter cookies. Think chocolate chip. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.