Blueberry Pie Bars

Hello friends!

Who knew that while gallavanting through Portland I would actually get a chance to bake up something myself?

Well, I did. My boyfriend, Josh, had come to me a few days before vacation to tell me that his grandmother (a master baker if I ever knew one) wanted to know if I'd like to bake something for the family while I was up there.

I, of course, said yes, not realizing just how much his family loves food. By the time it came down to it, I was convinced they were as in love food as I was (a scary thought), and baking for a whole group of foodies was now slightly intimidating. Especially after experiencing Standard Baking Company, Two Fat Cats Bakery, and of course, Josh's grandma's out-of-this-world carrot cake. Oh, and his grandpa's sticky buns. All from scratch.

But, I had my plan. I knew blueberries were a big deal up in Maine, so I had bookmarked this recipe from Kirbie's Cravings for Blueberry Pie Bars. They seemed simple enough but still able to pack a punch, and I really was (as always) in it to win it.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention: do you see these eggs?

Now you know me; as a college student I can't afford to jump on the organic bandwagon. But when I didn't have enough eggs and mentioned this to Josh's grandmother, she said simply "oh we will see if Karen's chickens laid any today."

Yes, my friends, these eggs came from a chicken that morning. They do not joke around up here about fresh ingredients. Josh's aunt Karen owns a few, and now I had the honor of utilizing the freshest eggs I could ever possibly hope to obtain in my blueberry pie bars. I love this place.

So, into the oven it goes, and thank you Kirbie's Cravings, because the scent of this quickly filled the house and even reached the adjacent porch. Soon I had questions of "how long until it'd be done?" "Do we have ice cream to go with it?"

We served them up with a small scoop of vanilla, and I have to say I, with everyone else at the table, cleaned my plate when it came to these. A golden, crispy top with an almost custard-like texture in the center, bursting with fresh blueberry flavor - these are a crowd-pleaser if I ever knew one. They went almost too quickly in my opinion, and so I think it may be necessary to double the recipe next time I make it.

So ends my wonderful vacation in Maine. Parting was of course, such sweet sorrow, but I can only hope that I will return to the food-loving city again soon so that I may explore even more of it's deep culinary treasures.

Blueberry Pie Bars Slightly Adapted Via Kirbie's Cravings

for the crust/topping:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cup cold butter

for the filling:

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

3/8 cup flour

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

16 oz fresh blueberries

**Preheat oven to 350 and grease one 9x9 in pan with butter/cooking spray**

1. Make the crust/topping. Sift together flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut cold butter into the flour mixture. Use pastry cutter or two knives to begin mixing butter into flour mixture, then use clean hands to continue until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Save 1 1/2 cups of the mixture for the topping and use the rest to press into a well-greased 9x9 square pan.

2. Make the filling. Whisk together sugar and eggs in medium bowl until well combined. Whisk in sour cream and vanilla extract. Fold in flour until just combined then gently fold in blueberries. Pour filling on top of crust and bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes, until it just begins to brown around the edges.

3. Serve up like a cobbler while still warm OR let cool completely to cut into bars.

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies

Friends,

I almost thought I wasn't going to be able to share these with you today.

I saw a dreaded red battery symbol on my camera after taking photos of the Lemon Streusel Muffins. Now normally one would say "Jess that is silly just go and charge your battery."

About that...see in order to charge a battery, one needs a charger. Naturally I went to go and look for mine and wouldn't you know it, I left it in Florida. Cue disappointing music.

So what was I to do? Well, apparently if you leave your camera alone for a few days it will retain just enough juice to take some photos of these killer cheesecake cookies.

Phew! Crisis Averted. For a minute there I thought I would have to take photos with my phone.

On a more serious note, this whole stuffed cookie idea is wonderful; why didn't anyone think of this earlier?

As I ask that I can think of one semi-legitimate reason: they are sort-of a pain in the butt. Whether you plan on trying out these or even the Nutella Stuffed Sugar Cookies, do yourself a favor and make sure you don't have to rush. These cookies are delicious and a bit on the decadent side, and as such need the tender loving care of a patient baker.

I am not a patient baker.

But, even with my frantic running around in my tiny kitchen, I managed to pull these off. I do not however, understand how HotPolkaDot managed to not burst any of the blueberries. Seriously. It's impossible.

Bursted berries or no, these will be sure to please. Fresh blueberries and lemon zest with a pillowy cream cheese center, what's not to love?

 

As always, I hope you try these out for yourself and share with friends; nothing brings a smile to someone's face better than a fresh, sweet cookie. That is, unless it's a dozen of said cookie. :)

Next week will be full of my other favorite cookies: Whoopie Pies! So be sure to hop back on over to Sugar Mountain!

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies Slightly Adapted from HotPolkaDot

3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter, at room temp
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 tbsp lemon juice
zest from 1 lemon
1 cup blueberries
4 oz cream cheese, cut into 1 tsp pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and lemon zest, being sure to scrape any zest off of the mixer. Beat in lemon juice until well incorporated.
4. Add flour mixture and stir until dough comes together. Gently fold in blueberries. Place dough in fridge to set up (about 20 minutes).
5. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls. Then, make imprint in center and place 1 tsp of cream cheese in center. Roll dough over cream cheese and back into the shape of a ball.
6. Place on prepared cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10-14 minutes or until edges are slightly browned.
7. Cool on wire rack and then eat up!

Blueberry Muffins

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

My mom, whose like the best supporter of my baking dreams, bought me a new cookbook and I decided I'd test it out this weekend. It's called Bake! Essential Techniques for Perfect Baking by Nick Malgieri, and I have to say it looks pretty awesome. It goes into every category, from yeast breads to quick breads, puff pastry to butter and sponge cakes.

And wouldn't you know it, there was a recipe for all purpose muffins that could be adapted for blueberry muffins! Which is a good thing, since I bought these lovelies a few days ago and had plenty for muffins. I never knew I liked blueberries until a few months ago actually, I always expected them to taste (now don't laugh) somewhat bluer than they do. Instead they're actually pretty mild and go really well in desserts.

So the recipe kept stressing the importance to not over mix the batter (or you end up getting muffins that have the density of hockey pucks) so naturally I was the gentlest mixer possible (for me anyway). I always thought though, that you mixed the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, but this recipe called for the oppsite. It didn't seem to make much of a difference so in the grand scheme of things I'm sure you could mix it either way, as long as you stick to mixing until JUST combined.

Here's me pretending to be another one of my dream occupations, a food photographer. Seriously, how much fun does that sound? We want you to take photographs of delicious, mouthwatering food, oh and we want to pay you to do so. Um yes? When can I start?

But back to the muffins. My daydreams can wait until they are in the oven. Naturally I did not read the little tip about coating the blueberries in flour before mixing, so they don't sink to the bottom, until after the muffins were in the oven. Luckily the berries didn't seem to sink completely.

I think I will try that little flour-coating trick next time; I like it when there are more blueberries peeking through the tops of the muffins.

But the muffins are AMAZING. Seriously, if you're into muffins feel free to turn this recipe into your default (since I know I will). The base recipe is so easy to customize; I think I'll be making chocolate chip muffins for my little brother next week.

Recipe following the rest of the muffin photo shoot:

All Purpose Muffin Recipe Via Bake!

makes 12 regular muffins

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 large egg

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups blueberries (or whatever else you'd like to add)

1. Whisk together dry ingredients in one large bowl.

2. Whisk liquid ingredients together with melted butter.

3. Combine liquid and dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.

4. Stir in (gently) any mix-ins, in this case blueberries.

5. Bake at 375 degrees F for roughly 20minutes, until golden and toothpick comes out clean.

6. Let cool completely in pan (or they run the risk of falling apart!).