Blueberry Oat Muffins

So, this past summer I really got caught up with all of the delicious and beautiful blueberries that were available around here, and for a great price. Well, fast forward to December where I still have like 4 large freezer bags full of frozen blueberries! Figuring that I should probably use them up soon (...and realizing that you go through blueberries only so fast from making blueberry pancakes once a week...), I decided to make these low-fat blueberry oat muffins I had bookmarked the recipe for months ago. They were delicious! Not only do they have wonderful flavour, but with lots of blueberries in them the sweetness comes from the blueberries and not from loads of sugar. Go on, try them. Use up all your frozen blueberries. Of course they would be wonderful with fresh berries too :)

Low-Fat Blueberry Oat Muffins
Source: My Own Sweet Thyme
Makes 12 muffins

1 cup old-fashioned oats, uncooked (I actually used quick oats and they turned out great)
1 cup 1% buttermilk
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
1 cup flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1. Preheat oven to 400F; Lightly spray 12 muffins cups with cooking spray.

2. In a small bowl, combine the oats and the buttermilk, and let sit for 10 minutes. After it has sat for 10 minutes, mix in the egg whites, butter and lemon peel, stirring until well blended.

3. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt), mixing well.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the oats mixture, stirring until just moistened.

5. Gently fold in the blueberries.

6. Fill the muffin cups until nearly full, and bake about 20-25 minutes or until they just start to turn golden brown.

7. Cool in tins for about 5 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack. Delicious served warm or cold! Enjoy.

Heavenly Blueberry Crumb Bars

These blueberry crumb bars are so delicious! They are simply... well... heavenly. They are perfectly sweet, just enough blueberry, a hint of lemon, and the perfect amount of crumbly topping. Every time I make these they have only lasted a few days in our house before they are gone, and quite frankly I would happily eat the entire dish to myself, if I didn't know any better. My most recent excuse to make them (and really, who needs an excuse!), was to make them for my wonderful assistant at work, who has shown me so much love and support over the last 10 months. She is always so thoughtful, and was always checking in on me to see how I was doing, and so the least I could do was make these for her. Let me tell you, they were a huge hit.

I actually came across a variation of this recipe on several sites (For the love of cooking, One Perfect Bite, Smitten Kitchen, and I hear that it actually originated on Allrecipes.com), however I ended up adapting the version off Smitten Kitchen. Really though, I'm positive any one would be good.

Blueberry crumb bars
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes 24 medium size squares


3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup cold butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest and juice of a lemon
4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp cornstarch

1. Preheat oven to 375F; Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

2. Mix together flour, baking powder, salt and 1 cup of sugar. Stir in the lemon zest.

3. Using a fork, cut in the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture is in pieces about the size of pea. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Don't worry the dough will be crumbly! Pat about half to 2/3 of the dough into the greased pan, and set the rest aside for the topping.

4. In a separate bowl, stir together 1/2 cup of sugar, the cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently stir in the blueberries. Once combined, pour the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust.

5. Crumble the remaining dough over the berry layer.

6. Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until top is slightly brown. Let it cool completely before cutting into squares.

These bars are easiest to cut and eat when cooled, and so we keep them in the fridge. If you are to impatient to wait like we were for the bars to cool completely before devouring, they are equally as good hot! They just fall apart quite easily when they are fresh out of the oven hot... consider it a type of blueberry crisp if you're going to eat them that way :)

Zucchini Bread

I learned this summer that when you are introducing "Zucchini Bread" to some new and unsuspecting 20-something, that it's best not to call it just that. I know it tastes delicious... you know it tastes delicious... but the response I heard back was a polite "No thank you - We can't see how some bread that tastes like zucchini will taste good". After an equally polite, well forcing him to try at least one piece, he now sees the light and realizes just how good it is. Maybe I should call it "Super Moist and Delicious with the perfect amount of Spice, Raisin and Walnuts Bread"... um, maybe a bit too long, but it would sure market better with the teens and 20-something's.

Well, I'm not kidding. It's delicious. We loved it. AND, it passed the hardest test of all around here (well in my mind)... Gram fell in love with it. She had me make her 4 loaves last week to store in her freezer. I always say that if Grandma likes it, it must be good! I always make this bread in loaves, but you could also do equally delicious muffins - how perfect would that be for having readily portioned sizes to take with you to work as a breakfast or mid-day snack?

Zucchini Bread
Source: Smitten Kitchen

Makes 2 loaves

3 eggs

1 cup olive or vegetable oil (I've tried both in this recipe, and both work equally good)

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 cups grated zucchini

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts + a few more to sprinkle on top

1 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350F; Grease and flour 2 loaf pans.

2. I like nice moist raisins in my zucchini loaf. To help achieve this, place them in a bowl of warm water for a couple of minutes to plump up (this can sit while you're preparing the rest); set aside. You will drain the water before you add the raisins to the mix later.

3. In a large bowl, wisk the eggs. Once beaten, mix in the oil and sugar. Mix again, then add in the grated zucchini and the vanilla.

4. Combine the dry ingredients: flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the walnuts and the (fully drained) raisins.

5. Stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined (don't overmix!).

6. Equally divide the batter into the 2 loaf pans. For something a little bit extra, I sometimes sprinkle some of the chopped walnuts on top just before putting into the oven.

7. Bake for approximately 60 minutes, or until the tester comes out clean. If you were to do the muffins, they would bake much more quickly - probably 20 minutes or so. Enjoy your Super Moist and Delicious with the perfect amount of Spice, Raisin and Walnuts Bread!