Blueberry Muffins!

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and SPRING IS HERE FINALLY!!!!! We've being waiting for so long. It's time to whip out those dresses, skirts, and sandals to go soak up those sunny rays. I was looking through this blog 3191 Miles Apart, which is a absolutely fabulous blog, they have a book based off the blog that started it all, and it's one of my favorite books, full of pictures of course. But not just any pictures, the most fun, inspiring, and relaxing group of pictures I've ever seen. These two women met and had similar styles and decided to post pictures of their mornings each day. The similarities between both pictures each day if fascinating.

Ah-ha! Okiee, back to my point! Blueberry muffins...yum, yum, yum! Actually though, I surprised myself...these are goood! The first day I made them Tuesday, I ate two for breakfast and then two more afterschool... No bueno. At that point I decided it was time for them to go, and I brought them and left them at a friends house. ; ) I was looking through their blog, and I found a good-looking blueberry muffin recipe, and then I was inspired. It required whole wheat flour, which I love whole-heartedly, but I was looking for that lovely white and blueberry speckled muffin tops, so I went on and looked for another recipe. That's when I stumbled across the Smitten Kitchen, and that's when I FOUND IT. BLUEBERRY MUFFINS. I instantly thought blueberry muffins? YUM. It was settled.

I did change a couple things...instead of lemon zest, I used orange zest. I added in 2-4 drops of tangerine oil, as well as a little lemon juice and I added in more blueberries, it got to the point where some of my muffins didn't even have blueberries.

Perfect Blueberry Muffins
Makes 10 - 12 standard-sized muffins

(Skip the organics if you want! Either way works :) )

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1 large organic egg
3/4 cup organic plain yogurt (I used Nancy's Organic)
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2-4 drops tangerine oil Optional!!1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen don't defrost) (I used frozen! Works just fine!)

Topping1/4 cup organic cane sugar

1/2 an orange zest

Preaheat oven to 375℉. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners or spray each cup with nonstick spray. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well, then yogurt, juice and oil. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in another bowl and mix. Then add half to the batter until combined, mix in last half. JUST MIX UNTIL FLOUR BITS DISAPPEARS. No more than that! Gently fold in your blueberries. The dough will be thick, which is why an ice cream scoop is a fabulous thing to use when scooping your muffins! You will want the muffin cups to be about 3/4 of the way filled. Toppings! This is when you should put it on! Sprinkle a generous amount of sugar over the top of each muffin, then zest a bit of the orange on top of that on each muffin. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Let cool on rack (or eat instantly!) Yum! Enjoy!

Knead and Feed

Spring is...Spontaneous road trips up to Whidbey

I love the conversations that come up over coffee, in a small town, in a heavenly bakery, with cinnamon rolls the size of your head.

Two weeks ago, we drove up to Whidbey island for a couple of days. (I was on break from school) After a great couple of days of just doing nothing, we read, slept in, went to the beach and spent the majority of our days outside, my friend Erin, and I decided it was time to go into town!

Coupeville, is fabulous. It's main street is filled with fun and exciting shops that range from cute antiques, a touch of dutch, to the best ice cream you will ever meet at Kpaw's. At the very end of main street is this ADORABLE bakery/restaurant called Knead and Feed. Now and forever in my mind, it will be known as the bakery with the GIANT CINNAMON ROLLS.  (We bought one, and split it, half of these is more than enough.)  It's true, Knead and feed pride themselves in making their wonderfully huge and oh so delicious cinnamon rolls.

Seriously though...HUGE!

The staff is so incredibly nice, it was like a dream come true. A small town bakery with inexpensive coffee and giant cinnamon rolls. Everyone knew everyone, so when we came in, I think it was a little confusing because the highschoolers of Coupeville were in school, and us of course, we were not... >:) But they extended their hospitality and welcomed us with happy conversations and a wonderful atmosphere.
Knead and feed has found the way to my heart, and it's sad that it's so close, yet so far away. I often find myself craving another giant cinnamon roll. Mother's Day is coming up, and I've been spending every free second I have scouring the internet and looking through all my best cookbooks for the best giant cinnamon roll recipes!!!! When I find one, you'll know. ; )


Here are some more pictures from our trip!!!

Erin and I, hanging out at Fort Ebey

Erin in Knead and Feed. In the background you can see their cold case of yummy baked goods!

Low tide in Coupeville

Walking through the fields at the back of the house we were staying at! Lots of lady bugs

Let's get right into it...

Spring is...

Spontaneous road trips to Whidbey...

the perfect blueberry muffins...

when you ditch the car at home and ride your bike to school...

oatmeal for breakfast...

the perfect Friday morning dutchbaby...

early Saturday mornings...

finishing up the week with a quick roller derby practice sesh!!

So, I'm trying out a new thing, to get me to post some more blogs of course!!! I'm having a blog every day this week, week. ; ) Let's see if it works! Here are some little fun teasers for the upcoming week! I'll try and post pictures too!! As well as a recipe with every post! :D Happy Monday!!!

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies You will EVER MEET ... and eat

aka Jim Lahey's Chocolate Chip cookies.

Hello my loves! Does it seem like I've forgotten about my blog? Because it feels like it... Sorry!! But I'm back with lovely recipes and great stories, prepare yourselves!  Read, Bake, and Enjoy!

I am aware that I do in fact, say this about ever single chocolate chip cookie recipe I ever make. But guys, GUYS! THIS IS THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE I have yet to come across.

These lovely, lovely cookies become flat when baking, but when you bite into them, they're full of flavor, and chewy and yum. Oh my yum. Just thinking about it is making my mouth water. They are most likely some of the cutest cookies, you think all c.c cookies will be chunky because of the chocolate chips, but noo! They flatten out after only five minutes in the oven.

After learning about Jim Lahey's fabulous cookies, we baked not only two batches, but three batches of cookies... which were all eating within the first hours of their freshly baked cookie-lives. From my point of view, eating between five and ten of these cookies is totally ok. They are thin and have a small amount of chocolate chips (although when I baked them, I added in a couple more then called for ; ) ) therefore, completely justified. Go ahead, eat ten, no biggie my friends.


Scrumptious pictures shall be posted tonight!!

Love these as much as I do!

xx

Jim Lahey's Chocolate Chip CookiesMakes 15 - 20 cookies

Ingredients
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (I used unbleached white wholewheat flour)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temp (if you don't have large eggs, take two small eggs, and use 1 and half of another...and you'll have 1 large egg)1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Prep
Preheat oven to 425 ℉, and arrange racks into upper and lower thirds of your oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and side aside.
Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl.
Using and electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and both sugars in a larger mixer bowl about 2-3 minutes, until combined.
Add egg and vanilla; beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Add dry ingredients, and reduce the speed to low, mix until blended.
Then fold in chocolate chips.

Scooping
Spoon out heaping tablespoons of dough onto your prepared baking sheets. (I used a small ice cream scooper) Be sure the keep the scoops small, they may look like not enough, but *remember* they spread out when baking.
Bake until cookie edges are golden brown, about 6 - 8 minutes, and rotate the pans halfway through!
After you take them out of the oven, carefully transfer them to a wire cooling rack, they will be VERY fragile.

:)




Adapted from: Bon Appetit

Orange Cranberry Chocolate Chip Scones

I made these a few weeks ago with one of my very best friends and I'm happy to say that these were the most delicious, almost healthy and incredibly easiest scones I've ever made. (I'm a big scone person, to say the least). We replaced All purpose flour with Whole wheat pastry flour. Instead of making an orange-y glaze to put on top, we mixed the orange zest into the dough and they ended up being pretty, textured,  moist and sweet! Therefore, these lovely scones are not only easy and fun to make, but healthy and are a delicious companion to your morning tea or coffee!


I've made them three more times this past week, will be posting a picture soon!
Love them as much as I do.



Orange Cranberry Chocolate Chips Scones

2 cups Whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp COLD butter
Zest of an orange
1/4 cup organic raw sugar
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 - 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup (pick any of the following!): milk, almond or soy milk
1 1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze (totally optional!) I highly suggest trying it without the glaze, and then if you don't like it...go all out and make the glaze!
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Zest of another orange
Orange juice, from the zested orange

Preheat the oven to 400 ℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Zest an orange and mix the zest with the sugar, set aside.

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Cut the 5 TBSP of butter into horizontal slices, and then cut those slices in half again. Make small cubes! Cut into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter, fork, or use your hands. (But be careful not to melt the butter with the heat of your hands!!) Mix the butter and the flour until there are small crumbs and no large clumps of butter. Stir in the sugar, cranberries, and chocolate chips. Measure the milk, add the vanilla, then stir in the flour mixture. The dough should be slightly sticky, if it looks like you need to add a little more milk, add a little more milk!
Do not, I repeat! Do not knead the dough! Bring the dough together into a ball. Use a little extra flour as needed when cutting the dough. Pat it out into a 1.5 inch thick round. Cut the round into 8 triangles. Place the triangles slightly apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, while turning the baking sheet half-way through the baking time, bake until the tops of the scones are golden on the edges.

To make the glaze, just mix the powdered sugar with orange zest and juice! Make sure the keep the glaze thick because it will melt a little bit when you bit it and become thinner on the scones.

Adapted from: honeybeecooksjackfruit

A sad day, but a so incredibly happy and wonderful experience

I was a little girl alone in my little world who dreamed of a little home for me.
I played pretend between the trees, and fed my house guests bark and leaves, and laughed in my pretty bed of green.

- Dream, Priscilla Ahn

I don't think I have ever mentioned this before, but for the last couple of months I have been interning at the Flying Apron Bakery, in Fremont, Washington. And I have loved every single minute. It was without a doubt a dream come true. I was working in this wonderfully successful bakery without any outside experience, (except what I had learned in school). I started interning for my senior project at the beginning of October 2011 coming in two to three days a week and have been interning there for two days a week ever since.
My coworkers are wonderful people with incredibly kind hearts, I always leave smiling or laughing. :) Our baked goods are great, and oh-so-fun to make! The atmosphere and the customers are lovely and I have always felt so at home. Although, I am sad to say that because of my school schedule they no longer need me as an extra pair of hands on those two days during the week. But I have nothing to say but joyous things. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. If anything, working here has solidified my decision on what I am doing with my life after I am out and graduated from high school. As of right now, I am in the middle of my application to the C.I.A (Culinary Institute of America), and on my way to filling out a couple more applications to Culinary schools in my area.
I want to say so much more, but I also feel like if I do, I will constantly be repeating myself... :) What else can I say? I am so blessed and I am so grateful to have had the chance to experience what I have experienced. To all of my Flying Aprons, thank you, thank you, thank you so much. You will never know how much you have done for me. I am sad it is over, but I am so unbelievably happy, I don't know how to say it any other way. But thank you for all you have done. ♥

Not your typical Chocolate Chip Cookies

This week is finals week, and as a high school senior I am doing what I do best.  Procrastinating! To me, it's always seems like I find the recipes I like the most, or that turn out the best when I'm avoiding school work. :) Although, I'm not recommending this trend! Study, sleep, and bake to de-stress yourself throughout finals week.

The first time I made these cookies, I brought one downstairs to my mom for her to try and she took and bite, and then said. . . "That is not your typical chocolate chip cookie!" Thus, the title of this post. :)

Soooo. . . lately I've really been trying to eat healthy. I'm trying to get into the habit of it so I can drop a bunch of weigh for PROM. >:) Hip Hip Hooraaay! Anyways, one afternoon I was sitting at home, and !SUDDENLY!  I had a massive craving for chocolate chip cookies. Now trying to be healthy, I thought of the lovely idea to make a point to find a recipe that used Whole Wheat flour instead of All-purpose. And I did! I did! I did! It's yummy, it's a fun recipe to make, and I brought them into my art class on the last day of the semester and everybody love, love, loved them.

Recently I had heard about 'browning the butter' for a chocolate chip cookie recipe in Cook's Magazine. Well, I decided to try browning the butter in this recipe! I think it turned out fantastic, but some with more experience may beg to differ. These cookies are soft when they come out of the oven, but become crunchy fast, that may be because of the browned butter process but I'm not positive. Nevertheless, they're delicious.

Although this recipe says it makes 3 dozen, I each time I've made these I have got about 5 dozen. But I wasn't too uniform about the size of each cookie. Most were an inch to an inch and a half across, and some were bigger. Lately I've been in the mood for smaller bit-sized cookies, but it just depends on your preference. Another reason my cookies look so unchocolate chip cookie-ish, is because I was seriously slacking on chocolate chips! I used 12 oz instead of the called for 16 oz. But, I would HIGHLY recommend you stick with the 16 oz.

Ice cream scoop used as a cookie-scooper!

I'll also be posting the video I used to figure out to brown the butter for my cookies. Basically, browning the butter is browning the milk solids in the butter. Doing that, brings out a nice, very flavorful natural nutty flavor. Too good.

Prep time: 25 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup whole spelt flour (or an additional cup of whole wheat pastry flour)* I used ww
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, BROWNED** ~See video~
• 1 1/2 cups raw (turbinado) sugar
• 1/3 cup real maple syrup
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (60% or higher)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 ℉ degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
3. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy, then beat in the sugar.
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
5. Whisk in the vanilla extract and maple syrup.
6. Add the dry ingredients in 3 increments, stirring between each addition. Once you’re done mixing in the last of the dry ingredients, you should have a moist, uniformly brown dough.
7. Stir in the chocolate chips and oats by hand until they are evenly distributed. Put some muscle into it!
8. Drop about two tablespoon* of dough per cookie onto the baking sheet, leaving about two inches of space around each cookie.
9. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until the tops are just golden. Err on the side of underbaking.
10. Allow the cookies to set on the baking sheet for about a minute and transfer them to a cooling rack. If desired, sprinkle with a pinch of Maldon salt. Serve with a glass of milk, of course!
    
    **Ice cream scoopers can also be used as a clean way to scoop cookies. 
    
    Adapted from: Cookie + Kate