Blueberry Zucchini Bread

My Mom gave me two zucchinis that my Dad just started growing for the summer, so I knew it was time to give this one a try…

This was such an easy, yummy, fresh flavored quick bread!

I don’t have many recipes that call for brown sugar in breads like this, and it gave a nice crunchy chew to the crust.

Moist and sweet with a nice bite from the blueberries make this one of my most favorite breads yet.

Its definitely a keeper!

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoons lemon extract
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar; lightly packed
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugars. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared loaf pan.

Bake 55-65 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Blueberry Yeast Waffles

These could very well be the last waffles you will make. Ever. Yes, they are just that good.

Fluffy

Light

Crispy

Just amazing.

Try them.

You know you want to!

Blueberry Yeast Waffles

adapted from Fake Ginger

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 – 1 c. fresh blueberries
• 2 to 3 tablespoons honey
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Heat the milk till it’s very hot. Place it in a large mixing bowl (you’ll need lots of room for expansion), and add the butter, honey, salt, and vanilla. Stir till the butter melts and the mixture has cooled to lukewarm. Add the eggs, flour, and yeast, stirring to combine – it’s okay if the mixture isn’t perfectly smooth.

Cover with plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour; the mixture will begin to bubble. You can cook the waffles at this point, or refrigerate the batter overnight to cook waffles the next day. (Make SURE it’s in a bowl large enough for it to at least double in size!)
Preheat the waffle iron. Spray with non-stick vegetable oil spray, and pour 2/3 to 3/4 cup batter (or the amount recommended by the manufacturer) onto the center of the iron. Add blueberries on top of the batter. Close the lid and bake for the recommended amount of time, till the waffle is golden brown. Serve immediately, or keep warm in a 200°F oven.

Lowfat Blueberry Popcorn Bars

I came across this recipe some time ago and knew I would have to give them a try. I have a shoe-box sized tub of dried blueberries, and knew this was the snack for us!

They are awesome and loved by the whole family. Daniel loved them because it was popcorn. I loved them because they were low fat. Randall loved them because they have marshmallow, and are sweet, but not too sweet.

I can’t wait to make them again!

Lowfat Blueberry Popcorn Bars

adapted from CD Kitchen

• 1 1/2 c. dried blueberries
• 10 cups air-popped popcorn, picked of un-popped and partially popped kernels
• 1 (10 1/2-oz.) pkg. miniature marshmallows
• 1/2 c. white chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp. lite butter-like spread, melted

Spray 13×9-inch pan and large bowl with nonstick cooking spray. In sprayed large bowl, combine dried blueberries and popcorn; mix well. Set aside.

In medium microwave-safe bowl, combine marshmallows,  chips and spread. Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute. Stir

microwave on HIGH for an additional 1 to 3 minutes or until all marshmallows and chips can be stirred smooth, stirring occasionally. Add marshmallow mixture to popcorn mixture; mix until evenly coated. (Mixture will be sticky.)

Spray hands or large rubber scraper with nonstick cooking spray. With sprayed hands, press popcorn mixture in sprayed pan. Place in freezer for 10 minutes or until set.

Cut into bars with serrated knife. Store in tightly covered container or wrap individually in plastic wrap for easy packing.

If desired, marshmallows, chips and margarine can be melted over medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth.

Blueberry Drop Cookies

I decided to break some blueberries out of the freezer stash and incorporate them into cookies for Christmas.

These lil guys exceeded my expectations.

They were so soft, light and fresh.

Such a welcome contrast to many heavy, sugary cookies found this time of year.

Its like putting a little summer sunshine on a wintery plate.

The fact that they are low fat and pretty low calorie makes them a real gem!

These will become a staple, for sure!

adapted from Allrecipes

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening, sugar, egg, milk, Vanilla and lemon zest. Mix well after the addition of each ingredient. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; blend into the sugar mixture. Fold in the blueberries. Cover and chill for 4 hours

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Nutrition Per Serving: Calories: 58 Total Fat: 2.3g Cholesterol: 5mg Sodium: Total Carbs: 8.7g Dietary Fiber: 0.2g Protein: 0.7g 47mg

White Chocolate Blueberry Cheesecake

I got this lovely recipe from one of my dearest online friends. She uses raspberries in hers, but of course I had to do blueberry.

She’s gotten so popular at work with these lil gems that her co workers start clamoring for them in October, and she doesn’t make them until Thanksgiving! Its an amazingly easy and amazingly tasty recipe that is a great go to when you want to look like a superstar with dessert!

White Chocolate Blueberry Cheesecake

Crust

• 1 c of crushed Graham Crackers
• 1/4 c melted butter

Mix the two ingredients together and press into pie pan, or springform pan.

Cheesecake

• 2 packages of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 3 squares of white baking chocolate, chopped
• 3 tbsp Blueberry Preserves

Mix all ingredients together except chocolate and blueberry.

Pour into pie pan.

Heat chocolate and preserves in separate containers via microwave or double boiler

Pour chocolate on top of cheesecake, pour blueberry preserves into cheesecake.

Swirl with butter knife Bake at 350 for 45 minutes

Refrigerate 3 hours before serving

Blueberry Scones

I got an itch to do some baking, but needed osmthing simple and healthy to fix. I thought about all of my blueberries in the freezer and decided on some scones.

I found a recipe that seemed nice and simple – once they were mixed, you shape the dough into a disk and you don’t even cut all the way through them until they are baked.

Of course, I had to make them a scant healthier and altered the original recipe. I was hoping I didn’t alter them too much to ruin them.

They smelled great baking. We could hardly wait for me to pull them out of the oven before we had to sample them.

As it turned out, the adjustments I made made the scones lighter and more tender than any scone I had ever had. They were awesome! I’ll deifinately be making these again!

Blueberry Scones

adapted from The Food Network

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 cup Splenda
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine
• 3/4 cup fat free plain yogurt
• 1 egg white
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Combine flours, baking powder, and sugar in a bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Beat yogurt and egg white together and add to dry ingredients. Stir with a fork just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Gently fold in blueberries with rubber scraper. Turn out on a floured surface and knead gently about six times to form a ball. Pat dough into a circle about 3/4-inch thick. Carefully place on greased baking sheet. Mark off eight wedges with a sharp knife. Be careful not to cut all the way through.  Bake for 20 minutes or until browned.

Break into wedges and serve hot with butter.

Blueberry Lemonade

What is more refreshing on a hot July day than a nice cool glass of lemonade?

With blueberries at their peak right now, what could be better than infusing a tart glass of lemonade with some sweet blueberries?

Its a very simple process that can be done with any fruit, really. Most of us have had strawberry lemonade, and cherry limeade, but there is something wonderful about experiencing a fruit that you are not expecting in a lemonade.

The infusion turns the every day into something special, for sure. If you have never tried this, you must give it a whirl – your taste buds will thank you!

Blueberry Lemonade

1 1/2 -2 cups fresh blueberries, or tawed from frozen

Juice of 2-3 lemons

1 lemon cut into thin slices

1 cup sugar or Splenda

enough water to fill a 2 quart pitcher after all other ingredients are added

place blueberries and about 4 tablespoons water in a saucepan and cook on medium until berries burst and the juices thicken slightly – about 15-20 minutes

strain berries through a mesh sieve or cheesecloth, reserving juice

add sugar or splenda to blueberry juice and stir until dissolved

add to lemon juice and fill pitcher with water and add lemon slices

chill until served

Chocolate Chip Blueberry Nut Cookies

This recipe is based off of Ellie Krieger’s Breakfast Cookies.

I used regular whole wheat flour and a tiny bit of cake flour, hoping to compensate for the lack of whole wheat pastry flour, which I know I am going to have to invest in before I start by holiday baking. I also omitted the cereal – we didn’t have it on hand. I used dried blueberries that I dried myself instead of raisins – they gave a nice, tart-sweet flavor that was a wonderful surprise. I also added 1/4 cup of mini semi sweet chocolate chips.

I doubled the batch, because if there is anything I learned from my Mom, its to always double cookie batches, if not triple or quadruple them. I only bought one jar of baby food carrots, so I added some applesauce in place of both the second jar, and in place of some of the oil.

The only complaint I have is that I tried to follow the size of the dough drops and got enormous cookies. Next time I make them – and there will be a next time – I plan on making them smaller to accommodate a toddler’s hands and tummy.

Other than that, they were awesome – moist and almost cakey, not too sweet, and hearty. I plan on making them as part of my Holiday cookies this year, they were so well received by everyone who tried them.

Chocolate Chip Blueberry Nut Cookies

adapted from Ellie Krieger

• 1 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1  cup cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons lite spread (I used Smart Balance Light)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 small jar strained carrot baby food
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 applesauce
• 1/2 cup dried blueberries
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces
• 1/4 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips

Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another, mix together

add blueberries, walnuts and chips

Dough will be slightly sticky and less cohesive than traditional cookie dough.

I placed mine in the refrigerator to chill and firm for 30 minutes, or easier dropping.

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or sprayed aluminum foil.

Bake for 12 minutes, until cookies are fragrant but still soft.

Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Blueberry Banana Bread

After putting up all of the blueberries from the last few weeks, and getting a deal on some bananas a few weeks ago, when I came across a recipe that used both I knew I would have to give it a whirl.

This is a very yummy bread, for sure. I altered a few ingredients out of necessity more than anything, since it was already from Cooking Light.

Its a nice twist on traditional banana bread, and I plan on making some mini loaves at Christmas! I think you could mix it up a little, too, adding some chocolate chips or walnuts for an even different taste. The oats makes it so much heartier.

Blueberry Banana Bread

adapted from Cooking Light

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 teaspoons oil
• 3 tablespoons fat free plain Greek Yogurt
• 2 cups mashed ripe banana
• 2 cups blueberries
• 4 eggs
• Cooking spray

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, grits, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine oil, yogurt, banana, blueberries, and eggs; add to flour mixture. Stir just until moist.

Spoon batter into an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool bread in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan, and cool completely on wire rack.

Blueberry Focaccia

I was thrilled when my Woman’s Day came this month, chock full of blueberry recipes. I was even more thrilled over one in particular – blueberry focaccia.

I fell in love with focaccia back when I was without a computer in Aprl. I found a recipe for a basic one,made it and the family tore it up. Now a sweet one? What could possibly be better??

It came together very easy and the baking time was great for the heat – only 25 minutes.

It was a perfect dessert or breakfast bread – just sweet enough.

The best part is the recipe seems versatile enough to stand up with an infinite number of fruits.I’ll be trying others along the way, but I think there will always be a special place in my heart for the blueberries!

Blueberry Focaccia

from Woman’s Day Magazine

1⁄2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
3 to 31⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
1 packet (1⁄4 oz) rapid-rise active dry yeast
3⁄4 tsp salt
11⁄4 cups whole milk – I used 1 c. whole, 1 c. skim
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1⁄2 stick (1⁄4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups blueberries

Pulse sugar and lemon zest in a food processor until zest is finely ground and incorporated into the sugar. In a large bowl, whisk 1⁄3 cup of the lemon sugar, 3 cups of the flour, the yeast and salt until blended.

Heat milk in a 2-cup measure in a microwave on high 11⁄2 minutes, or until temperature registers 130°F on an instant-read thermometer; add to flour mixture with egg and butter. Mix with a rubber spatula until a soft, sticky dough forms; scrape dough onto a floured surface. Using a dough scraper to assist, knead with some of the remaining 1⁄2 cup flour to form a smooth and pliable dough, about 2 minutes. Cover the dough with the mixing bowl; let rest 10 minutes.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide dough in half. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, stretch and pat out on parchment into a 12-in. free-form rectangle, about 1⁄4 in. thick. Scatter with half the blueberries and half of the remaining lemon sugar. On floured surface, pat out and stretch remaining dough slightly larger than the first piece and place over bottom dough. Press edges together and tuck under the loaf. Cover with a sheet of greased plastic wrap. Place baking sheet in a warm area. Let rise 1 hour.

Heat oven to 350°F. With floured fingers, dimple surface of loaf (pierce any bubbling with a knife tip to release air pockets). Scatter top of loaf with remaining blueberries and lemon sugar. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Slide focaccia onto a wire rack and cool slightly. Serve warm.