The Best Blueberry Scones

To be honest, when I picked out this recipe I didn't expect to find the best of anything! It was a late night after a long day at work, but I wanted to bring a treat to work the next morning as a thank you to my fantastic mentors/coworkers for this past month at my clinical internship. There are fresh blueberries galore in the house, and they clearly had to make a cameo in whatever I put together.

Scones are one of the most delicious additions to breakfast or afternoon coffee, and I've played around with a lot of different recipes and techniques with varied success. But of any of those, this recipe is by far the easiest and most delicious! Light and buttery crumb with a golden edge, balanced with sweet bursts of berries, you won't be able to stop at one. Lucky for you, they're easy enough to whip up any night of the week!


Note: I decided to make these as "drop scones," meaning you don't have to roll them out and cut them - just drop the dough onto the baking sheet! It's a bit of extra work and a lot more flour all over the kitchen to follow the original recipe, but if you're not one for shortcuts I'm sure it would be just as delicious.


Blueberry Scones

Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking

Makes about 9 scones

2 C all-purpose flour

1/3 C granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

6 Tbsp chilled butter, cut into pieces

1 C fresh or frozen blueberries

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 C buttermilk (homemade: 1/2 C milk with 1/2 Tbsp white vinegar)

Raw turbinado sugar (for topping)

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Blend butter into flour mixture using pastry cutter or forks, until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Gently fold in blueberries. Add beaten egg, vanilla and milk and gently mix until just blended. 

Drop about 1/3 C of dough for each scone spaced evenly on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle turbinado sugar on top of each scone if desired. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until scones are just golden. Let cool before enjoying.

Summer Strawberry Cupcakes

There's no better way to celebrate the return of summer than with a Memorial Day BBQ. After debating what to contribute to the feast, I realized there was only one solution - strawberry cupcakes! Most of the cupcake recipes out there are kind of lame, only adding chunks of strawberries to vanilla cake batter. I knew that nothing short of beautiful, uniformly pink cakes would make the cut, so I was overjoyed when I stumbled across this recipe for Sprinkles strawberry cupcakes.

They're a gorgeous light pink color, wonderfully tender and offer the perfect amount of sweetness and strawberry flavor. Topped with a slice of fresh strawberry, they're beautiful little additions to a dessert table. Don't miss your chance to put that fresh farmers market fruit to good use this June!

I experimented with a vanilla mascarpone frosting, but didn't love the result, so I won't post the recipe here. But in the future, I would top these with whipped cream or even a light vanilla cream cheese frosting. The sky's the limit! But don't overwhelm the strawberry flavor with a topping that's more intense than vanilla.

Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes
Recipe from Oprah.com
Makes 12 cupcakes


2/3 C fresh strawberries (you can use frozen in a pinch)
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 C milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 C sugar
1 egg
2 egg whites

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare cupcake tin with liners. Puree strawberries in a food processor, and set aside 1/3 C to use in the recipe.

In one bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In another, whisk together milk, vanilla and strawberry puree. Cream butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, then add sugar and beat until well-combined. Slowly add egg and egg whites and mix until blended.

At low speed, slowly mix in half of the flour mixture. Add milk mixture. Slowly add the last half of the flour and beat until just blended, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Divide batter among cupcake liners and bake until the tops of the cakes spring back to light touch, about 20-25 minutes. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Cupcake mix two ways

In the midst of finals, I wasn't exactly swimming in free time to bake and decorate desserts for my dear boyfriend's birthday party. I knew there had to be some kind of shortcut to delicious cupcakes with that homemade taste, and with some research I discovered quite a few suggestions about how to hack the traditional boxed cake mix and turn it into something wonderful.

I ended up trying the simplest of all the recipes, which is to add buttermilk in place of the water when mixing the matter - and boy did it make a difference! Instead of airy sponges, the cupcakes emerged moist, dense and (almost) as good as from scratch. Of course, I always make my own buttermilk with low fat milk and white vinegar, so I never have to go spend extra money on premade - the ultimate shortcut!

While I've seen margarita and champagne cupcakes, I've yet to come across those inspired by our favorite bourbon cocktail - the Old Fashioned. The recipe for happiness is bourbon, Angostura bitters, simple syrup, maraschino cherry and a twist of orange. Excited yet? I tweaked a yellow cake mix with orange zest and juice, brushed on a bourbon simple syrup and topped with bitters buttercream and a maraschino cherry. Success!

To round out the lineup, I decided to honor Cinco de Mayo with some Mexican chocolate cupcakes. A little bit of spice and warmth from the cinnamon contrasted nicely with the sweetness of dulce de leche caramel. These were definitely a crowd pleaser with their indulgent flavors.

Old Fashioned Cupcake
Makes about 16 cupcakes

Orange Zest Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
buttermilk (or add 1 Tbsp white vinegar for every 1 C milk, let sit for at least 5 min)
finely grated zest of one medium orange
1/4 C freshly squeezed orange juice

Directions: Follow directions on cake mix box, replacing water with the same volume of buttermilk. Beat in orange zest and juice with the rest of the batter.
Fill cupcake liners almost to the top, and bake until the top springs back to the touch. Let cool completely before frosting.

Bourbon Simple Syrup
1/4 C water
1/4 C granulated sugar
4 Tbsp bourbon or other whiskey

Directions: Mix water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let cool completely and then stir in bourbon. Using a pastry brush, brush a small amount of mixture on top of each cooled cupcake.

Bitters Buttercream
Adapted from Serious Eats
8 dashes Angostura bitters
2 Tbsp Bourbon or other whiskey
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
3-4 C powdered sugar, sifted

2-3 Tbsp milk

Directions: In an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Add milk and more powdered sugar until you reach the desired consistency. Add bitters and mix thoroughly.

Mexican Chocolate Cupcake
Makes about 16 cupcakes

Mexican Chocolate Cake
1 box milk chocolate cake mix

buttermilk (or add 1 Tbsp white vinegar for every 1 C milk, let sit for at least 5 min)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions: Follow directions on cake mix box, replacing water with the same volume of buttermilk. Add cinnamon with dry ingredients.
Fill cupcake liners almost to the top, and bake until the top springs back to the touch. Let cool completely before frosting.

Dulce de Leche Buttercream
From Bakespace
3/4 can of dulce de leche

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2-3 C powdered sugar, sifted
2-3 Tbsp milk

Directions: In an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Add dulce de leche and beat to combine. Add milk and more powdered sugar until you reach the desired consistency.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

Some people don't like the combination of peanut butter and chocolate, but for the other 99% I've got a pretty awesome new way to eat it.



What appears to be a regular old delicious brownie...

...has a peanut butter cookie dough core! Like a giant, ridiculously good peanut butter cup, this treat has the best of both flavors and a fantastic texture.

Step 1. Whip up a batch of peanut butter cookie dough. I used this recipe and it was (in my opinion) the perfect texture and flavor for regular cookies and to use in this brownie. Refrigerate overnight.


Step 2. Prepare brownie batter (from scratch or Ghirardelli's Double Chocolate mix - it's so easy and makes brownies better than most).
Prepare muffin tin with cupcake liners, and divide brownie batter evenly among the twelve cups. Form 12 small balls of cookie dough and press into the center of each cup. You may have to spoon some batter over the top of the cookie to completely cover them.


Step 3. Bake in a 325 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes, until the top of the brownies are cracked and the batter is set (just like normal brownies).

Step 4. Make 11 new best friends. Of course, one's for you.

Obviously, the leftover dough has to turn into cookies!

A Lotta Ricotta

I wanted to start titling my posts like a grown-up, but I couldn't resist this one.

After some lovely experiences with making lemon ricotta pancakes for lazy Saturday breakfasts, I've been on a bit of a kick with this creamy, impossibly fluffy cheese. It's a yummy dessert topped with honey or roasted berries, or it adds fantastic lightness to the texture of cakes and pancakes. Now that spring is springing, you can try my delicious recipe for Lime Ricotta Cupcakes or start your morning with my newest project, Blueberry Ricotta Muffins.

I'm not going to try to justify these muffins with the words hearty or fiber. In my opinion, the only real difference between the most delicious muffins and cupcakes is a bunch of frosting. I can tell you confidently, however, that they are a treat that may just give you the soul food you crave at the beginning or end of a long day. Warm it up, spread a little butter on (I won't tell...) and enjoy with a cup of tea while enjoying the San Francisco fog. The turbinado sugar sprinkled on top adds some sparkle and sweet crunch that puts on the perfect finishing touch. 

Feel free to substitute raspberries, blackberries or even sliced strawberries if that's more your style; I threw in the last of the blueberries that I froze from last August, and they still taste as sweet as the day I bought them. If I haven't mentioned it enough, you should definitely buy a large container of blueberries when they are in season and freeze them - you'll be so glad you did when you're enjoying fresh blueberry pancakes in the middle of December!

Nutmeg from the wild!

A couple of notes about the recipe:
- I found that using half whole wheat pastry flour gave the muffins a little bit more substance.
- If you can, invest in a few whole nutmegs and a microplane. Fresh nutmeg is SO much better, in every recipe, when you've just grated it yourself!
- Depending on the ricotta you buy, it may be a little bit grainier in texture. I popped mine in a Cuisinart and blended it until it was a uniform, creamy texture that mixed into the recipe more consistently.

Blueberry Ricotta Muffins

Adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod

Makes 12 muffins


1 C granulated sugar
1/2 C (1 stick) butter - softened
1 C ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 C all-purpose flour (or I used 1 C all-purpose and 1 C whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

1 C fresh or frozen berries
Turbinado sugar (for topping)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners or nonstick spray.

Cream butter and sugar together in an electric mixer on medium-high speed for several minutes until light and fluffy. Add ricotta and mix, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add egg and vanilla and blend together.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Blend into the ricotta mixture gradually, being careful not to overmix. Add berries and stir to combine.

Divide batter evenly among cupcake liners. The dough won't rise a lot, so don't be afraid to essentially fill them. Sprinkle the tops of each muffin with turbinado sugar. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Back to the classics

Just like it's important to watch the original Star Wars, sometimes it's necessary to go back to the classics and make sure you've got the best recipe possible - one you can always rely on to deliver amazing results with a taste of nostalgia. Clearly, the first stop is chocolate chip cookies.

Say what you will, but a good chocolate chip cookie will always be the ultimate crowd-pleaser, bad day-fixer and good day-improver. Lucky for you, I've gone through a lot of mediocre (and downright bad) cookies on my way to the following recipe, and with my years of trial and error I think I can help you make the best chocolate chippers you've ever pulled out of the oven.













There are a couple of choices that you have to make when working through your ingredient list. Most importantly, chocolate can make or break the finished cookie. I tend to prefer a mix of milk and dark chocolate, which I buy in blocks and chop when needed (or just eat in large chunks). I think it gives more dimension and a sophisticated flavor, but everyone has their own preference - run with it!









Secondly, your choice of flour makes a big difference in flavor and texture. Traditional all-purpose white flour is the usual choice, but I think there's something to be said for tempering sweetness with a bit of the heartier, nuttier flavor of whole wheat. It only took once for me to learn never to bake with "whole wheat flour" - it actually tastes like wheat, and kind of has the texture of sand. Luckily Bob's Red Mill makes a "whole wheat pastry flour" which is much finer ground and lighter texture, and has performed swimmingly in many cookie recipes. It produces noticeably more substantial cookies, but I tend to use it regularly.

Thanks to research and my own experiments, I've determined the following essential steps for the ideal cookie texture and color. Ultimately, you want the dough and baking sheet to be very cold when you put them in the oven, which will prevent over-spreading of the dough and preserve a thick and fluffy cookie.

1. Do not pack the brown sugar while measuring it out - just treat it as normal sugar.
2. Use cold butter. Do not soften the butter before beating with sugar. Electric mixers are more than powerful enough to handle cold butter - apparently that part of most traditional recipes is a relic from pre-power mixer days.
3. Freeze dough in an airtight container for 24 - 48 hours before baking. This prevents excess spreading of the dough when baking. Just make sure you shape the dough into balls before you freeze them!
4. Use a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper. NEVER use a bare cookie sheet.
5. Never use a heated baking sheet for a new batch of cookies. If you're going to reuse the sheet, make sure it's cooled completely before putting dough on it.
6. Remove the cookies from the oven when lightly golden in color, and leave the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet. Don't move them to a wire rack.



Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yields about 30 cookies
Adapted from Betty Crocker

1 C brown sugar (not packed)
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 C (2 sticks) butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 1/4 C all-purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 C chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

 
Directions: Beat butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer for several minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl to make sure everything is incorporated. Add vanilla and egg and beat to combine. Gradually add flour, baking soda and salt. Add chocolate when there is still a little bit of flour left to incorporate, so everything comes together at the same time. Scrape down bowl as necessary to prevent pockets of dry ingredients. Don't overmix, as it activates the gluten and can make the dough tough.










Form dough into balls about one inch in diameter, then freeze for at least 24 hours in an airtight bag or plastic container.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. When oven is up to temperature, place a dozen frozen dough balls onto parchment or silicone sheet and place in oven. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, until top of cookies are a light golden brown. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on the baking sheet (if you can!)

Try and resist...

It's been a while...

Wow. To say that a lot has happened since my last post would be a bit of an understatement, and to be honest I wasn't sure I'd ever post on this blog again. Between 8 hours of class every day and working on the weekends, I haven't exactly had a lot of time for extracurriculars. No one ever told me grad school was this hard...?
I've been uninspired and not feeling particularly enthused with my baking. Let me tell you, I've made a lot of chocolate chip cookies in the last six months - but that would make for some dull reading, don't you think? It's also easy to think that no one actually reads any of this, and I was writing for an audience of one.

But then - people started coming out of the woodwork to ask where I'd gone! Honestly, I'm very pleasantly surprised and flattered, and it got me thinking about giving this little project another shot. I think that with summer clinicals in sight (meaning a semi-vacation), I've let myself consider new, exciting and most importantly, delicious projects.

The best I can say right now is to stay tuned. Something new is coming soon, but I want to make sure it's quality stuff worthy of my lovely readers. Thank you all for making me feel so loved :)


Here's a little something to hold you over. You may remember that during my last year in San Diego, I worked at a little place called Extraordinary Desserts. The short version? They make ridiculously good (and complex) cakes. I was overjoyed when the owner Karen Krasne released a cookbook - Extraordinary Cakes - in October, but haven't had the chance to attempt any of these whopping creations until now.

Spring break seemed to mix well with tequila and lime, and the result was the Vallarta. Lime sponge cake brushed with a tequila simple syrup, then layered with lime pastry cream, lime curd and lime whipped cream. Yup.

This exquisite combinations of textures and flavors was perfect for a Mexican dinner party and margaritas with friends, but it was certainly a project that I wouldn't recommend to the faint of heart or those without hours to spend on several days prepping the different components.

For the recipe (all 6 pages of it), you have to get the book! Regardless, the gorgeous pictures of dozens of cakes are worth the price of the book alone.