Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins

While these muffins are delicious on the same day they are baked, they seem to taste even better a day or two later.

2 cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup plus 1 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 cup sour cream, at room temperature

¼ cup (½ stick) butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg, at room temperature, lightly beaten

1½ tsp vanilla extract

1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter 12 3x 1¼ -inch muffins cups.

Ina large bowl, stir together flour, ¾ cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, stir together sour cream, butter, egg, and vanilla until blended.  Make a well in center of dry ingredients; add sour cream mixture and stir just to combine.  Stir in blueberries.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups and sprinkle tops with remaining 1 tbsp sugar. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, on until a toothpick inserted in center of one muffin comes out clean.

Remove muffin pan to wire rack. Cool for  5 minutes before carefully removing muffins from cups; finish cooling on rack.

Bavarian Apple Torte

Crust:

½ cup butter

⅓ cup sugar

¼ tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

Filling:

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

¼ cup sugar

1 egg

½ tsp. vanilla

4 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples

⅓ cup sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ cup sliced almonds (optional)

Crust:  Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Blend in vanilla. Add flour; mix well.  Spread dough onto bottom and 1½ inches around sides of 9” springform pan.

Filling:  Combine cream cheese and sugar mixing until well blended. Blend in egg and vanilla; pour into pastry-lined pan.

Toss apples with sugar, which has been mixed with cinnamon. Spoon apple mixture over cream cheese layer; sprinkle with almonds.  Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.  Reduce oven to 400 degrees and continue baking 25 minutes. Loosen cake from rim of pan.  Cool; remove rim.  Chill.

Frosted Pumpkin Cake

1⅔  cups sugar

4 large eggs

15-ounce canned pumpkin

1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp cinnamon OR 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Frosting:

8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 13x9-inch pan.

Prepare cake: In bowl, with mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and batter is smooth.

Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool pumpkin cake in pan on a wire rack.

Prepare frosting: In bowl, with mixer at low speed, combine the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

Applelicious Cake

There are apples galore in this cake: grated apples, sliced apples and dried apples. And apple butter to add some great extra flavor.

2 medium baking apples, Honeycrisp or Gala

⅓ cup butter, melted

1⅔  cups packed dark brown sugar

1 cup apple butter (recommended; Kime’s Sugar Free Apple Butter)

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1⅔  cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 cup finely chopped dried apples

1 recipe Maple Icing, below

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13x9x2-inch pan; set aside. Peel, core, and coarsely shred one apple using a box grater; thinly slice remaining apple.  Cover; set aside.  

In a large bowl, whisk together butter, brown sugar, apple butter, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; whisk to combine. Fold in dried and fresh shredded apple. Spread batter into prepared pan. Arrange apples slices over batter.

Bake 40 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack.  Pour Maple Icing over hot cake; spread evenly.  Dust with cinnamon and sugar.

Maple icing:

In a small bowl stir together ½ cup powdered sugar, 1 tbsp melted butter, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp milk and ¼ tsp vanilla until smooth.

Tzatziki

Great sauce to serve with marinated chicken breasts. Tasty on pita chips, too!

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped into chunks

1 tsp. salt

2 (5.3 oz) containers plain Greek yogurt

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 tbsp chopped fresh dill (or 1 tsp dried)

salt and pepper to taste

Place diced cucumber in a mesh strainer or colander and sprinkle with salt, toss to evenly coat  then allow to rest 30 minutes at room temperature.

Rinse cucumbers and place over several layers of paper towels.  Squeeze some of the liquid from the cucumbers (almost as if wringing moisture from a cloth). Place cucumbers in food processor and pulse to chop fine or chop fine by hand.  Drain off any excess liquid.

Place cucumbers into a mixing bowl and add greek yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, and dill.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Whisk to combine.  Store in refrigerator in an airtight container.

Marinated Greek Chicken Kebobs

This marinade works well with boneless chicken breasts as well as kebobs. Tzatziki is a nice addition to the meal.

1½- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes

¼ plus olive oil

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp dried basil

½ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp ground coriander

salt and pepper to taste

Optional:

2 large red peppers, diced into 1¼ “ pieces

3 small zucchini, sliced into rounds about ½” thick

1 large red onion, diced into 1¼” wedges

In a bowl, whisk together ¼ cup olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, oregano, basil , thyme, coriander and salt and pepper to taste.  Place chicken in a gallon size resealable bag, pour olive oil mixture over chicken and press chicken into marinade.  Seal bag and refrigerate 45 to 2 hours (no longer than 2 hours due to acidic ingredients).

Preheat a grill over medium-high heat. Thread chicken on skewers,  If desired, toss a red bell pepper, red onion and zucchini with 2 tbsp oil and thread on skewers. Grill chicken, about 7-9 minutes, rotating once halfway through cooking.

Tabbouleh

Most tabbouleh recipes call for less bulgur and more parsley than my adaptation. Use this recipe as a guide to make a healthy, tasty salad to your liking.

1 cup bulgur

1½ cups boiling water

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

½ cup finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

2 medium tomatoes, cut into ¼” pieces

½ seedless cucumber, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼ pieces

¼ cup chopped scallions

¼ cup finely chopped fresh mint (optional)

Place bulgur in a heatproof bowl.  Pour boiling water over bulgur, then cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand 30 minutes. If necessary, drain in a sieve press pressing on bulgur to remove any excess liquid.

Stir in lemon juice, oil and salt and pepper. and chill for 2-3 hours. Add parsley, tomatoes, cucumber, scallions and if desired, fresh mint.