Aloha. Errr yeah. Welcome to another fantastic entry of "Shyspine: The Musical." Today we are baking blueberry coffee cake muffins. They are so good. The raw and mildly Salmonella-ish batter is great when you're waiting for the muffins to bake, and the muffins are so good that you'll burn the roof of your mouth on one whilst in a folly of excitement to stuff your face. BLUEBERRIES! Before we start, I must add that Ina Garten is a genius and a force to be reckoned with.
Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins adapted from Ina Garten i.e. Barefoot Contessa 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 1/2 cups sugar 3 large eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1 cup sour cream (I used reduced fat sour cream... and it worked) 1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk... and it worked as well) 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 2 half-pints fresh blueberries, picked through for stems 1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Place 16 paper liners in muffin pans. 2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the sugar and softened butter together until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). 3. Turn the mixer down to a low speed and add the eggs in one at a time. Then add the vanilla, sour cream, and milk. 4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 5. With the standing mixer at a low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed. 6. Fold the blueberries into the batter with a spatula, making sure the batter is fully mixed. 7. Scoop the batter into the muffin pans, filling each cup just over the top. 8. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the muffins are lightly browned on top.
Notes: I love blueberries so, had I not snacked on them while making the muffins, I would have added more. Also, you can make a streusel to put on top of the muffins to make them look more coffee cake authentic and fancy a la Cupcakes & Cashmere, but I could barely keep myself from diving into the oven after the delicious smell of baking engulfed my apartment at the 10 minute mark. To make these puppies slightly healthier, you could go with some sort of health butter... I don't care. I only had almond milk in my fridge, so I used it. And the reduced fat sour cream was on sale at Fairway, so that happened. In conclusion, muffins. Muffins so glorious that you may accidentally decide you need to grill one of them in butter at 2am on a Monday morning... hypothetically. Secondly, please enjoy this song:
Next week, we will address how beets turn your poop fuchsia! Toodles!
Wow. I make so many promises about being a dedicated blogger, and then fail miserably. But I think it's safe to say that I always get pulled back into writing here. So... there's that. A couple months ago (when it was the blessed summer) I was gonna put up a post called "All I Can See is Red, Red Red." It's a play off of a Fiona Apple song called (what else) "Red, Red, Red," that was going to feature my friend's reaction to the season finale of Game of Thrones entitled "The Red Wedding." In addition, the post would include this awesomely delicious pizza I made (with some homemade sauce, y'all), and also some sort of segway into my adoration for the red velvet cupcakes at Two Little Red Hens. I'm almost positive they have the best cupcakes I've ever eaten. They do that shit right... So sometimes I just sit alone and think about how they get the cupcakes so fluffy and moist. MOIST. But this entry is not about all of those things. It's about three other things that have absolutely nothing to do with each other: sweet potato fries, my affinity for breakfast, and Miss America. Let's get Miss America out of the way. Seriously, all I wanted to say was that I loved Miss New York's shoes from the shoe parade (which I didn't watch, but I did watch the talent competition and that shit blew hard... not all of them, but like... you know).
Talk about crazy
So. Yes. Good times. Next up, let's talk about sweet potato fries, cause those are delicious and healthy and easy to make. Sweet Potato Fries adapted from Paula Deen... I know what you're thinking, but there's no butter in this recipe, and it's "adapted" from her recipe... not just flat out Paula Deen on a pan.
olive oil (or as Giada likes to call it "EVOO"...yikes) 5 sweet potatoes (or in my case 1, because I am not a family of 5) peeled and cut into long, french fry-like strips salt pepper garlic powder paprika 1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Farenheit. 2. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper. 3. In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with just enough olive oil to coat them (not sopping wet). 4. Sprinkle potatoes with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika to your liking (Paula's recipe calls for a cup of salt... a CUP OF SALT?... that's like putting a desert in your mouth, but to each their own). 5. Spread potatoes in a single layer on baking sheet, making sure not to overcrowd them. 6. Bake for about 20 minutes, flipping the fries halfway through.
Paula's picture is better, but then again she used 6 days worth of your recommended daily sodium intake for one serving. Sigh. I made banana muffins too, but they turned into something similar to the chinese fighting muffins. Clearly I haven't mastered the texture of muffins or cupcakes, but luckily I have some new cookbooks to help me conquer my upcoming adventure into blueberry coffee cake muffins... I'm so excited. Back from my tangent, the sweet potatoes can be eaten with some maple syrup, but I like them with some fried eggs and a little ketchup. And lastly, breakfast.
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day... which can be seen in a previous entry entitled "Good Morning, Good Morning" about the importance of breakfast. I love making eggs and taking pictures of them all dolled up. Eggs. Oh, yeah. I should do an entry about poaching them... deja vu. Until next time! Thanks for reading.
