Blueberry-Cornmeal Pancakes

Pancakes, a simple meal, and one most people like. There is just one problem in my mind with a standard pancake - they tend to get soggy. Solution: add cornmeal! If you have never had a cornmeal pancake don't be worried, they aren't grainy or too "mealy" (if that is a word). Now, they do have a slightly different textue than a standard pancake, but in my mind it is a welcome change. They have a slightly heartier texture, but this helps them to not get overly soggy under your mass of butter and syrup. And the amazing part is that there is only 2 tablespoons of cornmeal in the recipe!

Fruit Slump

We're back, and yes, still alive. It seems that no matter how prepared you think you are or aren't, the start of a new semester never ceases to be a 2 week flurry of activity. I suppose you might say that this slump represents how we've been feeling lately. The kind of feeling that makes you want to fall into a warm pile of fresh laundry. And stay there.

So aside from a form of bad posture, what is a slump (prepare yourself for a brief lesson on American Food History): stewed fruit topped with a biscuit. It is thought that a slumps were an early attempt by English colonizers to recreate English steamed pudding without the proper cooking utensils to do so. I'm glad their attempts weren't successful because without them, we would be without the slump.

Nancy Baggett, author of The All-American Dessert Book, says "Slumps are the plain-Jane cousins of cobblers. Slumps differ from their better-known relatives because they are covered and usually cooked on the stove top, so the dough steams and becomes fluffy and dumpling-like, instead of browning and crisping as a cobbler crust does." Slumps may be so named because the dough slides, or slumps, down the side of the pot as the fruit softens. They are also known as grunts (HA!), possibly because of the noise the berries make as they stew...or because of the noise people make when they eat them? Now really, people.

Blueberry Buttermilk Waffles

Another blueberry dish, which makes me dearly hope that you like blueberries at least a little. But what you didn’t know is all the blueberry things I haven’t been posting. Like blueberry muffins, blueberries and cream, or steel cut oatmeal and blueberries. I’ll save those for another day. For now, I recommend you ignore any protests about having breakfast for dinner and go whip up a batch of these babies.

Blueberry Crisp

To my great delight, I found blueberries on sale this week at my current favorite grocery store Sunflower Farmer's Market. But they weren't just any old blueberries. They were firm and sweet and popped when you put them in your mouth. In a word, perfect. I think I've purchased and eaten 5 pints thus far (and the sale continues until Wednesday!), and I surely plan on buying a few more to stock up.

I made this crisp for an evening event that Caroline had planned for some friends. The moment I arrived, I realized that I should have made a double batch. An 8 x 8 just isn't enough dessert for 7.5 blueberry crisp loving people (.5 because my sister only eats the crisp- she actually requested that I double the crisp next time, which you could definitely do, but in my opinion, the higher the blueberry ratio, the better). My small serving left me wanting more. My advice is if you're going to invite people over to partake, be sure to make a larger pan. Or just eat it all yourself.

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

I love blueberries. I think they are delicious. I love them fresh, in oatmeal, in fruit salads, in crisps, on ice cream, in fruit smoothies, and of course, in muffins. But here is the thing about muffins, I often think they are too oily, especially store bought muffins. So imagine my happiness when I found this recipe from Tosca Reno, the Eat-Clean Diet lady. While I didn't follow every ingredient in the recipe, I did substitute the egg with a flax seed/water mixture (the picture above left is ground flax seed, which I regularly add to my oatmeal, yogurt, etc) and use Greek yogurt - which is yummy. These muffins weren't as sweet as I maybe would have liked them, but I think using coconut oil instead of olive oil (which is what I used) would add a great flavor. I might also add about 1/4 cup of sugar if I wanted them to be a bit sweeter, but I don't know if I defiantly would, because as you can see from the picture above, the dough is thick, and closer to a biscuit dough than your average muffin batter. So whether or not to make them sweeter would be a personal choice. Either way, I enjoyed these fresh out of the oven with a bit of melted butter and I really appreciated that they were not oily like many muffins I have tried in my life.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Blueberries

To my great delight, it's finally blueberry season! If you're not taking advantage of the fresh blueberries finally available, you're missing out on some serious deliciousness. And if you happen to get bored with eating blueberries in your cereal, muffins, or as a snack (though I really can't imagine that happening), throw some in these buttermilk pancakes. Or go really wild and make them for dinner one night. I bet your kids will love it.

Grandma Jane's Buttermilk Pancakes with Blueberries*
Recipe by Grandma Jane
Pictures by Kelly

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons oil
2 eggs
1 cup blueberries (optional)

1. In a large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients together.
2. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, oil and egg.
3. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and mix just until combined (the batter will be quite thick).
4. Scoop batter onto a hot, well greased griddle (try about 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake). Sprinkle a few berries onto each pancake before flipping.

*This recipe comes courtesy of my friend Lindsey's dear grandmother. She's famous for this delicious pancake recipe.

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Blueberry Crumb Bars

I know we’re a little early bringing you fruity summer desserts before you can actually find splendidly delicious fresh local fruit (can you tell I'm excited?), but I really couldn’t wait any longer. These blueberry bars are fantastic. If you don’t have any fresh blueberries on hand, frozen ones will also do (though our blueberries thawed a little more than they should have, turning our crust a lovely shade of purple. If you keep the berries fairly frozen, this shouldn’t happen). We also loved the subtle hint of lemon. If you like a strong lemon flavor, use all the zest and lemon juice. These are best served at room temperature. I know- it will be hard to wait for them to cool, but it will be well worth it.

Classic Blueberry Muffins

I love a warm blueberry muffin. However, I am a bit picky about my muffins. Although I think the huge, dense, overly sweet muffins you can buy at the store are a great treat and all, I really prefer a homemade muffin, that isn't so dense or sweet. These muffins are just right, especially fresh out of the oven. They make a great weekend breakfast accompanied with some fresh fruit or juice.

Classic Blueberry Muffins
Recipe from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion

Pictures by Caroline
Yields 12 muffins

8 tbsp butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups fresh or dried blueberries (or you could use cranberries, raspberries, or a combination of berries)
2 tsp sugar or cinnamon-sugar, for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together until light the butter, sugar, and salt. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the baking powder, then add the flour alternately with the milk, beating well after each addition. Mash ½ cup of the blueberries and add them to the batter. Stir in the vanilla at the end, along with the whole berries. (note: I used frozen berries; they worked really well.)
3. Mound the batter into 12 lightly greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling each completely to the top (actually, over the top; the batter is thick enough that it’ll hold its shape). Sprinkle with sugar or cinnamon-sugar it desired.
4. Bake the muffins for 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center or one comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven, and after 5 minutes remove them from the pan to cool completely on a rack, or gently flip them sideways in the pan. (Muffins left in the pan will stream, creating a tough crust.)