There is nothing like ending the day on a sweet note. I have missed out on making this recipe the last two times I put it on the Menu. The first time my youngest daughter was sick and got put in the hospital. Not only did I miss out on it, but Shannon from The Bargain Buggy and Aubrey from Eastern Shore Mom missed out as well. I was supposed to go to Destin for a girls weekend and make this for breakfast one morning! Totally bummed. Then, last week I was exhausted from baking cupcakes and completely forgot to make it Saturday night for Sunday morning. I was determined to get it made today! I assembled it this morning before work and baked it this evening. Clay and I were happy with cereal for dinner because we got to have this for dessert! If you've been hiding in a closet and have never heard of The Pioneer Woman, you must go now to check out her site. I've made several recipes of hers and loved the results of all of them. The Chicken Scallopine I made last night was the most recent. I found this recipe because I was looking for things that used pita chips. They were on sale that week at Publix and I have several bags in my stockpile. I LOVE bread pudding and I couldn't wait to see how this turned out! The salt on the pita chips balances out the sweetness of the custard and topping. The blueberries give it a nice tart pop. And you guys know how much I love maple syrup! Either for breakfast or dessert, you can't go wrong with this recipe from The Pioneer Woman.
1 Family Size Bag Stacy's Pita chips
7 large eggs
2 cups whole milk (I used 2%)
1/2 cup heavy cream (can use half-and-half)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
6 oz. fresh blueberries (optional)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar (plus a tad more)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter
Grease 9 X 13-inch baking pan with butter. Pour in bag of pita chips and arrange evenly. In a bowl mix together eggs, milk, cream, sugar and vanilla. Pour egg mixture over pita chips. Cover pan tightly with foil and place in refrigerator overnight, or at least 6 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove pan from refrigerator. Sprinkle blueberries evenly over the top. Mix together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Slice butter and add to bowl, then use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it looks crumbly (I used my mixer to do this).
Sprinkle flour mixture over the blueberries and make sure its evenly distributed. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown. Chips on top should be crispy and crunchy. Remove from oven and cut into squares. Drizzle with blueberry or maple syrup and serve warm.
Note from The Pioneer Woman: "If you're feeling naughty, top with whipped cream. Just don't say I told you to do it!"
Enjoy!
(adapted from The Pioneer Woman)
Yep. The title says it all. These ARE the best blueberry muffins. I changed it up a bit by adding some cranberries and using frozen blueberries. But this guarantees that these can be made year round. Keep the blueberries in the freezer and your Craisins stocked, and you've got wonderful blueberry muffins ready at all times! I've even made these with a pecan streusel topping before, but decided to leave that off this morning. My little family wasn't worthy of those "special" muffins this morning! Next time maybe. I'm going to take some to the office in the morning to share. This would make a great special treat for your child's teacher for Valentine's Day too. They all get tons of chocolate. Some fresh blueberry muffins would be great!
1-1/2 sticks butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking sodea
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (this is the only salt I ever use)
1-1/2 cups frozen blueberries (NOT thawed)
1 cup dried cranberries
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24 muffins cups with cooking spray or line with paper liners.
With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, sour cream and milk. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed. Fold in the blueberries and cranberries with a spatula and be sure the batter is completely mixed (keep the blueberries frozen until ready to use so they don't turn the batter purple any more than necessary).
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each about 2/3 full. Again, if you have not invested in the Large Scoop from Pampered Chef, you ought to. It is perfect for filling muffin cups. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned on top and a toothpick comes out clean.
I love how you can really see the blueberries and cranberries on the bottom of the muffins!
Enjoy!
(adapted from Ina Garten on FoodNetwork.com)
