Tag: berries

Categories
Bread Breakfast Featured Recipes

Orange Blueberry Muffins

Orange Blueberry Muffins from www.jasonscooking.com
Temperature375°Time20 – 25 minutes

Orange Blueberry Muffins from www.jasonscooking.com

BackgroundBackground

When I was a wee tyke, my Mom would make a big breakfast for the family almost every Saturday morning. Typically, the breakfast would consist of grits, eggs, bacon and either toast or muffins. Most of the time, mom would mix the strawberry and blueberry packages of White Lilly Muffin Mix together to make the best muffins ever. When they came out of the oven, my dad would split them open and butter them so that the butter was super melty when they got to the table.

I’m pretty sure my Grandmother also used the same mix packets but sometimes, she would use orange juice instead of milk. Thinking back, I’m guessing they just didn’t have milk one morning and subbing in OJ was an oops moment but they turned out great in the end. The lesson here is that you should never be afraid to try new things in the kitchen because sometimes you come up with a new favorite recipe.

These muffins are an homage to those family breakfasts and Grandmother’s orange muffins. They’re light and tender, chock full of berries, and have a lovely orange flavor. The next time you make a big breakfast for the family (or accidentally run out of milk), you might want to give these a try!

The RecipeRecipe
Orange Blueberry Muffins
 
Print
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast
Ingredients
  • 1¾ Cups Flour
  • 1 Tbs Baking Powder
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • ½ Cup Sugar
  • 1 Egg, Beaten
  • 1 Cup Orange Juice
  • ¼ Cup Melted Butter
  • 1 Cup Blueberries Tossed with ¼ Cup Flour
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375⁰ and spray a 12-well muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
  3. Add the egg, orange juice, and butter and mix until just combined. Be careful not to over mix.
  4. Fill each well of the muffin pan about ¾ full and bake for 20 – 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out mostly clean.
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

Tossing your blueberries in a wee bit of flour helps them to stay suspended in the batter. If floating berries elude you (like they do for me sometimes – see picture), try sprinkling a few on top of the muffins just before you put them in the oven. The batter should set before they sink all the way down.

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

You can freeze leftover muffins if you want but they’re so simple to make, there’s really no need. A way better use of freezer space is for storing berries.

Fun FactsFun Facts

One of my life goals is to make a perfectly domed muffin like you get in a bakery. I have not yet succeeded but one day I will. If you have any tips, please share them in the comments!

Categories
Dessert Featured Jason's Favorites Michael's Favorites Recipes

Mixed Berry Crisp

Berry Crisp
Temperature375°Time30 mins

Berry Crisp

BackgroundBackground

In February, Michael and I went on the Backstage Magic Tour at Disney World. The tour visits all 4 parks, the costume shop, the central plant, the Disney nursery and tree farm, and includes a family style lunch at Whispering Canyon Café. The lunch is barbeque with all the fixin’s and ends (at least ours did) with an excellent Berry Crisp. I haven’t been able to find the Whispering Canyon Berry Crisp recipe but this one, adapted from Alton Brown’s recipe, is pretty darn close.

If you like amazing desserts, you should give it a try. If you don’t like amazing desserts, give it a try anyway and I think it’ll change your mind.

The RecipeRecipe
Mixed Berry Crisp
 
Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 6 - 8
Ingredients
For the Topping
  • 1 Sleeve of Graham Crackers, Crushed (About 1 ½ Cups)
  • 1 Cup All Purpose Flour
  • ⅔ Cup Sugar
  • 1 Stick of Butter, Cut into Smallish Pieces
  • ¾ Cup Pecans, Chopped
  • ¾ Cup Walnuts, Chopped

For the Filling
  • 16 oz Berries (A Single Type or Mixed Berries)
  • ¼ Cup Sugar
  • 2 tsp Cornstarch
  • Vanilla Ice Cream for Serving
Instructions
Mix Up the Topping
  1. Preheat oven to 375°
  2. In a large bowl, mix the crushed graham crackers, flour and ⅔ cup sugar together.
  3. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, a fork, or your fingers until there are tiny bits of butter all throughout the mixture and it looks crumbly.
  4. Add in the nuts and mix to combine.

Make the Crisp
  1. In a second bowl, combine the berries, ¼ cup sugar, cornstarch, and ½ cup of the topping mixture.
  2. Pour the filling into an 8” cast-iron skillet or a square casserole dish.
  3. Sprinkle the topping all over the filling until you have a nice, thick crust. You may not use all of the topping but you’ll come pretty close.
  4. Cook for 25 – 30 minutes until the topping is brown and the filling is bubbly. Remove the crisp from the oven and allow it to cool for about 15 minutes.
  5. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

You can a use mixture of berries or a single type of berry for this recipe. I normally buy the “smootie mix” from my grocery store and use that but any berry will work and be delicious. The crisp pictured here is a mix of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

Don’t have access to fresh berries? Frozen berries work really well in this recipe!

Fun FactsFun Facts

The difference between a crisp and a cobbler is the topping. A cobbler has a biscuitey dough while a crisp (or crumble) has a crumbly streusel-like topping.