Blueberry Muffins with Pecan Crumble

I haven't been doing a lot of baking lately and truth is, I've been trying to justify baking sweets when my family and I have been trying to watch what we eat for the past couple of weeks.  Well, I am here to tell you that there is a way to give into those sweet tooth cravings and maintain that healthy lifestyle.  And this is one of those treats...     

These blueberry muffins are out of this world...they are moist, sweet and chock full of berries.  Not to mention the pecan cinnamon crunch topping.  And guess what?!  They are made with all clean eating ingredients.  

My children love them and I don't feel bad about letting them eat these for breakfast or a snack.  I used whole wheat flour, coconut oil, even coconut sugar.  I think that's why they are a bit darker in color than regular muffins would be.  Coconut sugar is dark, like brown sugar, but you use it as 1:1 ratio to regular white sugar.     

And, if you've never heard of coconut sugar, your're not the only one.  I was researching alternatives to sugar and came across it online.  I was shocked when I saw it in my regular old grocery store!  I thought I was either going to have to order it or get it from Whole Foods, which I'm proud to say our quaint city of Savannah just recently got.  Look at us, getting all sophisticated and grown up.  

Makes 12 muffins

Blueberry Muffins with Pecan Crumble

2 cups white whole wheat flour, divided

2/3 cup coconut sugar, divided

1 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (thawed)

1 egg

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

For the crumble

3 tablespoons white whole wheat flour

3 tablespoons coconut sugar

1 tablespoon chopped pecans

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoon organic unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a 12-count muffin tin with liners.  

Make the crumble by combining everything except the butter in a small bowl.  Slowly drizzle in the melted butter and mix with a fork until just moistened.  

Make the muffins:  in a large bowl, whisk the flour, coconut sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Gently stir in the blueberries.  In a medium bowl, whisk egg, buttermilk and oil.  Add to blueberry mixture and stir until just moistened.  Spoon into muffins cups, filling about 3/4 of the way full.  

With your fingers, crumble topping over each muffin.  Bake, rotating halfway through until edges are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center, 18-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 5 minutes.  Carefully remove muffins from tin and transfer to a cooling rack.  Serve warm and store remaining muffins in a sealed container in the fridge (they are very moist and keep better chilled).  

(Source:  Adapted from Clean Eating Mag)

Fruit Pizza

I kind of went crazy buying fruit at the store the other day.  We were in Sam's Club and you know how they have the different stations with samples sometimes?  Well, they had one set up with some of their fresh fruit - and my kids gobbled in up!  Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, you name it.  We walked out of there with quite a haul of fruit.  Once I find something this good for them that will eat without a fuss, I'm all over it.

So, I froze some and we've been munching on it like crazy, but I wanted to do something fun for my 3-year old's last day of preschool picnic (where has the time gone by the way??).  I decided that a fruit pizza would be cute and festive and really colorful for the kids.  Pretty right?

I also wanted a more substantial cookie - something you could really sink your teeth into.  So, instead of choosing the semi-homemade route (which you know I'm ALL about) and using prepared sugar cookie dough, I made my own.  See how thick and moist the cookie is?  Really just heavenly. 

    Makes about 20 bars

Fruit Pizza

1 stick butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups of your favorite fruit, sliced, chopped or whole - I used raspberries, blueberries and peaches
2 tablespoons apricot jam or jelly

Cream Cheese Icing

1 (8 oz) bar reduced fat cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 9 x 13-inch baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.  In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg.  Add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda.  Add to wet mixture and mix until just combined.  Spread batter on greased baking sheet and use your hands to spread over the entire pan (spray your hands with non-stick cooking spray or dip in water to avoid sticking).  Bake for 10-12 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean.  Let cool completely and make icing in the meantime.

Make the icing:  using an electric mixer, combine the 3 ingredients and mix well.  Spread over cooled sugar cookie bars.  Arrange your choice of fruit all over the cream cheese in any pattern you like.  Use the apricot jam as a glaze - heat in the microwave for about 20 seconds until it's kind of runny, then use a pastry brush to spread over the fruit.

(Source:  Cookies adapted from Six Sister's Stuff)

Berry Berry Muffins

I am not a huge blueberry fan, unless they're in a muffin (love blueberry muffins) or pancakes or something that makes them sweeter.  By themselves, they are just too tart for me.  I had a pint of blueberries that was given to me and was all set to make plain ol' blueberry muffins when I came across Ina Garten's Tri-Berry Muffins.  Minus the strawberries (which I really don't like either - unless it's like a fake strawberry flavor in a candy or something...I know, it's strange), these looked fantastic.  I do love raspberries - finally, you say! - so I bought a pint of those and got to work.  I pretty much followed her recipe to a tee, omitting the strawberries but making up for it with additional raspberries and blueberries.  I also didn't realize that I was out of paper liners (don't you hate that??) so I used just used a non-stick cooking spray in the pans and the muffins popped right out.  Although I would have liked the look of them with the liners...

Makes 16-18 muffins

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Barefoot Contessa Ultimate Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting Mix

1 1/4 cups milk 

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 cup fresh raspberries

1 1/2 cups sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon until combined.  In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs and butter.  Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.  There will be lumps but don't over mix.  Fold in the berries and sugar.  

Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, spoon the batter into the liners in the muffin tins.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.  

(Source:  Adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home, Tri-Berry Muffins)