Blueberry Muffins

I was making bran muffins like usual this morning and Jer requested a different type of muffin and suggested blueberry.  I tend to think that blueberry muffins can be dry, but I searched the internet and found a couple that included blueberries in the batter to make them extra moist.  I took bits and pieces from each recipe and made my own up.

Blueberry Muffins

1 stick butter - softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2-2 1/2 cup blueberries
raw sugar

Beat together butter and sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.  In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder.  Alternately add in flour mixture and milk and beat until smooth.  Add half of the blueberries and beat until smooth.  Fold in remaining blueberries and spoon into muffin tins with cupcake liners.  Top with raw sugar.  Bake at 375° for 30 minutes.  Leave in pan at least 30 minutes, then place on rack to cool.

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

My sister-in-law Sue brought these to a get together the other night and I had to get the recipe from her.  She said her niece Rebecca always brings these to gatherings and everyone always needs to get the recipe.  They are that good.  The original recipe is for unsalted butter and calls for 1 1/2 tsp salt.  I always use salted butter, so I reduced the salt to 1 tsp.  It also called to bake them at 375° for 13-15 minutes, but I found that they were almost overdone at 11-12 minutes, so watch them!  I also decided to try 350° next time since they ended up a little bit darker than I would have liked, so that is what I put in the recipe instructions.

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 stick butter - melted
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs - 2 whole eggs plus 1 3/4 T of the 3rd egg, beaten
3 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Beat together butter and sugars.  Add vanilla and eggs (picky, see above) and beat until blended.  Add flour, salt, and baking soda and beat until the dough forms.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Scoop out 1/4 cup of dough and flatten into 3" diameter, six per baking sheet.  Bake at 350° for 11-12 minutes, checking the first batch at 10 minutes to make sure they are not overbaking.  They are done when the edges are lightly browned and the center is still slightly undercooked.  Leave them on the pan for 5-7 minutes to set, then place on a wire rack to cool.

Frosted Brownies

I keep making variations on my scratch brownie recipes.  I blended the brownie base from this recipe with the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting from this recipe.  They are just as awesome as I was hoping.  I get requests at work to bring these in.

Frosted Brownies

Brownies:
2 stick butter - melted
2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Frosting:
1/2 stick butter - melted
2 T milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Stir together butter, sugar, and vanilla.  Add eggs, stirring after each addition. Stir in cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and salt.  Pour into a lightly greased 9x13" baking dish.  Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.  While the brownies are baking, make frosting.  Beat together butter, milk, vanilla, cocoa, and powdered sugar.  After the brownies have cooled for 5 minutes, spread the frosting.

Beef Enchiladas

We were craving enchiladas the other day so I looked for a recipe online.  I found quite a few that looked good, but went with this one from Betty Crocker because I did not want to stink up the house by frying the shells.  I did however add the onion to the beef like Ree's recipe.  Another one I found had black beans added, I think that would be great but I did not think my kids would eat them.  They were delicious, but needed sour cream to tone down the spice - but that is just me and I think everything is spicy.

Beef Enchiladas

1 LB hamburger
1/2 cup onion - diced
1 can green chiles - drained, diced
2 10 oz can enchilada sauce
10 flour tortilla shells
1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese - shredded

Brown hamburger with onion and chiles.  Add 3/4 of a can of enchilada sauce to the meat mixture.  Spoon about 1/4 cup of meat mixture onto each tortilla shell, top with some cheese.  Roll up tortilla and place in a 9x13" baking dish with the rest of the first can of enchilada sauce on the bottom of the pan.  After all shells are filled and placed in the pan, top with remaining can of enchilada sauce and top with remaining cheese.  Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until heated through.  Serve with tortilla chips and sour cream.