This is a beautiful book with lovely photos of every single recipe.  After making these muffins I have a newly rekindled love for this book and for Martha.  I need to take a break from online recipes and get back to my huge collection of cookbooks.  Why have them if I’m not going to use them?  You might know what I’m talking about if you have at least 30 cookbooks, many of which are just sittin’ pretty on a bookshelf, and yet you find yourself searching on the internet when you want to make something.  What a shame!  Let’s get back to loving our cookbooks.

Every recipe in this cookbook is great.  The cinnamon raisin bread is especially delicious and I’ve made it more than just a few times.  It was the first yeast bread I tried that worked!  It has a great cinnamon swirl and lots of juicy raisins.  I am making myself crave it right now, so I might have to go make a loaf or two…

The blueberry muffins were easy to prepare and made my house smell delicious while they baked.  The generous amount of blueberries guarantees at least a few juicy berries in every bite.  I ate these at room temperature and also halved and toasted with a nice spread of butter.  Either way they are wonderful.  Watch the muffins after about 20 minutes, because mine were done after 25.  I did not sprinkle the sugar/nutmeg mixture on the muffins, but think they would be extra yummy with the nice crunch.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Generously grease and flour a standard 12-cup muffin pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Working over the bowl, toss blueberries in a fine sieve with about 1 1/2 teaspoons flour mixture to lightly coat; set aside the flour mixture and the blueberries.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Mix in vanilla.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add reserved flour mixture, beating until just combined.
6. Add milk, beating until just combined. Do not overmix.
7. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the blueberries.
8. Divide batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups.
9. If desired, in a small bowl, mix together remaining 1/4 cup sugar and nutmeg. Sprinkle sugar mixture on top of muffin batter.
10. Bake, rotating pan halfway though, until muffins are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of one muffin comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes.
11. Remove from pan and let cool.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

This is not, however, just blueberry pie.  The filling is made of sour cream, eggs, sugar, flour and blueberries.  And the fun doesn’t end there.  On top of this pie is a streusel type topping made of butter, sugar and flour.  This pie has no other option than to be delicious.

On allrecipes.com, this pie is called Creamy Blueberry Pie.  Here is the link.  It calls for a 9 inch deep dish pie crust, but I decided to make my own crust.  This is not something I do very often.  I like the convenience of a store bought crust, and they usually taste great.  The Pillsbury kind that you roll out on your own are the best.  I’ve found that the frozen kind already in the pan have a tendency to crack, and the edge of the crust looks like it came out of a machine…because it did.  So, if you do use a store crust, go with the one that at least looks like it’s homemade!

Most pie crust recipes are quite similar.  All use flour, sugar, salt, some kind of fat, and some kind of liquid.  Having your ingredients chilled is considered to be a must in pie crust making.  It is also important not to overwork the dough.  You can mix the dough by hand, or in a food processor.  When you mix the dough, make sure that you can still see bits of the fat in the finished product.  This ensures a tender, flaky crust.

The differences arise when it comes to your choices of fat and liquid.  Fat options include butter, shortening, lard, or a combination.  Liquid options are ice water, vodka, lemon juice, vinegar, and I’m sure others as well that I haven’t seen.

The recipes I have always liked the most have used equal amounts of butter and shortening.  Butter gives a great flavor, and the shortening creates a more stable crust.  Ice cold water has also been my liquid of choice.  It doesn’t alter the flavor, and I always have some in my kitchen!  Here is the recipe I used, Best-Ever Pie Crust from epicurious.com.

Now to the pie.

After putting your pie dough into a deep dish pie pan, in go the lovely blueberries.

On top of the layer of fruit goes the custard mixture.

Sprinkle the crumble topping over all of this and it bakes for about an hour…I baked mine for 55 minutes.

I would have liked a browner crumb topping, but the bottom crust was getting a bit dark.

After taking the pie out of the oven, let it sit at room temperature for about 1 hour.  You can either serve the pie warm, or chill it in the fridge for another hour or two.  This allows the custard layer to get nice and firm.

When you cut into this pie, you can see the layer of tender, buttery crust on the bottom.  Above the crust is the creamy custard , and the tart blueberries that make this pie so incredibly delicious.  Atop all of this is the sweet, crunchy crumbly topping that balances out everything.

I served the pie with vanilla ice cream, but it would be fine alone.  This is a pie that can definitely be served in the heat of summer and will have a prime spot in my recipe collection as something I will definitely make again.

Creamy Blueberry Crumble Pie

Ingredients

• 3 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 (9 inch) deep dish pie crust
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter

Directions

1. Combine 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and salt. Add eggs and sour cream, stirring until blended.
2. Place blueberries in pastry shell, and spoon sour cream mixture over berries.
3. In another bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup flour. Cut in butter or margarine with pastry blender until mixture resembles course meal. Sprinkle this mixture over sour cream mixture and berries in the pie shell.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50 to 55 minutes, or until lightly browned.

You could probably use any berry with good results.  I love the combination of lemon and blueberry, so these are my kind of dessert bar.  They are very sturdy, so they would travel well.  Bring them on your next picnic!  Enjoy.

Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Blueberry Filling:

• 1 cup blueberries, chopped
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

 Crumb Mixture:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup old fashioned oats
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup butter

 Cream Cheese Filling:

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease the bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan. Set aside.
2. In a small saucepan combine blueberry filling ingredients; stir until corn starch is dissolved. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thick and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. In a large bowl, combine all crumb mixture ingredients except butter; mix well. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture firmly in bottom of prepared baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
4. In a medium bowl mix together the cream cheese filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended; pour into baked crust.
5. Spoon blueberry filling over cream cheese filling, lightly swirl with knife.
6. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over filling.
7. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely, then chill. Cut into bars.