4th of July festive eats

with the 4th of July approaching rapidly this weekend, i am in full blown planning mode.  i am traveling down to San Diego to visit my family and need to make-ahead items to take with me.  i plan on baking some delicious and festive blueberry muffins to go with the RED, WHITE, & BLUE theme.

Kemp’s “You-Won’t-Believe-They’re-Whole-Wheat” Blueberry Muffins

from Gourmet - AUGUST 2009

For Muffins

• 1 3/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries (about 7 ounces)

For topping

• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

• Equipment:

  a muffin pan (preferably nonstick) with 12 (1/3- to 1/2-cup) muffin cups

Make muffin batter:

• Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle. Butter muffin pan.
• Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, then whisk in zest.
• Whisk egg in another bowl, then whisk in milk and butter. Add to dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined (batter will be dense). Fold in blueberries. Divide batter among muffin cups.

Make topping:

• Stir together sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over batter in cups.
• Bake until a wooden pick inserted into center of muffins comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then unmold onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Cooks’ notes:

• You might be surprised to discover that whole-wheat pastry flour is actually in your supermarket or big-box store (look for King Arthur, Arrowhead Mills or Bob’s Red Mill brands). Otherwise, you’ll find it at natural food stores.
• Any fresh blueberries work beautifully in this muffin. If you really want to experience the extra-special flavor of wild blueberries, though, and the only ones you can find are frozen, do not thaw them; stir them in while they are still hard.
• You can save time and line your muffin cups with paper liners, skipping the messy business of getting your hands coated with softened butter (unless you are the type to use a pastry brush and melted butter), but whenever I cut that corner, I mourn the loss of the significant amount of muffin that invariably seems to stick to the paper when I try to peel it off.
• Feel free to substitute almond milk or soy milk for cow’s milk. I’ve made the recipe with great success using each of them.

i also plan on making this easy healthy recipe courtesy of RealSimple.com:

Oatmeal Raspberry Jam Bars

Serves 24 Hands-On Time: 15m Total Time: 2hr 35m

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 cups quick oats, such as Quaker
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1 1/2 cups raspberry jam

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Place the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and butter in the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times until the ingredients are combined and a crumbly dough is formed. Add the oats and lemon zest. Pulse quickly twice to combine.
2. Press 2/3 of the dough firmly into a greased 9-by-13-inch pan. Spread the jam evenly over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining dough over the jam, gently pressing down.
3. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Cut into 24 bars. Store in airtight containers

i am going to add some bran and flax to my bars as well (for extra fiber)!  also, my favorite part is that these delicious bars are not too bad for you: 191 calories/bar!

what are you going to make for your 4th of July???

<3

katietheshark

Comments

[emma]

I must say how excited i am you two are posting again!

miss you kate the great! <3 Emma

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Wow its look so yummy, I like it, I hungry to seen this delicious recipes over here, I love muffin recipes so thanks for sharing this nice recipes.

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beautiful shot. was it taken with your new camera?

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It took us ages to get dressed - we got changed about 3 times before finally settling on a bit of sparkle...

[Herve Leger Clothing]

there is too much alcohol in this drink? i didn't even know that there was alcohol in it...but that totally makes sense for causing me much hangover relief. but where will i get my glorious magical elixir now?!?

[tinii]

1. could you do with a dehumidifier for the damp in your house? besocue i could.2. what is your and ED's song?3. what animal do you most identify with?4. do you have any 'hobbies', (apart from being all brilliant and proactive with egg and blogging, obv.)?5. who is your favourite celebrity?6. tell me two things that happened on your best ever holiday.7. what is your usual chinese/ indian order?8. can you sing? do you sing in front of/ with egg and ED?9. what is the last thing that made you wet yourself laughing?10. are you good with houseplants?

[Alonggorn]

1.Regular coffee or those sweet milky farlouved things?2.Starbux, seriously?3.Beer, wine or other spirits?4.Do you work? If so, doing what?5.What does ED do?6.What kind of car do you drive?7.Will you have more kids?ok, that's my list!Brenda