Blueberry Muffin Cookies

Blueberry Muffin Cookies

Blueberry muffins were a Sunday morning staple in our house – so easy to throw in while scrambling eggs and maybe cooking up some bacon.  I still find blueberry muffins to be such a comfort food – and nothing is better than when you have fresh berries to make them in the spring/summer!  This cookie spin on the old classic gives you all that soft, comfort food goodness and elevates it with a bright, scrumptious glaze and a little kick of lemon in both the cookie and glaze. You aren’t going to believe you’ve made it your whole life up to now without these.  ~Kathy

Cookie Ingredients:

  • ½ c. salted butter, softened
  • ¾ c. sugar
  • ½ c. light brown sugar (packed)
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1 heaping T. lemon zest
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 ⅓ c. all-purpose flour
  • ½ c. sour cream
  • 2 c. fresh blueberries
  • 2 T. coarse sugar

Glaze Ingredients:

  • 1 ¼ c. powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp. lemon zest
  • ¼ tsp. vanilla
  • 2-3 T. lemon juice (fresh squeezed is best)
  • pinch of salt

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 375°F.
  • Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, combine the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Mix (hand mixer or stand mixer both work fine) until light and fluffy.
  • In above bowl, mix in eggs and vanilla well.
  • With the mixer on low speed, gradually add flour (about ¼ at a time). Mix until mostly combined (a few dry streaks are ok). Mix in half of the sour cream followed by another portion of your flour. Mix in the last half of the sour cream and then the last couple of portions of your flour slowly until well-combined (no dry flour when you are mixing).
  • Add the blueberries and fold in gently (do NOT use the mixer for this portion – a spoon will do).    
  • Scoop the batter in large mounds (two or three tablespoons) and place well apart to accommodate spreading during cooking. Sprinkle the tops of the cookie dough with coarse sugar.
  • Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes until the top springs back lightly. 
  • Move to a cooling rack once cookies are cool enough to relocate (a few minutes should be okay).  
  • For the glaze, in a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt. It should thicken but definitely needs to be a consistency that you can drizzle over the cookies.
  • If needed, add a little powdered sugar (a tablespoon at a time) to thicken; add a little lemon juice if you need to thin it (just a teaspoon at a time – don’t want to overdo it).
  • Generously drizzle the tops of the fully cooled (otherwise it will melt off) cookies with the glaze but don’t try to heavily coat them; you still want to be able to taste those beautiful cookies too! 

Blueberry Bagels

I’m sure by now you’ve heard of 2-Ingredient Bagels.  I’m not sure where the recipe originated but it can be found on many, many recipe sites.  The basic recipe consists of equal parts nonfat, plain Greek yogurt mixed with self-rising flour… brush with egg wash and sprinkle with toppings (sesame seeds, dried onion flakes, etc.) if your heart desires.  They are tasty and I make them often.  I even have a Savory Bread Pudding recipe that uses 2-Ingredient Bagels!  If you haven’t made it yet, what are you waiting for?!

Whether or not you know and love the classic version, I have something even better… my Blueberry Bagels.  These Blueberry Bagels are like the regular 2-ingredient bagel’s classier step-sister.  They are sweeter, prettier, and fancier.  They are the Cinderella of all the homemade bagels, with only a couple extra ingredients required beyond the normal two.  Worth it?  Slather one with a little butter or cream cheese and you’ll see it’s definitely worth it.  ~Erin

20190606_143018.jpg

  • ½ c. Blueberry Dannon Light & Fit Greek Yogurt, stirred
  • ½ c. self-rising flour
  • ¼ tsp. baking soda
  • Pinch of salt
  • ¼ c. blueberries
  • Cooking spray
  • Egg white, beaten

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.  Spray parchment with cooking spray.  Set aside.

Using a spoon or rubber scraper, begin to mix the yogurt, flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.  When it’s nearly mixed, incorporate the blueberries and combine thoroughly.  Divide the dough into two sections.

Spray your clean hands with nonstick cooking spray and, working with one section of dough at a time, form it into a ball and then roll into a snake.  Connect the ends to make a circle and place on the parchment-lined sheet.

Bake for 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and brush with egg whites.  Return to the oven and bake 5-10 more minutes, until golden brown.

Let the bagels cool to room temperature before slicing.

WW Freestyle Info.:  Makes 2 bagels.  Each bagel is 4 SmartPoints.

20190606_152234.jpg

Lighter Blueberry Muffins

As the Mom of two boys who would rather eat donuts for breakfast (or a restaurant style plate of bacon, eggs, and pancakes), finding healthy breakfast options is a struggle!  Don’t get me wrong, they will eat cereal. One of them ate two bowls of Chocolate Frosted Flakes just today. My point is, that unless I can fake them them into a healthy breakfast option, they are looking for their morning sugar rush!  They are not into fruit topped quinoa for breakfast. Who would be!?

These Lighter Blueberry Muffins are at least a step in the right direction.  With only a small amount of sugar, and no oil or butter, maybe these muffins can help us all avoid the dreaded “muffin top.” ~Tracy

LighterBlueberryMuffinsLogo.jpg

Ingredients:
  • 1 c. low fat milk (1%)
  • ¼ c. non-fat plain Greek yogurt
  • ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 c. all-purpose flour
  • ⅓ c. sugar
  • 3 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries (rinsed and dried)
  • 2 T. brown sugar
  • ½ tsp. ground cinnamon

Instructions: 

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.
  3. In medium bowl, combine other dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  4. Beat milk, yogurt, and egg in a large bowl.
  5. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients mixing just until combined. It’s fine for the batter to have a few lumps.
  6. Gently fold in the blueberries.
  7. Generously spray cups of muffin pan with baking spray. Even if using paper liners it is important to generously spray them with baking spray. With no oil in this recipe, muffins will stick without spraying the pan or liners.
  8. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, filling each about ⅔ full.
  9. Sprinkle a small amount of the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture over the top of each muffin.
  10. Bake at 400 for about 22 minutes or until golden brown.

WW Freestyle Info.: Makes 12 muffins, 4 points each.

Lemon Blueberry Bread

For breakfast or dessert?  Or both?  Nothing says spring like the bright flavors of this bread – but let’s face it: lemon and blueberries are delicious any time!

lemon bread in pan

Bread ingredients:

  • 1 ½ c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/3 c. butter, melted
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ tsp. vanilla
  • 3 T. lemon zest
  • 4 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 to 5 lemons)
  • ½ c. milk
  • 1 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 1 T. flour

Glaze Ingredients:

  • 2 T. butter, melted
  • ½ c. powdered sugar
  • 3 T. lemon juice

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Combine melted butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice.  Stir until just combined.

Alternate adding dry ingredients and milk to the batter.  Combine until well mixed and most of lumps are gone.

Coat blueberries in the 1 T. flour (gently shaking in a small baggie works well).  Gently fold blueberries into batter.

Pour into greased and floured 9 x 5 loaf pan.
Bake at 350 for 55 – 65 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Cool for approximately 30 minutes.

Mix together all ingredients for the glaze and pour over the top of loaf.