Blueberry Pie

Nothing beats fresh fruit pie when in season, although frozen blueberries work wonderfully for this recipe. The photo shows a tradition pie crust but the recipe has a delicious graham cracker crust. They both are great.

Also try Blueberry Muffins from Tastes & Treasures, page 62. It is a recipe from historical La Posada Inn in Winslow, AZ.

Blueberry Pie

Ingredients:

Crust

1 cup Fiber One Original bran cereal

2 sheets (8 crackers) low-fat honey graham crackers, broken into pieces



3 tbsp. Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)

1/4 tsp. cinnamon


1/4 cup light whipped butter or light buttery spread 


Filling

2/3 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)

3 tbsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

4 cups blueberries

Optional topping: Fat Free Reddi-whip



Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a pie pan with nonstick spray.


To make the crust, in a blender or food processor, grind cereal and graham cracker pieces into crumbs. Transfer to a medium bowl, and mix in Splenda and cinnamon.


In a small microwave-safe bowl, microwave butter and 2 tbsp. water for 30 seconds, or until butter has melted. Add to the medium bowl and thoroughly mix.
Evenly distribute mixture along the bottom of the pie pan, using your hands or a flat utensil to firmly press and form the crust. Press it into the edges and up along the sides of the pan.

Bake until firm, about 10 minutes. 



In a large nonstick pot, combine all filling ingredients except blueberries. Add 1/2 cup cold water, and mix until Splenda, cornstarch, and salt dissolve. Add blueberries and stir.

Set heat to medium. Stirring frequently, cook until berries have softened and burst and mixture has thickened, 10 - 12 minutes.


Carefully transfer filling to the pie pan. Let pie cool and set, about 1 hour. 

Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour. Slice and enjoy! 



MAKES 8 SERVINGS
Serving Size: 1 slice (1/8th of pie)
Calories: 120 
Fat: 3.5g
Sodium: 168mg 
Carbs: 25g
 Fiber: 5.5g
 Sugars: 8.5g
 Protein: 1.5g

Sugar Alternative: Swap out the Splenda for the same amount of granulated white sugar, and each serving will have 191 calories, 44g carbs, and 29.5g sugars.
Thanks to Hungry Girl for stats.

Frozen Blueberries: Thaw them, but don't drain the excess liquid. (The berries might not soften and burst, but the mixture will thicken and the pie will taste great!)

Lemon Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Breakfast is such a great way to start the day. Sour Cream Pecan Coffee Cake from Hassayampa Inn in Prescott, page 54 in Tastes & Treasures cookbook is delicious. This Blueberry adaption is yummy also.










Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon

7/8 cup* sugar + 1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

½ cup buttermilk
* 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
**


Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk.
Fold in the blueberries.
Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray.
Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with additional tablespoon of sugar.
Bake for 35 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 6-8

Spinach Cake Mini Muffins

Feeding a toddler healthy foods can be a challenge. These muffins are easy to make with wonderful ingredients.

Tastes & Treasures cookbook has recipes for Blueberry muffins and Sour Cream muffins. They can also be made into "mini muffins".

Spinach Cake Muffins

Ingredients
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce

1 Large Egg

2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Fresh Spinach, packed

1/3 Cup Sugar

2 Tbsp Vegetable, Olive or Canola Oil

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp Salt

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Place the first 6 ingredients in a food processor and puree
3. Place the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and combine.

4. Pour the spinach puree in a large mixing bowl.

5. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet until combined.

6. Scoop batter into a greased mini muffin tin, filling each cup 2/3 of the way.

7. Bake for 12 minutes.


Note: Freezes well in plastic baggies.

Makes 24 mini muffins

Strawberry Shortcake Muffins

Recipe exchanges bring new ideas. This muffin recipe (page 41 in Tastes & Treasures) takes the one from Garland's Oak Creek Lodge to a different level with the addition of heavy whipping cream instead of sour cream. Great to make with either Strawberries, Cranberries or Blueberries .
Tobe Daum made the Blueberry Muffins for a League meeting. Yummm.
Strawberry Shortcake Muffins from recipe exchange

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup heavy whipping cream or 1/2 cup whipping cream and 1/2 cup orange juice (I prefer the cream and juice)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup fresh strawberries diced

Directions:
Mix flour, baking powder, and sugar in medium bowl. Cut in butter.
In another bowl, mix egg, vanilla, whipping cream, and orange juice.
Add egg mixture to flour mixture and mix with a spoon. Gently fold in strawberries.

Spoon batter into greased muffin tin or use paper liners. Bake at 350 for 20 t0 25 minutes. Check at 18 to 20 minutes. Tops of muffins remain light. Cool before removing from pan.
Makes 12 muffins.

4th of July Fruit Tart

Get the kids involved with this easy way to celebrate America's birthday. It becomes a family event when you decorate a basic tarte with blackberries and raspberries.

Another idea is to bake cupcakes and decorate with blueberries and strawberries and whipping cream.



Or try the Blueberry Muffins from Historic La Posada Hotel
page 62 Tastes & Treasures and top with fresh fruit.
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup milk
1 cup frozen blueberries, thawed and drained
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Cream the shortening and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs. Add the sifted flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until combined after each addition. Fold in the blueberries.
Spoon onto greased muffin cups, filling one-half full. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve warm or cool on a wire rack.
Makes 1 ½ dozen.
Note: We love fresh blueberries if in season.

Banana, Walnut, Blueberry Muffin

Talk about sharing a muffin . . . This one fed all 6 of us traveling in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Made by the Byzantine Friars from the Society of St John in Eagle River, Michigan, this muffin was filled with banana, blueberries and walnuts. Although a little dry, it was worth it.

The Friars sell their home made jams, jellies, muffins and honey at the Jampot down the road from their Monastery. This store is their monetary support and tourists from all over come to their tiny shop. The line to buy their goods on a sunny Saturday afternoon was to the door.

The blueberry muffins from La Posada, pg 62 Tastes & Treasures, are moist and flavorful. Adding banana and walnuts would make them comparable to the Friar's fare.

League Members Bring Cookbook Recipes to Meeting

Lunch is always a great reason to attend the monthly Historical League meetings. Monday, September 14 was no exception with Zona Lorig bringing Romaine Salad with Hearts of Palm and Artichokes pg 160. Yumm. It was delicious and almost all gone by the time I got to the buffet table.

Tobe Daum prepared Blueberry Muffins La Posada pg 62. No wonder the Harvey Girls were so popular, serving such a wonderfully light muffin packed with blueberries. After one taste, I realize why I do not buy muffins in the store.


El Chorro's historic recipe for Tastes & Treasures cookbook for dessert is Chocolate Icebox Cake pg 80. Betsy Davis prepared this 'melt in your mouth' cake and it makes me smile to think of the old Icebox style refrigerators. We have come a long way with convenience appliances but an old fashioned Icebox would still work quite well for this great treat.