blueberry coffee cake muffins

Why is this lighting so hideous? Why do i take such bad pictures? WHY IS THIS BLOG SO TERRIBLE?

I swear they are delicious, but I must admit they look a little sad.

This is a tweaked barefoot contessa recipe (while it's true that ina garten can do no wrong, I was feeling defiant):

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

· 1 cup white sugar

· 1/2 cup brown sugar

· 1 teaspoon cinnamon

· 3 eggs, at room temperature

· 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

· 8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream

· 1/3 cup milk

· 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

· 2 teaspoons baking powder

· 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

· 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 2 cups blueberries (dust the blueberries with flour before you put them in the batter so that they don't all sink to the bottom of the muffin when baking. Someone fill me in on the science behind this magical trick).

Set your oven to 350 and grease or line muffin pans. This recipe makes about twelve big ones.

Use an electric mixer to cream the sugar and the butter until it is light and fluffy (around five minutes). Put the mixer on its lowest speed and add in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla,sour cream, and milk.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed (overmixing will make the texture of the cooked muffin too dense). Fold in the blueberries with a spatula and scoop the batter into the muffin cups, filling each just over the top.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned on top and a cake tester (lets be real and call it a toothpick) comes out clean.

PS: Isn't centering all the font just so poetic and pleasing to the eyes? It's quite charming, I know! Not really, blogger is just being weird. technology is still confusing. Oh, how i miss those geocities days.

chocolate peanut butter truffles

Dear reader(s),

Sorry I have abandoned you for so long. But here are truffles!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles:

3/4 cups peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)

1/4 cup softened butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

Put in a bowl and mix these things until you form a dough. Roll into about two inch thick balls and stick toothpicks in them. Place in the freezer on wax paper for half an hour or until firm.

While they are in the freezer, melt down any chocolate you please. I used about 6 ounces but play it by ear. I think that peanut butter part is kind of sweet, so I used a semi sweet chocolate for most of them to balance it out. I also threw in some chopped pecans, so now i can be fancy and call these chocolate peanut pecan truffles. Extra syllables lead to fanciness (so does the word artisan in front of any title, which both sounds fancy and makes sloppy work seem deliberate! hooray for words). It is not my fault if you end up sounding pretentious and your food tastes horrible, though, so be warned.

Dip the balls into the chocolate and place back onto the wax paper. Decorate in any way you see fit. I melted down white chocolate for most and did a drizzle (two have cocoa powder on them and two have mini chocolate drops on them). Sprinkles or nuts would work as well. Place in the freezer again for a quick set or just leave out until the chocolate hardens (it does not take long).

Consume!