Blueberry-Apple Cobbler Bars

I made these little bites of deliciousness last week, just to get rid of some of our leftover food (i.e. blueberries and apples). Maya loves when I bake, because she enjoys playing with the sugar and flour I spill on the counter (yes, I am quite a mess in the kitchen). I have never made a cobbler before, though I am always drooling over cobbler recipes. I liked this one, because it wasn't meant to be eaten with a spoon, but could be picked up like a brownie. Sadly, these sort of fell apart anyway, but once frozen, they stayed relatively intact. They were really easy to make, and I had fun cutting in the butter/shortening. It's funny - while I was making them, I was thinking I would definitely end up with a bunch of fruit, covered with a giant dusting of flour, because the batter wasn't really wet at all. The crumble topping ends up coming out like a really nice crumbly crust, though, and it tastes really good. My mom asked me if these were a "light" recipe. I told her yes, but then realized that they aren't really light (though I did experiment with light butter) - they are just well portion controlled. Each bar comes out to 200 calories, which isn't so high, for a dessert... Right?







Maybe you should try these... Kevin doesn't do fruit desserts, so he couldn't rate these, but I give them 3 Bowls. They are good, but in my humble opinion, it's a not a real dessert, unless there's chocolate involved.

Blueberry-Apple Crumb Bars
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup shortening (I used half "light butter," which actually worked pretty well!)
  
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon (optional)
• 4 cups fresh blueberries (I used frozen blueberries, and used half apples, because I didn't have enough berries)
  
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and cinnamon, if desired. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the shortening and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.
3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins

Maya has officially started pre-school, which means we'll need to leave the house at 8:15 on Tuesdays and Thursdays now. This may make for a very rushed morning, so I decided to whip up some muffins, that I can grab out of the freezer in a pinch. This recipe, adapted from a Cooking Light recipe for "Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins," is easy, and quite delicious. I would even go as far as to say that they almost taste like bakery muffin! They are really moist, light, and flavorful, with just the right blast of fruit andhint of cream cheese. I usually don't care for nuts in my baked goods, but this time, the walnut pack such a nice texture and taste, so I'm glad I chose to include them. By the way, this recipe makes 2 dozen muffins, and they are actually quite large. I made them a tad too small, and ended up with 27 muffins. I think I need a second muffin pan, so I can be sure to make 24, equally sized, larger muffins. This recipe is a keeper. Anyone want to come and share my leftover 23 with me?

Gorgeous batter.


Devoured by moms and Mayas alike.



Blueberry-Cream Cheese Muffins

Yield: 2 dozen (serving size: 1 muffin)

2/3 cup (5 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen, but any fresh or frozen berry would work)
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine cream cheese and butter in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended. Add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add vanilla, egg whites, and egg; beat well.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and buttermilk to cream cheese mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Gently fold in raspberries and walnuts.

Place 24 foil cup liners in muffin cups. Spoon batter evenly into liners. Bake at 350° 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans; cool on a wire rack.


CALORIES 142 (32% from fat); FAT 4.7g (sat 2.4g,mono 1.3g,poly 0.7g); IRON 0.7mg; CHOLESTEROL 19mg; CALCIUM 31mg; CARBOHYDRATE 22.6g; SODIUM 138mg; PROTEIN 2.7g; FIBER 1.1g

Adapted from Cooking Light, JUNE 2003