As I sit here popping freshly picked blueberries in my mouth, I get nostalgic. I crave the days of my youth. Those long and lazy days of summer when I would go on five- mile runs, work at a local hotel and enjoy baking blueberry muffins for my friends and family. I recently found the recipe scribbled – ingredients only – no instructions. Why would I need the instructions? I knew exactly how to make them! I decided to make them. Guess what? I still know how to make them. So simple, so memorable.
Blueberry season is in full swing here in the Berkshires. I make an annual pilgrimage to Windy Hill Farm to pick blueberries or, if I am in a hurry, I buy a few pints from one of many farmers’ markets. Don’t let the blueberry season pass you by! Get pickin’ and enjoy them naked or doctored up in a dessert, or freeze them to provide that superfood punch mid-winter.
In addition to my childhood blueberry muffins, my other favorite blueberry recipe is my Nana’s Blueberry Panna Cotta. It is a simple and EASY dessert. It’s smooth like pudding but easier to make and you can actually use any seasonal fruit or flavoring. For a special summer treat – my nana would add blueberries. I have recently rediscovered her recipe as it is naturally gluten free and uses very little sugar and makes an excellent and satisfying dessert. I substituted maple syrup for the sugar in her recipe as I have been trying to avoid refined sugar.
Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup oil (I use canola)
1 cup milk
1 pint blueberries (washed and picked through)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a medium bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. In a larger bowl, whip the eggs, oil and milk. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well blended. Gently fold blueberries into the batter.
Grease or line your muffin tin. Fill ¾ full. Bake in center of the oven for 20 minutes or until golden.
Cool in muffin tin and then remove and enjoy!
Nana’s Blueberry Panna Cotta
Ingredients:
2 packages, unflavored gelatin
4 cups heavy cream
½ cup milk
½ cup maple syrup
2 vanilla beans
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups of blueberries
Instructions:
In a mixing bowl, sprinkle gelatin into the milk and let sit.
In a saucepan, heat the cream and maple syrup. Cut the vanilla beans down the middle, length-wise and scrape out the seeds. Add the pod while stirring. When small bubbles appear, remove from heat.
Remove the pod and add the warm cream mixture to the gelatin. Then add the vanilla extract and the blueberries. Pour into ramekins, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Yields about 12-14 ramekins.
