Blueberry Coffee Cake & My New Morning Routine

Just a couple weeks ago, I was stumbling down the hall to my office at 6 a.m., trying to squeeze in as many minutes as possible in front of my editing. This morning looked a lot different. I woke up at 7:30 a.m. and made a healthy smoothie before turning on the Olympics for half an hour. I'm in that mode where I've been in a routine for so long, it's taking my body and my mind a little while to get out of that routine. I still felt a little guilty as I watched the Olympics, but I'm slowly realizing that I'm allowed to have some time for myself. Morning is my favorite time of day, and I'm glad I can claim it again.

On another note, who doesn't love coffee cake for breakfast?! Nathan and I made brunch for my parents a couple days ago and we tried a new coffee cake recipe. If you have leftover fresh blueberries, you need to make this! Not too sweet, but sweet enough ... if you know what I mean. :)

Cooking Light's Blueberry Coffee Cake

1 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup granulated sugar 6 tablespoons butter, softened 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 large egg 1 large egg white 1 1/3 cups low-fat buttermilk (we used regular fat here ... probably why it was so delicious! :) ) Cooking spray 2 cups fresh blueberries (if they're in season and fresh, use 1 1/2 cups) 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (we used Penzeys vanilla sugar here)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 2 minutes). Add vanilla, egg and egg white; beat well. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix after each addition.

Spoon half of the batter into a 9-inch round baking pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup blueberries (NOTE: If your blueberries are fresh, make sure to cover them in flour before sprinkling into cake. They'll sink to the bottom otherwise). Spoon remaining batter over the blueberries; sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 cup blueberries. Sprinkle the top evenly with 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Mouth-Watering Toffee

We've been in our house for a month and a half and haven't met our neighbors yet. What better way to break the ice than delivering them a box of delicious, homemade toffee? My mom has made this stuff for as long as I can remember and it's a huge hit with my family. My cousin and I eat roughly 27 pieces each every Christmas. There's just something about it that keeps you coming back for more.

Here's the recipe. Super quick and easy!

Ingredients

1 cup pecans, chopped 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup butter 4 1/2 ounces (no need to be precise) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Butter square pan or dish (9x9x2 inches). Spread pecans in pan. Heat sugar and butter to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, 7 minutes (This is important because it's what makes the toffee hard. It will go through lots of different consistencies here). Immediately spread mix evenly over nuts in pan. Sprinkle chocolate pieces over hot mixture; place baking sheet over pan so contained heat will melt chocolate. Spread melted chocolate over toffee. While hot, cut in squares (I actually prefer to break it by hand after it's set). Chill until firm.

Our First Christmas Tree + Dark Chocolate Pistachio Bark

Ahhhh, the smell of pine is in the air, which means that our first Christmas tree has made it's arrival! It's a bit quirky with too few lights and a lopsided lean, but it definitely makes our first Christmas as a married couple extra cozy and festive.

And, just because I know you might be looking for a new holiday recipe, here's a super easy yet fantastic one: dark chocolate pistachio bark. Nathan and I brought it to a Christmas party last night and ate all the leftovers today. So good! (P.S. Thanks to Nathan for taking these pictures of me "cooking." He's already ready for his second shooting role next year. :))

101 in 1001: #23 Make s'mores cake in a jar.

White cake with chocolate icing. That's the only birthday cake Nathan ever wants, despite seven years of me trying to convince him to "get creative." This year, even though he still wanted his white cake with chocolate icing, I decided I was going to make him a second cake whether he liked it or not (let's be real, who wouldn't want two cakes?!). Enter s'mores cake in a jar. Yeah, I know. The name alone makes you want to do a happy dance, right? Well, it's just as good as it sounds. If you like s'mores, cake and mason jars, you have to make this right now. Even if you already have one dessert in the oven.

S’mores Cake in a Jar (from How Sweet it Is) Makes 4 16-ounce mason jar cakes

Crust (I have a huge sweet tooth and this crust wasn't sweet enough for me. If I make it again, I would make the crust from the back of the graham cracker crumb box):

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs 1/2 stick butter pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter and mix in graham crumbs and salt. Mix until moistened. Spray 4 mason jars with non-stick spray and press graham crust into jars. I began by adding a tablespoon to each, and repeating until graham crumbs were gone. They don’t need to look perfect. I pressed the crumbs down firmly with the flat bottom of a clean screwdriver.

Cake:

1 1/8 cups all purpose flour 1/4 cup dark cocoa powder 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream 1/2 cup butter, melted 2 tablespoons sour cream

Topping:

1 bag of large marshmallows

In a bowl, whisk egg and sugar until smooth and no lumps remain. Add milk, cream, butter and vanilla, and mix until combined. Stir in sour cream. Sift dry ingredients together and add to wet mixture. Mix until batter is smooth. Using a 1/4 cup measure, add batter to mason jars one scoop at a time. You only want to fill them up about half way, and the batter should work evenly for four jars. Again, don’t worry if it is perfect. Place mason jars in a baking dish and add about 1 1/2 cups of water to the bottom. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cake is set.

Remove cake from the oven and press large marshmallows down on top, being careful not to burn yourself. There is no set number of marshmallows to use; I pressed down as many as I could, about 4-5 each. Heat the broiler on your oven and watching carefully, brown marshmallows for about 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown. Do not take your eyes off them! Serve immediately.

One word: DELISH! :)