Lemon Blueberry Cookies

My coworker who loves lemony things JUST came back from maternity leave last week. To celebrate, I made up my own lemony recipe. But more on that later. How adorable are the glasses I photographed these cookies in/on?!!!

When I was visiting my parents in Texas in Feb, my mom and I had a yard sale. Before we could even place the items out for sale there was a bunch of, "Wait! You're getting rid of that?!!! Oh, I'll take it." Well, my mom was getting rid of these cute glasses, so I grabbed them. Besides being gorgeous, it also helps that my new room has a purple color scheme.

Speaking of gorgeous things, the church I sang in last weekend was ornate and magnificent (like my singing). I kid...I kid. About the singing. I mean, I sang fine, but the church REALLY stole the show. I took some photos before the concert. Check St. Jean Baptiste church out:

I always tell tourists to wander into churches while in NYC. It's amazing what a huge, concrete filled jungle can produce.

Back to the production of the cookies. I pretty much took my chocolate chip cookie recipe and added some lemon zest and lemon juice. Mmmmm. They turned out to be quite refreshing and yummy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 stick of margarine/butter (I used butter from my local farmer's market)
1/2 cup of white sugar

1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 egg well beaten
1 cup and 2 Tablespoons of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla (use the real thing....imitation vanilla is a poser!)
Zest from 1 lemon
Half a lemon's worth of lemon juice
1/2 C dried blueberries (Add more to your liking)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix margarine, sugars, and egg together until margarine chunks are quite small and well beaten. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together and then stir until well mixed. Add vanilla and then mix. Add lemon zest and lemon juice and then mix. Then add the blueberries. Place dollops of dough on cookie sheet with plenty of room between each dollop. Bake 8-10 minutes.

Erika's Extra Notes: To get very lovely and soft cookies, take out of oven when they are still fluffy/slightly uncooked looking. They will cook more while cooling. If baking two sheets at once, make sure to switch the top to the bottom and vice-versa half way through baking.

Bake well and prosper!

Blueberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

The groundhog lied. Like, big time lied. If you've seen Spring, please send her to NYC, because it's still wintry here. The high temp on Sat was 34. THIRTY-FOUR! As you can imagine, I've gone a little bonkers. I even refused to run outside because I'm tired of bundling up. Me, who ran a half marathon in 3 degree wind chill, can't stand the thought of running in 30 degree weather at THE END OF MARCH. That's it, I'm moving back to TX.

One saving grace has been a lovely art installation on Park Ave, just a couple of blocks away from where I work.

Every time I see these, my spirits soar.

There's something uplifting about seeing giant roses. (And cute giant lady bugs!)

This whimsical "love letter to NYC" is by Will Ryman. Read more about The Roses on Huffington Post.

Another thing that has helped lift my spirits this long winter is good food, wine, and conversation. Which reminds me, I MUST share with y'all that I saw Martha Stewart at the Little Owl, where I had the pleasure of dining last Thursday. Seeing her there made me know I was in for some great food. (And man, was it!)

Speaking of good food, these Blueberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies have helped in the cold days here in NYC. (They have lemon and nutmeg in them. A great pick-me-up!)

Blueberry White Chocolate Cookies (adapted from Blisstree)

½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup shortening
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup dried blueberries
1½ cups white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silpat (if you like using either).
2. Cream together butter, shortening, and both sugars. Add eggs, vanilla, and lemon peel; beat until well blended.
3. Mix dry ingredients together; stir into creamed mixture. Blend well; add dried blueberries and white chocolate chips. (Erika's Extra: I used my Oh! Nuts dried blueberries. So flavorful!)
4. Drop by generous, rounded teaspoonfuls onto parchment baking sheets. Keep cookies about 2″ apart. Bake 8–10 minutes, removing from oven when just barely done.
5. Cool on pans 5 minutes; remove to cool

Yields 4-5 dozen depending on size and how much dough you eat

Erika's Extras: I felt like the amount of white chocolate chips was a little overbearing. I ended up having so many at the bottom of my mixing bowl. I would go with 1 cup of white chocolate chips.

Bake well and prosper!

Healthy Alternative Blueberry Muffins

I was so happy to receive an invitation a couple of weeks ago to sample some of Oh! Nuts products. I decided to get golden raisins, raw almonds, and dried blueberries. I chose to use the dried blueberries first and found a lovely blueberry muffin recipe.

*Side note: I couldn't stop eating these dried blueberries! They were so delicious and flavorful. Check out more products here: Oh! Nuts

On allrecipes.com I found a healthy version to the normal blueberry muffins. I have to say that I really enjoyed the combination of blueberries and whole wheat.

PS CBS has a new pilot show, "Rookies", that has been filming outside my apartment. It stars Leelee Sobieski. I would take pictures but it's getting a little redundant. First the Bollywood movie, then the Megan Fox movie. I might as well change my blog's surtitle to "Making it work in Hollywood²."

Applesauce Blueberry Wheat Muffins (from allrecipes.com)
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dried blueberries

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a muffin pan, or use paper liners.
2.In a large bowl, mix together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in applesauce, milk, and oil. Stir until moistened. Fold in dried blueberries. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.
3.Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Erika's Extras: Add white sugar to the tops of the muffins to make a little less healthy. :)

Bake well and prosper!