Oatmeal-Blueberry Muffins

I love blueberry muffins, but had never made them from scratch. We had some blueberries left over and I found this recipe on the Better Homes & Gardens website. Very quick and simple to make, very moist and delicious to eat.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease standard muffin pan or line with muffin bake cups.

Combine the following dry ingredients in a bowl.

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Mix the following ingredients together in a separate bowl (you can mix with a fork or whisk, an electric mixer is not necessary):

• 1 egg, beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Pour liquid ingredient mixture into dry ingredient mixture and stir just until moistened (batter should be slightly lumpy).

• 1 cup blueberries

Fold the blueberries into the batter. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each ~3/4 full. (Should make 12 regular or 36 small muffins. I made 9-10 because I was fairly generous with my filling.)

Bake at 400°F for 16-18 minutes (or 10-12 minutes for small muffins), or until done (toothpick in center will come out with just a couple of crumbs on it).

German Apple Pancakes

I can't remember where my mom first got this recipe, but for almost as long as I can remember it has been a family tradition to make these for breakfast on Christmas morning. For any who have not had a similar dish before, these are not the typical flat pancakes that most of us think of--they are literally pan cakes, cooked in a 9"x13" pan. All the eggs in them cause them to puff up and make quite the impressive display (show them off to your family quickly, though, because they settle a bit as they cool). Serve topped with powerdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, your favorite syrup (I recommend the Buttermilk or the Apple Cider syrups posted elsewhere on this blog), or all of the above!

• 2 tart apples (peeled and cut into thin slices)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 6 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 T butter
• Cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 400°F. Put butter in bottom of 9"x13" baking pan and place in oven to melt while you mix other ingredients and slice apples.

Add all ingredients (except apples and butter) into a blender and blend until smooth.

When butter is melted and sizzling, line bottom of pan with apples and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Pour batter over apples and bake at 400°F for 25 minutes. Remove and appreciate!Serves 6-8.

Buttermilk Syrup

This is a delicious syrup recipe that my mother-in-law shared with me. We had it at their home on Christmas morning served with German pancakes (though I think it goes great with any kind of pancake, french toast, waffle, etc.). I have also found that it stores well in the refrigerator and still tastes great when re-heated in the microwave. For those of you who have been to Magleby's Fresh restaurant in Utah, it reminds me of the buttermilk syrup that is served there.

• 1 cube of butter
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. light corn syrup

Place the preceding ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute and then remove from heat and add:

• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Syrup will foam up when the baking soda is added. Stir until it is mixed thoroughly. Serve immediately or syrup will lose its foamy consistency.

Buttermilk Pancakes

This recipe was given to Erin and I as part of a wedding gift from the Stevens family. We tried it and think it's very tasty. (We found that it also makes tasty waffles.)

• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 T. oil
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 T. sugar

Beat egg, buttermilk and oil in a bowl. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Combine wet and dry ingredients for 30 seconds. The batter will look lumpy. Do not overmix. Let it sit for 5 minutes. The batter should rise and look yeasty. Be careful ladling the batter (Preserve that matrix!).

Cook batter on a hot skillet.