Streusel Topped Lemon Blueberry Muffins

These are my absolutely favorite kind of muffins that I love enjoying for breakfast on the weekends. With a tall glass of orange juice, my morning could not get any better.

Lemon Bread

I found this recipe in a cookbook we received as a wedding present years ago. The book is called New Dieter's Cookbook by Better Homes and Gardens. My roommate got it for us, and no, she wasn't hinting anything.

Lemon Cheesecake Bars

You wanna hear a secret?

I have a whole stash of boxed cake and brownie mixes hiding in my cupboard.

Sure, I prefer a cake made from scratch, but these boxed miracles are quite useful when used for things other than simple layered cakes.

They are my shortcuts to homemade oreos, bundt cakes, and these lemon cheesecake bars.

Some days everyone could use a little shortcut, right?

Lemon Cheesecake Bars

1 pkg of boxed Lemon cake mix
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 egg

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp lemon peel, grated
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Blend cake mix, butter and egg together with a fork and until a dough forms. Press on the bottom of an ungreased 13x9x2  pan. Set aside.

3. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Mix in powdered sugar, lemon peel and lemon juice. Reserve 1/2 cup of mixture and put it in the fridge. To the rest of the cream cheese mix, beat in eggs. Spread this over the cake in the pan.

4. Bake until set, for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely.

5. Spread reserved cream cheese mixture over cooled bars. Refrigerated until firm and chilled.

Alfajores

These are dulce the leche filled cookies that one can find from South America. That's all I know, and I won't pretend to know anything else about them.

What I do know is that these are yummy!

Alfajores

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon extract
2 tsp lemon zest

1 (11.5 oz) jar dulce de leche, or you can make your own
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)
Powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in yolks one at a time, adding extracts and zest with the last egg yolk.Fold in the flour mixture, forming a crumbly dough. Press into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 min to 1 hr. ( I had to add just a little bit of water to get it shaped, but it was still quite crumbly. It'll be ok!)
3. Roll out the dough (if still too crumbly, add a little water) to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out small round cookies and place them on the parchment paper 1/2 inch apart. Continue pressing the dough together, rolling it out and cutting.
4. Bake until set, not browned, for 7-10 minutes (mine only needed 8 minutes). Remove cookies immediately to cool on a wire rack.
5. Spread some dulce de leche on the underside of a cookie and top with another cookie. Roll the sides with coconut and dust powdered sugar on top.

Original recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Alfajores-Argentinean-Style/Detail.aspx

Note: Adding water may be against the rules but they still turned out great. Who said I was going to follow any rules anyway?

Thanks to my dear friend Corinne for inspiring and helping me to make these!

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups fresh/frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract/juice
• 1/2 cup milk
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  • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon butter, softened
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• 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
• 2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. In a small bowl, sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons flour over blueberries, and set aside. (This reduces "purple" batter)
• 3. In a large bowl, beat butter with sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, and stir in vanilla, lemon zest and extract. Fold in dry ingredients alternately with milk. Fold inblueberries. Fold gently, don't stir. Spoon batter into prepared cups.
• 4. Combine 2 tablespoons flour, 1/3 cup brown sugar ,and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in 1 tablespoons butter with fork until mixture resembles course crumbs. Sprinkle over batter in muffin cups.
• 5. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack. Drizzle some icing on top, if desired.
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• These taste the best the next day. Right on time for breakfast.

Lemon Cream Cupcakes

These lemon cream cupcakes have restored my faith in cupcakes! I've always been a muffin girl, but these babies sure made my day.

Lemon Cream Cupcakes

• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice or extract (more if you'd like)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sour cream

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add lemon peel, lemon extract and vanilla; mix well.

2. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (batter will be thick).

3. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups with 1/4 cup of batter. Leave some in the bowl to enjoy unbaked! Yum!

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• approx. 3 to 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar, depending how sweet you want it.
• Lemon juice
• Lemon zest

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the lemon juice and zest (amounts depend on how much flavor you want. I used about 3 tsp of juice and the zest of one lemon), then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Then just frost away!