Lemon Belgian Waffles with Blueberry Syrup

I can't believe I've had this blog for nearly 10 months and I haven't posted one waffle recipe yet! Breakfast foods are some of my favorites to make (and blog) so I can't tell you why I've waited until now to do a waffle post. 

In my home I make pancakes and french toast more often than waffles and I think one reason I prefer to do so is because with Belgian waffles you can only make one at a time. With pancakes and french toast I can make like 6 at a time. I've been wanting to buy one of the Belgian waffle irons that cooks two at a time. I have a long list of kitchen gadgets I want, you'd think the list would get shorter as I get more things but it just gets longer. I don't get into fancy clothes and home decor just fancy kitchen accessories =). I'm running out of kitchen storage space.

Anyway, thanks to this recipe I know waffles are going to make their way into my home far more often, even if it means cooking one at a time until I get a double Belgian waffle iron. These are crisp on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. Just as a waffle should be. You get a perfect flavor combination when you pair the vibrant, citrus flavor of the lemon waffle with the sweet, mellow flavor of the fresh blueberries. I decided to add a little bit of applesauce in this recipe rather than doing all oil. I like to be just a little healthy when I can =). If you want to you could replace the applesauce with more oil or butter but I do love them just as they are. Also, if you didn't notice I added the lemon poppy seed variation at the bottom. All you have to do is add poppy seeds since these are already lemon. Enjoy!

Lemon Belgian Waffles
Yields 5-6 waffles


Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup milk 
2 Tbsp vegetable oil (or melted butter, cooled)
2 Tbsp applesauce
2 large eggs, separated
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
2 Tbsp lemon juice


Directions:
Preheat a Belgian waffle iron (and butter if necessary). In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together buttermilk, milk vegetable oil, applesauce, 2 egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. In a small mixing bowl, using and electric hand mixer, beat 2 egg whites until soft peaks form.
While whisking, slowly add flour mixture to buttermilk mixture and whisk just until combine (don't over-mix, batter should be slightly lumpy). Using a rubber spatula, gently fold egg whites into batter just until combine. Cook batter (mine fit about 3/4 cup) on waffle iron according to manufactures directions, until golden (cooking time will vary depending on brand and model of waffle iron). Slowly lift lid when removing waffle from iron so waffle doesn't split. Serve warm with Blueberry Syrup, Vanilla Cream Syrup, Maple Syrup or butter and powdered sugar. 

Lemon Poppy Seed Variation: simply mix in 3 Tbsp poppy seeds into flour mixture and prepare as directed. I would recommend serving them with Vanilla Cream Syrup and if you want to make it Lemon Vanilla Cream Syrup just add a little bit of lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Blueberry Syrup


Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 cup cold water
2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen works too, I use frozen when not in season)
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice


Directions:
Whisk together sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Stir in water, add blueberries and lemon juice. Cook mixture over medium high heat, stirring frequently until mixture reaches a boil. Once mixture reaches a boil, reduce heat to medium low and allow to gently boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Pour syrup into a blender, cover and blend on low speed about 1 minute until well pureed. Alternately, if you don't want skins and seeds, force mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Store in refrigerator up to one week (You will likely have some left over, it makes great blueberry lemonade. Just add cold blueberry syrup and lemon juice to sparkling water to taste).


Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

Healthy Protein Smoothies

A healthy breakfast smoothie that tastes like dessert, I will take one of each flavor please. I'm a firm believer that healthy foods don't need to taste like cardboard, indeed they can be just as delicious as their unhealthy competitors. I don't know if I've mentioned before but I always like to have a healthy, low calorie breakfast and lunch, then at dinner I splurge a little and always have dessert. I exercise 6 days a week because I think it's a good balance for me. I watch Food Network while I run on the treadmill, it always keeps me going =). For breakfast I try to keep it around 300-400 calories 6 days a week (every Sunday I make a big brunch and splurge), so I like to have banana oatmeal, whole grain cream of wheat, whole grain cereal with almond milk or these smoothies with almond milk. Yes, I've made the change over to almond milk. I didn't believe it when I heard some random fact of how many people prefer the taste of almond milk to milk until I tried it myself. I always buy the Vanilla or Original flavor that's 60-70 calories per serving (I always check the label because some have tons of added sugar therefor a lot more calories. I never buy unsweetened). Don't get me wrong though I still love milk, I just prefer almond milk a little more and the fact that has less calories than milk is a definite bonus. The almond milk goes great in these smoothies. 
I love how these are healthy AND delicious! They are packed with protein and antioxidants and they are a good source of fiber. Thanks to that protein and fiber these smoothies will fill you up and keep you going. Pictured is 1/2 serving sizes, so yes, you get two of those glasses per serving listed! Enjoy these smoothies and share! Pass along a nutritious treat.

Banana Berry Oat Smoothie
Yields 1 large smoothie


Ingredients:
1 cup Almond Milk Plus Protein, divided (I used So Delicious brand with 5g added protein)
1/4 cup quick oats
1 (5.3) oz Strawberry or Blueberry Nonfat Greek Yogurt
1/2 overripe banana, chilled
1/2 cup fresh blueberries, chilled
5-6 ice cubes


Directions:
In a large microwave safe bowl, combine 1/2 cup Almond Milk with 1/4 cup quick oats. Microwave on high power 2 1/2 minutes. Pour cooked oat mixture into a blender along with remaining 1/2 cup almond milk, Greek yogurt, banana and blueberries. Blend mixture on low speed for 2 minutes or high speed for 1 minute. Add in ice cubes and puree until well blended. Serve immediately.


Nutrition:
366 calories per serving, 21 grams of protein 


Note: if you want an even colder smoothie, stir the oatmeal after microwaving and allow to cool at least 5 minutes before blending into smoothie.


Pina Colada Smoothie
Yields 1 large smoothie


Ingredients:
1 cup Almond Milk Plus Protein, divided
1/4 cup quick oats
1 (5.3) oz Vanilla or Strawberry Nonfat Greek Yogurt
1/2 overripe banana, chilled
1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple, chilled
1/4 tsp coconut extract
5-6 ice cubes


Directions:
In a large microwave safe bowl, combine 1/2 cup Almond Milk with 1/4 cup quick oats. Microwave on high power 2 1/2 minutes. Pour cooked oat mixture into a blender along with remaining 1/2 cup almond milk, Greek yogurt, banana, pineapple and coconut extract. Blend mixture on low speed for 2 minutes or high speed for 1 minute. Add in ice cubes and puree until well blended. Serve immediately.


Nutrition:
364 calories per serving, 21 grams of protein


Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Smitten Kitchen in my opinion should be known as one of the greatest food blogs ever. Not only are Deb's (the Genius behind Smitten Kitchen) recipes amazing but her photos are equally amazing. To say they are drool worthy would be speaking lightly. I love how you can always tell each photo is hers, she has her own unique style. Also, she has a way with instantly selling me. I always wish I was holding in my hand, ready to blissfully dive into whatever it is she posts. The Blueberry Crumb Bars she posted looked simple yet ever so stunning. I've had them on my to do list for about a year now. Why I waited this long I can never tell you. These things are unbelievable! A dessert so good you will nearly be at a loss for words when describing it's goodness. Yet, I will attempt. 

You get a melt in your mouth, buttery and tender shortbread, layered with fresh, sweet, juicy blueberries and then it's sprinkled with more of that delicious, buttery cookie goodness (then here is where my addition came in to play), and finally it's sprinkled with one of my very favorite things, Raw sugar. So, with that said, how could these not be simply fantastic? 

I did add some vanilla extract into the recipe to amp up the flavor of the dough just a bit, I think it compliments the blueberry perfectly. The original recipe, from allrecipes.com listed you could optionally add a pinch of cinnamon, so feel free to add that as well.

I am so in love with these bars because my favorite part of a blueberry muffin is the crumb topping (as well as the blueberries) and basically that is what these are. The crumb topping of a muffin with blueberries sandwiched in the middle. So, yes indeed, these are one of the best things I've ever eaten. These should definitely hold a spot on the Food Networks "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" and I should definitely be doing the spot lighting haha just joking but that would be awesome =). Enjoy these ever so dreamy Blueberry Crumb Bars! I know I did.

Blueberry Crumb Bars
Yields 9-12 bars (this recipe is half the original recipe)


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon zest
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup salted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
2 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cups fresh blueberries, at room temperature
1 1/2 Tbsp Raw Turbinado sugar


Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter an 8x8 baking dish, set aside. In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolk and vanilla until combine. Add egg mixture and cold butter cubes to flour mixture and using a fork or a pastry cutter (or even your fingertips), cut mixture together until it resembles coarse crumbs. Gently press 2/3 of the mixture evenly into prepared 8x8 dish. 
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 2 tsp cornstarch. Stir in lemon juice then add blueberries. Toss mixture to evenly coat then pour and spread coated blueberries evenly over crust in baking dish. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over berry layer (I pressed some of the mixture together in my hands while sprinkling to make larger crumbs). Sprinkle 1 1/2 Tbsp Raw Turbinado sugar evenly over top. Bake in preheated oven for about 38 - 42 minutes until top is golden brown. Allow to cool for about 20 - 30 minutes before cutting into squares (or serve warm with vanilla ice cream, yum). Store bars in an airtight container in refrigerator (Note: I tried these cold, straight out of the refrigerator and I preferred them warm vs cold. Just a personal preference. I would say if you like cold berry pie then you would like cold bars but I like my berry pies warm so I loved these bars warm. So, with that said, when I would eat one I would heat in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds to rewarm it first).


Recipe Source: adapted from Smitten Kitchen and allrecipes.com

Banana Berry Frozen Yogurt

Ice Cream so healthy it can be called a nutritious (and so delicious) breakfast! Yes indeed. Officially this is Frozen Yogurt but I'd say it's good enough to be called and compared to Ice Cream. I was amazed with how well this turned out considering I didn't add any cane sugar (other than that of the sugars in the Greek yogurt) and also considering how incredibly simple it was to make. I've mentioned before I like to have dessert every day, so I've decided maybe I should start making some of them a bit healthier (just once in a while =) and more figure friendly. In my opinion this does make an amazing breakfast, I honestly felt great about serving it to my kids for breakfast. After one bite my three year old said "Mom, I need two Ice Creams." One just wasn't going to cut it. This is definitely kid approved. I wish I always had these ingredients on hand so I could have this for breakfast or dessert everyday. Enjoy!

 I made the swirls using a chop stick (in case you were wondering), I wanted it to be like the soft serve frozen yogurt you get at the ice cream shop but I don't have the soft serve machine to do the swirling so I had to improvise.

Banana Berry Frozen Yogurt
Yields about 4 servings


Ingredients:
3 (5.3 oz) containers Strawberry Greek Yogurt
3 large overripe bananas, chilled
1 cup fresh blueberries, chilled 
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp lemon juice
2-3 drops red food coloring, if desired


Directions:
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend mixture until smooth, about 1 - 2 minutes. Pour mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to manufactures directions about 25 - 30 minutes. Serve immediately for soft serve frozen yogurt or freeze for about 3 hours for firm frozen yogurt (also, if you like it soft but don't want to eat it immediately you can freeze it until ready to use, then thaw for about 10 - 20 minutes on the counter top and stir).


Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

Blueberry Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting and Blueberry Sauce

Why?? Why do I keep making cupcakes to just have around to temp me so all day long? Well, I love them so I'm not going to stop making them. I guess I'm just going to have to gift them a lot =). 
These cupcakes will basically leave you speechless! I made this recipe because the lemon blueberry combo is one of my new favorites. I'm so proud of the how the results turned out with this recipe (sorry I just have to brag a little about these)! You get a fluffy, moist, blueberry cupcake generously covered with an amazingly delicious, fluffy and flavorful lemon buttercream frosting and then to finish it off its drizzled with a nearly pure blueberry blueberry sauce. Yes, they melt in your mouth! 
P.S. if you're like me you may want to serve them with a side of blueberry sauce. I've never done it with a cupcake before but I kind of served it up like a pancake. I kept drizzling each bite with more blueberry sauce. I just couldn't get enough of it! I should be the new thing in cupcakes if you ask me, cupcakes with a side of sauce for dunking or drizzling.
Good luck stopping at just one cupcake with these...

Blueberry Cupcakes
Yields 12 cupcakes


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest (the zest of about 1 large lemon or 1 1/2 small lemons)
1/4 cup sour cream
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup frozen blueberries


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, blend together melted butter, vegetable oil and granulated sugar until well blended, about 30 seconds. Stir in egg, vanilla and lemon zest. Blend in sour cream. Add in flour mixture alternating with buttermilk in two alternate batches, blending until combine after each addition. Fold in frozen blueberries. Divide mixture evenly among 12 paper lined muffin cups, filling each one about 3/4 full. Bake cupcakes 20 - 25 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely then frost cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting and drizzle with chilled blueberry sauce. For best results, serve immediately after drizzling with blueberry sauce. Store in an airtight container.


Lemon Buttercream Frosting


Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
2 - 3 Tbsp heavy cream
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon zest
Yellow food coloring, optional


Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer blend together until smooth and fluffy about 1-2 minutes. Tint with yellow food coloring if desired.


Note: if you don't want the piled high style of frosting (if you don't like a lot of frosting) then half a batch would be enough. Personally I don't normally like a lot of frosting but this frosting is so good that I liked the piled high style for these, plus it made for prettier piping with the blueberry sauce =).


Blueberry Sauce


Ingredients:
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup water


Directions:
In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar and cornstarch. Mix in blueberries and water. Bring mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Once mixture reaches a boil, reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Pour mixture into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth (I blended about 30 seconds on low speed in the blender). Cool mixture completely in the refrigerator or freezer before drizzling over cupcakes.


Note: I made this recipe to be more than enough sauce for drizzling the cupcakes. I liked it so much that I piped some of the sauce over the top then I served the cupcake with additional blueberry sauce. I loved it just that much =), but if you don't want that much blueberry sauce then half of the batch listed would be enough. You could always make the full batch and if you have left over you could use it for pancakes, smoothies or drizzle it over your favorite Greek yogurt (or just eat it by the spoonful its basically just pureed blueberries, yum).


Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

Blueberry Lemon Brownies with White Chocolate Glaze

I have the feeling this are going to be my new favorite summer dessert. Simply said, I want to stop everything I'm doing and devour the entire pan =). I thought it would be exciting to create a fun brownie recipe that's not your average chocolate brownie, something different that people haven't tried before. I've seen several different lemon brownie photos on Pinterest so I decided I wanted to create my own version.  What goes better together then lemon, blueberry and white chocolate? My husband said these are one of his new favorites, which I was excited by because normally he doesn't care much for lemon. Guess these are just that good =), even those who don't like lemon love these brownies.

Blueberry Lemon Brownies with White Chocolate Glaze

Yields 9 brownies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg

2 large egg yolks

3/4 cup granulated sugar

6 Tbsp butter, softened

1/4 cup sour cream

1 Tbsp lemon juice (the juice of about 1/2 lemon)

2 tsp lemon zest (the zest of about 1 lemon)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup fresh blueberries

1 Recipe White Chocolate Glaze, recipe follows

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat egg and egg yolks on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add in sugar, butter, sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla, mix until well blended. Add in dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Fold in blueberries. Pour mixture into a buttered 8x8 baking dish and spread into an even layer. Bake 30-34 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached (I used chilled blueberries so mine took about 33 minutes).  Allow Blueberry Lemon Brownies to cool completely, then pour White Chocolate Glaze over top and spread evenly over brownies (I poured it in the center so it didn't all run down the sides of the bars, then I spread it out near the edges). Cut into squares (for cleaner cutting you can freeze bars for about 10-15 minutes to help glaze set before cutting).

White Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients:

1/2 cup white chocolate chips, or 3 oz. chopped white chocolate

1 1/2 Tbsp milk or half-n-half

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave mixture on 50% in 20 second intervals, stirring after each interval until melted and smooth.