Blueberry Oat-Crumble Coffee Cake

I love to bake. And even though we try to eat as much whole food as possible, sometimes you just need to have some coffee cake. It's all about balance. That being said, I do try to adjust recipes to include healthier substitutions whenever possible.

Our local grocery store had a special on blueberries this week, so I picked some up with the idea of making a blueberry baked good of some sort. When I was browsing Pinterest for blueberry cake or muffins, there were a lot of recipes that were just over the top with sugar and oils, or just too many ingredients in general. I wanted something simple and easy to make, but that would turn out well and taste indulgent. 

This cake is all of those things. All the ingredients are things that should be pantry staples for most people, and it's quick to whip together. And the best part? It is probably the best blueberry coffee cake you'll ever eat. Moist. Bursting with blueberries. Perfect crunchy crisp on top. Divine.

Blueberry Oat-Crumble Coffee Cake
adapted from bluberrycouncil.org

topping:
1/3 c old fashioned oats
1/3 c almond flour/meal
1/4 c brown sugar
2 t cinnamon
3 T butter, softened

cake:
1 2/3 c flour
2 t baking powder
6 T coconut oil, melted
3/4 c maple syrup
2 eggs
1/2 c sour cream
1/4 c plain yogurt (full fat)
2 c fresh blueberries, set aside about 1/8 c to sprinkle on top of batter after it's in baking dish (frozen should work too)

1. preheat oven to 350°F
2. spray a 9x9 baking pan with non-stick spray.
3. make the topping: in a small bowl, stir oats, flour, sugar, and cinnamon. add butter and blend with fork until crumbly. set aside.
4. make the cake batter: in a large bowl, lightly beat eggs, then add coconut oil, syrup, sour cream, and yogurt and beat until blended. add flour and baking powder to bowl and stir until combined. gently fold in blueberries.
5. pour batter into prepared pan. evenly drop reserved blueberries on top of batter, then sprinkly the topping mixture evenly on top.
6. bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes.
7. let cool in pan 30 minutes before serving.

'the best' almond meal muffins (they really are good!) + mail day

I love finding recipes for healthy snacks that are also good to eat and easy to bring along with us. Coconut flour and and almond meal are great alternatives to both white and even wheat flour, but I prefer almond meal (I think it's a little easier to work with). I found this recipe online, claiming to be 'the best' Almond Flour Muffins, and so I tried them out. They are very unfussy to make and they taste amazing. The recipe is for blueberry muffins, and I added some lemon extract to make them lemon blueberry. I also made a separate batch with strawberries. I think the strawberry are my favorite, there is just something about a moist, crispy edged muffins with sweet juicy strawberries that I love. 

You can find the recipe here. I made mini muffins and shortened the baking time to 15 minutes instead of 25 and added 1 tsp lemon extract to the blueberry batch.

We also went to the post office today to pick up the mail and were excited to see find two more packages, one for Riggs and one for baby sister. I love when you order something online and it turns out to be even more adorable in person than you expected. That is how the headbands and leggings are from Lil Sugarlamb, I just love them! I also thought her packaging was just about the sweetest I've ever seen. 

I also ordered some Freshly Picked weathered brown moccs for Riggs. He lives in moccs in the summer - we use them instead of sandals unless he's going to get his feet wet. They are really comfortable for him plus they just look adorable. 

It was another gorgeous day so after making muffins we went back outside to play in the evening sun. Riggs had so much fun running through the sprinkler. After he ran through for a bit he ran over to me and said, "Riggy clean" and reminded me again when we got in the house that he didn't need a bath. Haha nice try, he still had to have a bath. I swear, in the summer it's a completely necessity to bathe him thoroughly every day before bed. I love seeing his dirty little feet and hands though because it means he had fun playing outside! All around it was a pretty amazing Monday, and I'm going to bed tonight thankful that the week started out so well.

weekending

Despite the cold temperatures, we had a wonderful weekend. Saturday Steve had to work, but Riggs and I went over to Sarah and David's to visit and to take some family pictures for them. Riggs and Lyla were so incredibly cute together, I just loved seeing them interacting so well!

Sunday daddy was home, but I was pretty sick so we stayed home from church and had a very lazy day. Steve was amazing and helped with Riggs most of the day, despite being sick himself. I felt miserable, but it warmed my heart and brought a (weak) smile to my face to look over and see the two of them snuggling it up.

It had 'warmed up' to about 10 above in the afternoon, so Steve took Riggs out for some skiing in the yard. I made sure to have some warm sugar cookies waiting for when they came inside. I made them in shapes to go along with one of Riggs' favorite books right now, The Tomten and the Fox. It's a beautiful, quiet story about what happens on the farm while we humans are fast asleep.

Riggs loved the cookie shapes, especially the little tiny 'Tomten's' I made just for him. He played with the fox and the little Tomten for a bit before eating them, so cute!

We woke up this morning to really cold temps. It was 15 below zero when I went out at 9am to feed the chickens. Brrrrrrr. I went right back inside to make them some warm oatmeal - I think they earned it for having to hang out in such cold temps all day and night! Those are some tough chickens!

fall means baking: molasses cookies

One of my favorite things about fall and winter is the baking. I just love to bake up lots of cookies and pies and breads. And there's one type of cookie in particular that personifies fall/winter baking for me: Molasses Cookies.

You know, rolled in sugar, nice and crackly, crispy on the outside and just soft enough on the inside. Mmmmmm! So good. I make batches and batches of these every single year from October to December, and they never get old.

Next time you feel like baking something, I highly suggest you pull up this recipe and get to work. Put on some good music, tie those aprons straps around your waist, and get to work.

Soft Molasses Cookies

[original source]

1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup shortening (soo bad. we use lard, much 'healthier' for you)
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 1/4 cup of regular)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt

3 TBS granulated sugar (for rolling dough in)

1 | preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix brown sugar, shortening/lard, molasses, and egg together until combined.
2 | Add in all the other ingredients (except sugar) and stir until just combined.
3 | Shape dough into round, 1 1/2" balls. Dip into sugar and roll around till covered. Place on ungreased cookie sheet about 2" apart.
4 | Bake 12-14 minutes or until just set and cookies appear dry. Immediately move to cooling rack.
5 | Try not to eat them all :)

These cookies are perfect for little ones to help with. Riggs loved rolling them in sugar and putting them on the baking sheet for me. He also loved trying to sneak some raw dough and eating as much of the sugar as he could ;)

These come out of the oven looking soooo perfect. I was strong and resisted the urge to stuff as many in my mouth as possible while they were still warm, but just barely. If you do decide to sneak one fresh off the cookie sheet, you will not be disappointed. And not only will the cookies taste amazing, but your house will smell amazing as they bake. Perfect!

Afterwards, if you or your helper are covered in sugar like Riggy was, feel free to take a quick bath. Sink baths are always a favorite around here!

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

There are so many reasons why I love fall, and crisp, juicy apples might just be one of my favorite reasons. We try really hard to eat what's in season (in summer at least - it's almost impossible to do that in the winter if we want to have anything fresh), and so we haven't had any apples all summer. We were waiting for Fred Meyers to get apples in from local, Northwest growers, since all the apples they've had so far this summer have been from New Zealand (at least that I've seen).

I was so happy last week when I walked into Freddie's and saw that they were finally there, piled high and gleaming in the bright, grocery store light. I packed a few bags of them home with me and started scheming about all the ways I could use them.

This week I decided that some hearty apple muffins would be just the thing for packing in Steve's lunches and enjoying with Riggs in the mornings with our yogurt. I was thinking diced apples, lots of oats, and a generous serving of cinnamon in every bite.

I couldn't find a recipe that matched the idea I had in my head, so I took bits and pieces from the recipes I did like to make my own. They turned out just how I'd hoped and we've been enjoying them as-is in the mornings and warmed up with a little vanilla ice cream in the evenings.

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

streusel
1/3 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 TBS butter, chilled and cut into pieces

muffin
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup flax-meal
1 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar (I make my own, using my friend Christine's recipe, here)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup + 2 TBS coconut oil (any oil will work, we just prefer coconut oil)
3/4 cup diced apples (I left the peels on and you couldn't tell at all in the muffins)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

For Streusel topping: in a small bowl, combine dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut butter in until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

Line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners or coat with butter (using the empty butter wrapper works well) or non-stick spray. You could also use a mini-muffin pan, which is what I always do since it's easier for Riggs to eat them.

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl, lightly beat eggs, then add sugar and combine. Add the rest of the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Make a well in the dry mixture and add wet mixture and stir. Gently fold in the diced apples. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and top generously with streusel topping.

Bake for about 16 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

breaking out the sewing machine

Riggs is ready for winter. Saturday I finally got my sewing machine back out from it's summer vacation and started working on a few projects I had been planning for a while. I had a pair of old, damaged heavy-wool Woolrich pants that Steve had lying around to make some nice winter pants for Riggs. They're definitely an outer layer meant to be worn in place of waterproof snow pants on the dryer days in winter. 

I love how they turned out, especially since I am such a novice at garment sewing. I added a gusset in the crotch so they would be easier to move around in, and a high, wide elastic waistband for comfort.

I also recycled an old sweater I had into some lighter weight pants for him, they turned out perfect! The little stripes are so cute. I love being able to use old things I have lying around to make into adorable and functional clothing for Riggs.

After all that sewing I was in the mood for a delicious fall dessert so I whipped up this incredibly recipe fro Apple Brown Betty from Ree at the Pioneer Woman. Warm, with a generous scoop of vanilla icecream. SO GOOD.

I hope your weekend was as lovely as mine was, filled with warmth, friends, family, relaxation and laughter. Fall is nearly here in full force people, aren't you excited?!\

*linked up with Nicole at Frontier Dreams for [keep calm, craft on]