Holly and I were recently tasked with providing the dessert course of a girls’ night dinner hosted by a good friend. As you can imagine, we agonized over what to make. Should we do individual desserts? Ice cream? (I just got an ice cream maker-stay tuned) Cookies? So many fabulous choices! Ultimately we decided on tarts. Holly did an amazing chocolate peanut butter tart that I hope she will share with us here soon. To balance things, I decided to do fruit tarts. I guess it was a good call, because I’ve had several requests for the Blueberry Lemon Cream Cheese Tart recipe…so here’s to you gals!…
Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Muffins. Oh, how I love you. And oh how very picky I am about muffins. Why? Well, if I’m going to eat cake for breakfast (because, let’s face it, they really are just unfrosted cupcakes that we all pretend are not desserts), I want them to be juuuuuust right. Not too sweet, definitely not too dry, and studded with the sweetest bits of tart fruit. After a long search, I’ve finally found a recipe for the best Lemon Blueberry Muffins and I’m going to share it with you today. You’re welcome.
I’ve long been a fan of America’s Test Kitchen and a few years ago was given a copy of their Family Cookbook (I use this edition; here is a link to the newest one). Like just about everything ATK does, this cookbook is filled with great, near foolproof recipes for just about anything you could want. One of my favorite finds in that book is the recipe for “Big Beautiful Muffins.” You guys, you have to have make these muffins. They are super easy to make and (scout’s honor!) turn out perfectly every time. I love to make a double batch and freeze them for later – 20 seconds in a microwave and they make a perfectly fresh on-the-go breakfast!…
Lavender Lemonade Tonics
This past weekend was girls’ weekend at the cabin. No husbands. No boyfriends. No kids. Only lots and lots of relaxation on the dock, good conversation, good food, and of course…cocktails. A summer girls’ weekend cocktail needs to be bold, different, and most of all refreshing. That is where these Lavender Lemonade Tonics come to the rescue!
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Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
Celebration indeed! This Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake will make everyone want to celebrate!
Ahhhh, vacation. Yep, that is right, vacation. Much needed, well-deserved, greatly enjoyed. Don’t we all love going on vacation? Well, my in-laws have decided to “winter” in Arizona 5 months of the year, truly living the ultimate vacation. Unfortunately that means that they aren’t always available to celebrate my youngest child’s birthday on his actual birthday date (in February). No problem, he’s now old enough to understand that not having grandma and grandpa here on his birthday just means presents in the mail (so awesome) and another celebration at a later date (even more awesome). Who doesn’t love another celebration?…
Lemony White Bean Salad-in-a-Jar
After a long weekend of holiday eating, I have decided to go with something lighter today, Lemony White Bean Salad-in-a-Jar. Yes, another salad. After all it’s spring, and all of the sudden the greens are plentiful and I actually crave them. And this particular salad, Lemony White Bean Salad-in-a-Jar, has some bonus features. This salad is portable AND is able to be made ahead of time. That means it is great for work, great for bringing to a dinner party, great to bring on a picnic (yep -I hold out great hope that picnic weather is coming soon!)….
Salmon with Lemon and Dill
I was once afraid of making fish. Very, very afraid of making fish. I was even afraid of buying fish (unless at a restaurant of course)! It seemed like such a mystery! But then my daughter, who was a super picky eater, starting ordering salmon in restaurants (She was about 6, and shunned most kid foods) I cannot count the number of strange looks we got from waitstaff. As you can imagine, this got expensive fast. At about the same time I bought a cookbook (sense a recurring theme here?) that had a salmon orzo salad in it that looked amazing. This was all happening around the time that I was just learning to cook and I have to admit, I was initially at a loss. But all roads pointed to learning to cook salmon at home, so that is what I did….
Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Waffles
These Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Waffles have been a huge hit with my family. Brunch, is my favorite meal, and if you haven’t noticed don’t worry, there will be many more brunch posts coming!. So many different things you can eat for brunch-sweet, savory, sweet AND savory! My kids, however, lean towards the sweet, every time. So when I was rifling through my many cookbooks (Shhh…I might have a little cookbook addiction) and food magazines, I found this beauty. We happened to be up at the cabin for the weekend, and when I decided to make these waffles for breakfast on our last day up there, there were three very enthusiastic supporters.
Waffles are a “all hands in” food in our house. My daughter measures ingredients, my son cracks the eggs, who ever is the most awake stirs the mixture, and my husband mans the waffle iron. We can churn out a very respectable stack of waffles in a very short amount of time, which is good when my clan is hungry. Luckily, these waffles are pretty quick, even if you’re making them on your own-hopefully while enjoying some alone time in the kitchen with a strong cup of coffee.
These waffles were perfect. Not overly sweet, just right. Tangy due to the addition of the lemon zest. Best of all, these Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Waffles allowed me to use up that last bit of ricotta left over in my refrigerator, and I do like to use up leftovers! Speaking of leftovers, if you run out of blueberry syrup before you run out of the waffles, you could try topping the waffles with a little bit of lime curd (from our last post)-I bet it would be fabulous!
What are some of your favorite brunch foods?

Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Waffles
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 4 Tablespoons sugar divided
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup skim milk
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 Tablespoons melted butter + extra for coating waffle iron
- 2 Tablespoons canola oil
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest + extra for garnish
- 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice divided
- 1 large egg
- 1 Cup blueberries + extra for garnish
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 200ºF.
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Mix dry ingredients (flour, 2 Tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a large bowl.
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Combine wet ingredients (milk, ricotta cheese, melted butter, canola oil, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, lemon zest and egg) in a medium sized bowl.
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Make a well in the dry ingredients, add wet ingredients to the well, and combine until moistened.
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Coat waffle iron with melted butter or cooking spray, to create a nonstick surface.
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Spoon waffle batter onto waffle iron (use amount suggested by your waffle iron manufacturer). How much you need to use per waffle will impact how many waffles you get...
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Cook until golden (my waffle iron has a timer, if yours does not, the cook time will be anywhere between 3-5 minutes).
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Place waffles on a plate in the 200ºF oven to keep warm.
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Repeat until batter has been used up and you have a plate of golden waffles
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In a small saucepan, combine blueberries, 2 Tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
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Bring blueberry mixture to a boil.
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Use a spatula, fork or wooden spoon (be careful here, your wooden spoon could get stained!) to mash the blueberries.
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Simmer for 3-5 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly.
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Serve waffles with syrup, garnish with additional blueberries and lemon zest!





