On the Mend

I had a little surgery today.  I fretted about it, but I am happy to report that all went very well and I am on the mend.

In honor of having gotten through my little procedure, I decided to roll up my sleeves and bake Kate some muffins this afternoon.  It was the least I could do.  She's been a constant cheerleader and even sent me a lovely Cookie Bouquet (with a funny note), wishing me a speedy recovery.  Little did she know that I would be well on the road to recovery by the time she got home from school.

My Get Well Soon Cookie Bouquet

My general approach to selecting a muffin recipe is to scan my pantry, fruit, and veggie drawers and take stock of what's looking a little old and tired.  This time, I came up with a box of blueberries and a couple of bananas.

Kate is my official taste tester.

The bananas were easy.  I whipped up a batch of Kate's Favorite "Crack" Muffins.  The blueberries gave me a little more opportunity to find something new and different.

I've recently become a big fan of Food 52.  In fact, Charlie bought me one of the cookbooks for Hanukkah and I love it.  Anyway, I had everything else the recipe called for so I made them.

I have to start by telling you that I love anything with coconut.  My mother-in-law never liked coconut, and that was just something I could never get my arms around?  How could anyone not like coconut?  Ted likes coconut, so at least that coconut didn't fall from the coconut tree.

But I digress.  The muffins were light and tasted like springtime.  There were just the right amount of blueberries, and a toss with with a little flour made sure the fruit was even distributed throughout each muffin.

Ted thought I was crazy to be baking in the afternoon after having surgery in the morning.  That was until he tasted the results.  I'd say we all deserved a little something sweet this afternoon.



Recipe:  Mom's Blueberry-Coconut Muffins
(Food 52)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 cup coconut, toasted
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 cup milk
1-1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Directions:

Preheat oven 400 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin and, if desired, line with paper muffin cups. Set aside. Sift together the 2 cups flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Stir in toasted coconut. Combine egg, melted butter and milk. Add to dry ingredients and mix lightly till combined. Toss blueberries with 1 T flour. This prevents the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffins. Fold into batter. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees F for 17-20 minutes or till they test done. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and finish cooling on a rack.