Blueberry Surprise Cupcakes!

                                                                       

Would you like to take a bite? I know you would! Moist, delicious vanilla cake with a gooey fresh blueberry middle! Then top that off with a luscious buttercream frosting! I am telling you, it does not get any better than this!

Blueberry Filling:

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Water

2 Heaping Tablespoons Cornstarch

Dash of Salt

1 Pint Fresh Blueberries, washed & stemmed.

In a heavy sauce pan stir together the cornstarch, sugar & salt. Stir in the water & cook until very thick, cooking over medium high heat. Once very thick, gently stir in the blueberries & add the vanilla! cook & stir just until the thick mixture has turned blueberry blue! Remove from heat & let cool to room temperature! Wait until you have your cupcake batter mixed up to do anything with this blueberry goodness!

Cupcake Batter:

1/8 Cup Butter Softened

1/8 Cup Shortening

3/4 Cup Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

2 Eggs

1&1/2 Cup Flour

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

Dash of Salt

1/2 Cup Sour Cream

Sift the dry ingredients together, but do not add the sugar! In a mixing bowl beat your butter & shortening until fluffy. Now add the sugar & beat that until fluffy. Now beat in the eggs & vanilla. Now, beat in 1/3 of the dry mixture. Add 1/3 of the sour cream & beat, add more of the flour mix & then the rest of the sour cream, finish by beating in the rest of the flour mixture! Line 12 cup cake wells in your cupcake pan with foil cupcake cups. Spoon in 1, heaping tablespoon of the batter making sure it covers the bottom of the well. Now spoon in about 1 heaping tablespoon of the blueberry filling. Go back & cover each cupcake with batter! Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes! Remove from oven & let cool until completely cool before you frost with the Buttercream Frosting!

                                                                                   

                          

                  This is how they look once baked! Just wait for that frosting, then YUMMY!

Frosting:

1 Cup Milk

1/4 Cup Flour

1 Cup Soft Butter

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

Dash of Salt

2 Teaspoons Vanilla

Stir the milk into the flour& salt, in a heavy saucepan stirring & cooking over medium high heat. Cook until smooth & very thick. Remove from heat & let cool! In a large mixing bowl beat the softened butter once it is creamy beat in the sugar & beat very fluffy! Now beat in your cooled milk mixture. Beat very well, then beat in vanilla & finish beating! This is amazing buttercream frosting! It is perfect for these cupcakes!

                                                                       

                      This recipe makes 12 large, wonderful cupcakes! You may easily double the recipe to make 24 cupcakes! I keep these in a covered container in the refrigerator!

Cupcakes!

I am trying a new cupcake recipe today! It involves fresh Blueberries & Butter Cream too! If they turn out, I will share them with you!
                                       

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Hello Judy's Foodies! If you wish to stay up to date for all of my newest recipes feel free to click on the follow button on this blog. You may also follow me on Twitter at JAEU2 as I post all of my recipes there as well. To follow my blog on Blogspot is always free! I also post my latest recipes on Pinterest at Judy Johnson on Pinterest! My Facebook page is also Judy Johnson & you may follow me there for every new recipe + I repost the oldies but goodies there as well! Never miss a NEW or a GREAT recipe again! Remember to bookmark Judys Foodies & bookmark all of your favorite recipes too! I have over 600 original & terrific recipes so browse through them all, you will find great ideas that you will not find anywhere else! 
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Caramel Chocolate Cookie Bombs

                                                                             

These are delicious, A very nice sized cookie about 3 inches across & 2 inches high. They have a crisp sandy cookie texture with a lot of chocolate caramel drops in every cookie! A new & tasty cookie. These store very well & stay crisp!

1 Cup Butter Softened
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 Cup Vegetable Oil  
2 Eggs
2 Tsp Vanilla
4&1/3 Cups Flour
1 TSP Salt
1 TSP Baking Soda
1 TSP Cream Of Tartar
2 & 1/2 Cups Milk Duds or any other Chocolate Covered Caramel Candy Drops you choose!

Beat the butter, add the sugars & beat again. Now add the oil & beat again! Beat in the 2 eggs & Vanilla. Sift the flour, cream of tartar, & the salt together. Slowly beat into your butter mixture. Now stir in the chocolates by hand. Spray your cookie sheets. Roll the cookie mixture into large balls about 1 & 1/2 HEAPING Tablespoons of dough per ball.  Roll in granulated sugar. Place at least 2 inches apart on prepared sheets. Gently press down slightly with the palm of your hand.  Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes or until lightly puffed up & browned! Let cool on the sheet for a few minutes then remove to cool! Makes 3 dozen  large cookies.

Fresh Blueberry Pie

                                                                         

Bursting with goodness this pie is a winner! Thick filling full of fresh plump berries & not running, not to thick & gluey either just right!

The flaky crust bakes up perfectly to hold all that goodness!

Crust:

2 Cups Flour

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Heaping Teaspoon Sugar

1/3 Cup Butter, very cold butter cut into small pieces & kept cold!

1/3 Cup Shortening

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

5 Tablespoons Cold Water

I used my Kitchen Aid to mix up this crust & it worked out beautifully! By hand is ok too! In the bowl put in the flour, salt, & sugar, mix well, use the dough hook attachment! Now cut in the butter & shortening until you have very fine crumbs. Now add enough water & the vanilla, mix only until the dough comes together, do NOT over mix. Now divide the dough & roll out the bottom crust on a well floured surface. Place in your 9 inch pie pan, crimp the edges. Now gently line with foil, Dump in about 2 cups of raw rice & spread out gently over the bottom. Bake this in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven & carefully lift out the foil & rice. You now have a blind baked bottom crust that guarantees a crispy & brown bottom crust! Set this aside while you make the filling,

FILLING 

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Water

4 Heaping Tablespoons Cornstarch

Dash of Salt

1 teaspoon Vanilla

3 Pints Fresh Blueberries washed, drained, & stems removed!

Stir in a deep heavy saucepan the sugar, cornstarch, & salt. Whisk in the water & vanilla. Cook & stir over medium high heat until mixture is thick & starting to bubble. Continue to cook & stir as you gently stir in the blueberries, folding them in . as soon as the mixture turns from a clear white to blue, remove from heat. Set aside as you roll out your top crust!

TOP CRUST:

Roll out remaining 1/2 of the dough on a well floured surface, until you have a large circle big enough to cover you pie with a 2 inch extra to fold under & crimp! Fold the circle in 1/2 & cut small slits in the center of the dough at the fold! This lets the steam escape! Carefully lift over your pie & unfold the dough, Fold the extra edges under the rim & crimp the edges! I then sprinkled a tablespoon of sugar over the top. Bake pie at 375 degrees in a preheated oven for 40 minutes or until the crust is nicely brown & pie is bubbling! Let cool to room temperature , or chill to serve! Top with  whip cream or vanilla ice cream if you desire! YUMMY HEAVENLY PIE! From start to finish this pie took about 1 hour to assemble & bake! If you wish to save time use a store bought crust, but it cannot come close to the taste & flakiness of this beauty! If you do not want a top crust & want to use crumbs instead mix up the following crumbs & skip the top crust!

CRUMBS:

1 Cup Flour

1/4 Cup Sugar

2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

Dash of Salt

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon; optional

1 Heaping Tablespoon Shortening

Mix all the dry ingredients together well. Cut in shortening until you get fine crumbs. Sprinkle over the pie filled with your berry mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for the 40 minutes!

Pierogi Mac & Cheese with Bacon!

                                                                     

Oh my goodness, this is amazing! Cheddar Potato Pierogies baked up like Mac & Cheese with Crispy Bacon on top! You can thank me later!

2 bags of Mrs. Smith Cheddar Potato Frozen Pierogies

3 Tablespoons Butter

3 Heaping Tablespoons of Flour

Dash of Red Pepper

1 Teaspoon Paprika + more to sprinkle on top

1 Tablespoon Parsley +more for on top

4 Cups Whole Milk

4 Cups  Shredded Cheddar Cheese, I used a blend of Colby - Jack

1 Pound Bacon Cooked Crisp & Crumbled. I did mine in the microwave between thick layers of paper towel. It took 7 minutes to cook crisp but check yours at 5 minutes as microwaves vary!

Cook Pierogis according to package & drain. In the pot you cooked the Pierogis, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour to make a smooth paste, cook over medium heat. Now whisk in the milk, cook & stir until thick bubbling. Now stir in 3 cups of the cheese! Stir & cook until cheese is melted. In a deep glass casserole dish, sprayed with cooking spray or buttered, spoon in about 1/4 cup of the cheese sauce. Now lay in one layer deep of the cooked Pierogis. Continue in layers until all is used. Spoon cheese sauce over the top for the last layer. Now cook for 40 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven uncovered. When the 40 minutes is up pull the casserole out & sprinkle the last cup of cheese evenly over the top. Now sprinkle the bacon over that! Top with a sprinkle each of parsley & paprika! Put back in the oven for 15 more minutes! This makes 6 hearty portions! 

                                                                         

 

   

Fresh Mint Brownies with Fudge Frosting

                                                                             

These are amazing brownies that use fresh picked mint! My husband has a lot of mint growing in his garden & I wanted to try something other than tea or jelly. These brownies are a variation of The Pajama Chef's Fudgy Mint Brownies found on the blog The Pajama Chef! They are wonderful! If you do not have fresh mint & cannot purchase any from your local store or local produce stands you may use mint extract using 2 teaspoons instead of the mint leaves. But the fresh mint is the perfect touch for these brownies. I did change a few ingredients in this recipe & this version is excellent! 

The Brownies:

1 Cup Fresh Picked Mint Leaves wash pat dry & remove all stems 

1/2 Cup Butter Melted ( I melted mine in the microwave)

1 Cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1 Teaspoon Vanilla; or 2 teaspoons mint extract, IF, you are not using the mint leaves!

1/3 Cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder

1 Cup Flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees,

In the Food processor pulse the mint leaves until very fine! If you do not have a processor just chop the leaves on your cutting board, a meat cleaver does a fine job but the processor saves you  lot of work! If not using a food processor just continue the directions using your mixer,

To the mint leaves that you have minced very fine add the melted butter & mix on high! Now beat in the sugar blending well! SMELL THAT MINT! Now beat in the 2 eggs & vanilla extract if using the fresh mint OR the mint extract if not using the mint leaves. Now add the cocoa & beat! Now beat in the flour! Batter will be thick, dark, minty & oily, the perfect brownie batter! Spray a 9x9 inch pan with cooking spray. Spoon in the batter & smooth evenly in the pan. Bake for exactly 25 minutes! Remove from oven & spread the frosting on while brownies are still warm!

FUDGY FROSTING:

3 Tablespoons Butter Melted

1 Tablespoon Honey

1 Tablespoon Milk

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

3 Heaping Tablespoon Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa

Melt Butter, stir in Honey & Vanilla. Whisk very well. Now whisk in the cocoa & sugar, add the milk & whisk smooth! Do this all by hand it is very easy to make! Spread over warm brownies & let cool before cutting into squares! This makes 1&1/2 dozen very decadent brownies!