Lattice Blueberry Pie

Ingredients
Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup ice water
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
Cooking spray

Filling:
1 cup sugar, divided
3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 cups fresh blueberries
1 1/2 tablespoons butter or stick margarine, melted
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation
To prepare crust, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 1/4 cup flour and ice water, stirring with a whisk until well-blended. Combine 1 1/4 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl; cut in shortening with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add slurry; mix with a fork until flour mixture is moist. Gently press two-thirds of dough into a 4-inch circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap; cover with additional plastic wrap. Roll dough into a 12-inch circle. Press remaining dough into a 4-inch circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap; cover with additional plastic wrap. Roll dough into a 9-inch circle. Freeze both portions of dough 10 minutes. Working with larger portion of dough, remove 1 sheet of plastic wrap; fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap.

To prepare the filling, combine 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a bowl, and sprinkle over blueberries. Toss gently. Stir in butter and vanilla. Spoon blueberry mixture into crust.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Remove top sheet of plastic wrap from remaining dough. Cut dough into 6 (1 1/2-inch) strips. Gently remove dough strips from bottom sheet of plastic wrap; arrange in a lattice design over blueberry mixture. Seal dough strips to edge of crust. Place pie on a baking sheet covered with foil. Sprinkle lattice with 1 tablespoon sugar.

Bake at 375° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until crust is browned and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.

Snowflake Cookies - Great for Decorations!

Prep: 2 hours (including decorating); Cook: 12 minutes; Chill: 2 hours.

Yield: Makes 20-24 (3- to 4-inch) cookies (serving size: 1 cookie)

Ingredients
COOKIES
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole-wheat flour or whole-wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Meringue Icing

Preparation
In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, and salt.

In large bowl, combine sugar, oil, and butter; beat with a stand or hand mixer at low speed until blended (about 3 minutes). Increase speed to high; beat until light and creamy (about 3 minutes), occasionally scraping side of bowl with rubber spatula. Reduce speed to low; add egg whites and vanilla, beating until smooth. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; beat just until blended.

Divide dough in half; flatten each half into a disk. Wrap each disk with plastic wrap; refrigerate 2 hours or until dough is firm enough to roll.

Preheat oven to 375°. Using a floured rolling pin, roll 1 dough disc to 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Use cookie cutters to cut out as many cookies as possible. With a lightly floured spatula, place cookies 1 inch apart on an ungreased large baking sheet.

Bake cookies until lightly browned (about 10-12 minutes). Transfer cookies to wire rack; cool. Top with meringue icing. Repeat procedure with remaining dough and trimmings.

Coconut Cupcakes!

Recipe by Amber Bonny Burhans. Prep and Cook Time: 45 minutes, plus about 40 minutes for cooling and frosting.

Yield: Makes 30 cupcakes

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons each vanilla and almond extracts
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon each baking powder, baking soda, and salt
1 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut, plain or toasted
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 3/4 cups powdered sugar

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream together 2 cups butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in 1 1/2 teaspoons each vanilla and almond extracts.

In another large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter and sugar mixture in 3 batches, alternating with coconut milk. Stir 1 cup flaked coconut into the batter.
Fill 30 paper-lined muffin cups (1/2-cup capacity) in two or more muffin pans about 2/3 full with batter.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before removing muffins from pans. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, 3/4 cup butter, and 1/2 teaspoon each vanilla and almond extract until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Frost cupcakes and sprinkle with remaining coconut.

Recipe Challenge - Mini Apple Cake

Don't know if this ever happens to you, but Trevan and I buy our produce at Costco, but because it is only the two of us, fruit usually gets too soft and over ripe before we can finish it all. My solution? Baked goods! It might not be the best thing for my waist line, but I would not have it any other way. The past couple weeks I have been making Apple cake with old apples. I found this recipe online, and I hope you enjoy the photos and enjoy making the recipe yourselves. We certainly enjoyed eating them at our Wednesday night Bible study!

I modified the recipe a bit to serve my taste buds, I am sure you might want to add or take out a couple things to dit your tastes.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. Oil
3 c. apples (cut into small pieces, or totally pureed)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
3 eggs
3 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1 c. coconut, shredded
1 c. chopped nuts
1 tsp. baking soda

Directions:
1. Mix eggs and sugar till the mixture is soft and well blended.
2. Add apples and oil and mix well.
3. Add dry ingredients and mix on low.
4. Mix in the coconut and nuts.
5. Hear oven to 350 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown. To ensure that the mixture is completely cooked just insert a toothpick in the cake and when you pull it out it should come out clean.
6. Frost with your favority glaze and enjoy!

Recipe Challenge - Rice with Coconut and Milk

This recipe was submitted by Myriam Gutierrez and I know many of you have been waiting for this recipe because it is absolutely delicious!

Ingredients:
½ Cup of Rice
1 Condensed milk (can)
2 Cinnamon Sticks
2 Cups of coconut (bag of shredded coconut)
Milk
Water
Pinch of salt

Directions:
1. Cook the rice with enough water to cover the rice over one inch.
2. Add the cinnamon sticks and a pinch of salt (just what you can grab with the tip of your fingers).
3. Cook the rice and add more water (if needed) until rice is soft, aprox 30 – 45 minutes. If needed add more water to obtain the desired consistency.
4. In the meantime, blend milk (liquid) with coconut (not too much, just to blend both ingredients together).
5. Add this blend to the rice and keep stirring, if rice gets too thick add more milk and cook it on low, stirring constantly.
6. Lastly, add the condensed milk and cook for a little bit just to get the sweet flavor on the rice.

If it gets too thick add milk (liquid).
Rice should be soft and sticky, not too dry.