Baking Away....

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen this past weekend with our guests in town trying out a couple new recipes and an old favorite. We did eat out quite a bit but I was able to sneak in a couple things for breakfast.

On Friday night I made Raspberry-Almond Muffins for Saturday morning. I personally have had better muffins like these ones but everyone else seemed to enjoy them. If you want to decide for yourself here's what you'll need...

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons almond paste

1/4 butter, softened

2 large eggs

1/2 cup fat-free buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

Cooking Spray

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar or granulated sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Place first 3 ingredients in a food processor; process until well blended. Add butter; pulse 4 or 5 times or just until combined. Add eggs, 1 at a time, pulsing after each addition. Add buttermilk, vanilla and juice; pulse until blended.

3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Add buttermilk mixture; stir just until moist. Gently fold in raspberries. Let batter stand 5 minutes. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray or lined with paper liners. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake at 375 for 22 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pan immediately; place on wire rack.

I personally thought the bites with the raspberries were the best:)

I also made a Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake. You can find the recipe here with better pictures than what I usually take (they must have a very well lit kitchen). It was awesome...thank goodness for Pinterest otherwise I don't think I'd be spending so much time in the kitchen. I secretly love it!