Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

While I still have one blueberry recipe left up my sleeve, I figured it was time for a little change of pace, or change of ingredient in this case. As January draws to an end, we are once month closer to the end of winter and therefore the end of pumpkin spice everything, at least until next year. Trader Joe's is the absolute king of pumpkin spice. Starting in late September every year, they begin to stock their shelves with pumpkin spice flavored granola, pumpkin spice chai lattes, pumpkin spiced pumpkin seeds, and honestly anything you can think of probably comes in pumpkin spice flavor around this season at TJ's. While we are already two months into winter, I realized I hadn't made anything in that category this year. So for my last and final call on MOD (inpatient ward month) I figured it was the perfect time to whip out the spice and make something nice. 

Blueberry Grilled Cheese

So I found some french loaf bread and remade the sandwiches (pictured above) - so much better with thick bread! 

I'm going to say, I'll probably be sick of blueberries soon,  as much as you will be sick of hearing about blueberries.... but not yet! Here's another blueberry inspired dish, in sandwich form. And once again, a guest appearance by Goat Cheese (one of my favorites :D). I saw a picture of a blueberry grilled cheese on Pinterest and was dying to make one. With that giant flat of blueberries I got from Trader Joe's, there was plenty of berries to go around. 

Blueberries and Cream Cookies

I've been on a bit of a blueberry craze recently if you couldn't tell already. And while the blueberry lemon muffins were quite delightful, I was looking for something more along the lines of a cookie -- a blueberries and cream cookie to be more exact. I fell in love with this cookie the first time I went to Momofuku Milk Bar in New York City. It easily became my favorite cookie of all time, to the point where my sister and my friends were bringing me dozens of frozen cookies all the way back from NY as bridal shower and christmas gifts. One of my friends had recently been making batches of these cookies so I figured I'd give it a go myself. I'd have to admit that these aren't exactly like the bakery's own cookies but they come pretty close and are pretty darn good regardless. Although they turned out a little flatter than I would have liked they are mighty chewy and delicious - a nice quick fix as opposed to spending $600 on a flight to NYC. Recipe adapted from Christina Tosi's Momofuku Milk Bar. Note I have tried this recipe using cups vs grams and using a kitchen scale definitely made better cookies so I have listed the recipe in grams below (with US measurements next to it). 

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

It's not exactly spring yet, but I couldn't resist picking up a beautiful box of blueberries at Trader Joe's last week. Outside of making a blueberry grilled cheese sandwich, what better use for them than for some call day blueberry lemon muffins. Moist yet crispy on top, these will melt in your mouth. I also had a few lemons left in the fridge that needed to be used up hence the blueberry lemon muffins. Not to mention it was the perfect excuse to use these absolutely adorable silicon baking cups by "Fred and Friends" that have been sitting in the cabinet for months now. 

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

Which ever wonderful soul came up with nutella should get some major props for such an ingenious combination of chocolate and hazelnut. You can seriously eat this stuff out of the jar, it's that good. So why not mix it into a cookie? Toss in some chocolate chips and chopped up hazelnuts and you will have the ultimate nutella cookie. But beware, you won't be able to stop at one so by all means, please share! I would be willing to taste test :D.  This reminds me of a magnet I once saw at a small little gift shop in Solvang: "God, if you can't make me skinny, please make my friends fat."