Tag Archives: Blythe Danner

Blueberry Muffins with a Song

Posted on July 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

Perhaps you watched the Disney channel offering of Hamilton released for July 4th, as I did.  I did enjoy it, but was happy not to have spent hundreds of dollars for a ticket.  I also watched an old seventies favorite, 1776, with a young Ken Howard as the tall red-haired Jefferson and Blythe Danner as his wife Martha. Although it may be sacrilegious to admit, I liked the latter better.

My favorite part of the movie is Blythe Danner singing “He plays the violin,” as she dances with John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.  I replayed it several times.

I have a recipe from Blythe Danner, published in one her daughter ‘s (Gwyeth Paltrow) cookbooks.  Since I had all the ingredients, I made the blueberry muffins for dinner.  So delicious – I could have danced all night (but that’s another movie).

Here’s the recipe if you’d like to try it.  All you need to enjoy them is some butter and a fiddle.

INGREDIENTS
  • 1/2cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  • 2eggs (preferably organic)
  • 1/2cup whole milk
  • 2cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 3/4cup plus 1 tsp sugar, divided
  • 2teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/2cups fresh blueberries
DIRECTIONS
  1. Heat oven to 375°. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
  2. Whisk butter, eggs and milk in a bowl. Combine flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients; fold in blueberries.
  3. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups; sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp sugar.
  4. Bake until muffins are golden brown and a knife comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

 

 

Leave a comment

Posted in comfort, comfort foods, recipe, Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , ,

Blueberries

Posted on June 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

The boat came in and the local Whole Foods offered a quart of blueberries for the price of 1/2 a pint.  Now I have blueberries stocked in my frig.  I’ve made Blythe Danner’s wonderful blueberry muffins with more blueberries than she has in the recipe, and blueberry scones – a combination of two recipes found in the local newspaper.  My friend tells me I will be so healthy from eating all these blueberries, but I’m wondering if I will turn blue – like Violet in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  The thought has not stopped me from gorging on beautiful blueberries.  Do you have a favorite recipe?

Blueberry Scones

  • 3 cups of flour (I used 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup white)
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder (be sure it’s fresh – not been in your cupboard forever)
  • a pinch of salt (about 1/2 teaspoon)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup of butter (I used Earth Balance but Julia would approve of the butter)
  • 1 cup cold buttermilk (mine was  low-fat)
  • blueberries (anywhere from a cup to 2 1/2 cups)

Some recipes include an egg, but my scones were fine without.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Combine the dry ingredients and cut in the butter as though you were making a pie crust – until crumbly.  Stir in the blueberries.  Add the buttermilk to bind it all together into a soft dough.  Knead a few times and shape into a rectangle (or round – depending on the shape of your cookie sheet).  The dough should be about one inch thick (I used a ruler to check).  Cut the dough into wedges (about 8) and bake on center rack until golden – 25 to 30 minutes.

Serve warm.

I did experiment with refrigerating and freezing some.  As long as you warm them before eating, they are as good as out of the oven.

Related Article: Blythe’s Blueberry Muffins

Leave a comment

Posted in recipe

Tagged , , , , , ,

Blythe’s Blueberry Muffins

Posted on July 7, 2011 | 2 comments

Gwyneth Paltrow offers a healthier version of her mother’s (Blythe Danner) blueberry muffins in her cookbook, My Father’s Daughter, with spelt flour and agave nectar, but she admits that it’s her mother’s muffins that she craves.

So, I decided to make the mother lode…

For one dozen muffins, you’ll need:

  • 1 stick butter (8 tablespoons), melted and cooled
  • 2 large eggs (organic)
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 cup fine salt
  • 2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together the butter, eggs, and milk. Combine flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir into wet ingredients, and fold in blueberries. Divide among lined muffin cups, and sprinkle tops with remaining teaspoon of sugar. Bake until brown and toothpick tests clean – about 25-30 minutes. Eat warm.
Related articles

2 Comments

Posted in recipe

Tagged , ,