[Low-Fat] Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup low-fat milk
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup packed fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degree F.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. In another large bowl, whisk together, egg, sugar, milk and oil until smooth and creamy (about 5 minutes). Add flour mixture into the batter, continue whisking until well combined. Using rubber spatula, fold in the blueberries gently.
• Fill about 1 and 1/2 tablespoon of the batter into each cup, or until it fills 2/3 of the cups. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, or until the toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Coxinha (Brazilian Chicken Filled Pastry)

Ingredients:

• 3 boneless chicken breasts
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2 cubes beef bouillon
• 3 cups water
• salt and pepper
• 2 stalks green onion, chopped
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• bread crumbs for coating
• cooking oil for frying

Directions:

• Cut chicken breasts into 2 inch cubes. Combine chicken, onion, garlic, beef bouillon, salt, pepper, butter and water in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes or until done. Remove chicken breasts.
• When the chicken breasts are cool enough, shred using hands or coarsely chop. Add chopped green onions and mix well.
• Bring the remaining broth to boil. Add flour to the boiling broth and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon for about 1 minute until it becomes dough. Remove dough from pan, knead until smooth.
• Flatten dough with rolling pin to about 1/4-inch thick and cut medium size circles with a biscuit cutter. Place dough in your palm, add a small cube of cream cheese and a teaspoon of the chicken filling. Make sure you can close the dough with the filling inside. Repeat the process until all the dough is used.
• Fold and close the dough in a shape of a drum stick. Baste the filled dough with egg wash and roll them over the bread crumbs. Deep fry the pastries at 350 F for about 8 minutes or until golden brown. 

Zucchini Blossoms Stuffed with Tomatoes and Parmesan

Ingredients:

• 8 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup plain dry breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
• 8 ounces ripe plum tomatoes, seeded, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 16 Zucchini blossoms

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Coat an oval baking dish with 1 tablespoon oil. Heat 5 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add breadcrumbs and thyme and stir until breadcrumbs are lightly toasted, about 3 minutes. Transfer to large bowl. Mix in tomatoes, cheese, eggs, garlic, salt and pepper.
• Fill Zucchini blossoms with breadcrumb mixture, using about 2 teaspoons for small blossoms and 1 tablespoon for large blossoms. Sprinkle any remaining breadcrumb mixture over baking dish. Place blossoms atop breadcrumbs in dish. Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoons oil over.
• Bake for about 20-30 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

Recipe is taken from Epicurious website.

Allergen Free (and Vegan) Lemon Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies that can make everybody happy. I mean EVERYBODY! It's gluten free, dairy free, nut free and even egg free. As a bonus, these cookies also taste amazing.

Ingredients:

• 3 to 3 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2/3 cup unrefined sugar
• 1 cup non-dairy (vegan) margarine, pre-softened
• 1/4 cup lemon zest, grated
• 1/4 cup silken tofu
• 3 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix together flour, tapioca starch, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate large bowl, beat together sugar, margarine and lemon zest until smooth and fluffy. Add tofu and lemon juice, mix well then add the flour mixture.
• Continue mixing with hand until the dough forms. Wrap in plastic sheet and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. 
• On the floured surface, flatten the dough into 1/4 inch thick using rolling pin. Cut into shapes with cookie cutter and transfer onto a lined cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for about 8-10 minutes, until they turn lightly golden brown.
• Cool down on the rack completely before decorating.

Royal icing ingredients:

• 1 cup powdered unrefined sugar
• 2 tbsp vanilla milk (or almond, or rice milk)
• 1 tsp light corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Assorted food coloring

In a medium bowl, mix together milk and powdered sugar. Add corn syrup and vanilla extract, continue whipping until the icing is smooth and creamy. If it's too thick, add a little bit more milk. Divide them up into separate bowls, add food coloring into each bowl and mix well.

Note: If you don't want to bother decorating the cookies with royal icing, you can form the cookie dough into 1 inch balls, roll them into a 1/4 cup of sugar until well coated, flatten slightly with your hands, and bake the cookies in the oven for 8-10 minutes.