Mondays

ahhh. . . the sound of nap time. . . quiet. Both kids are sleeping at the same time (that doesn't usually happen!). I am just going to take advantage of it. I have a lot of things going on and need to focus, which is really hard to do since I would rather curl up in a ball and fall asleep. But. . . must. . . keep. . . moving.

I know it may sound weird, but I am kind of a big fan of Mondays. Mondays are my recovery days. It's a day for me to recuperate from the weekend (or the crazy week before!) and focus on the upcoming week. I usually tidy the house (I like to start and end the week clean) and do laundry. Most of the time, I can fit some baking in, which is fun for me. Today, I needed to fit a Costco run in because we were getting incredibly low on wipes and needed a rotisserie chicken for a crockpot chicken tortilla soup I am going to try tomorrow.

I am really excited for Easter this year. It's kind of busy around here leading up to it, but Ethan is now old enough to do a lot of these fun activities and so, I got the resurrection eggs finished last night (don't worry, I plan on blogging about them!) and am preparing some other fun activities to share the real story of Easter with my children.

So, to start out this week, I am going to leave you with a recipe for one of the most amazing blueberry muffins you have ever tasted. . . plus it includes one of my favorite things. . . brown butter. . . enjoy!

Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins

by Joy the Baker

Ingredients:

7 tbs unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1 lg. egg

1 lg. egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

3 tbs. cold butter, choppped

1/2 cup flour

3 1/2 tbs sugar

Directions:

Put a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Keep an eye on the butter. Melt and cook down the butter until little brown bits appear in the pan. The crackling will subside and butter will begin to brown fairly quickly after that. Keep a close eye. Remove from heat. Whisk milk, egg, yolk and vanilla until combined. Add the brown butter and stir to combine. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl Add milk and butter mixture all at one and stir gently to combine. Gently but thoroughly fold in the blueberries. Divide the batter among muffin cups and spread evenly. To make the topping combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the cups. Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes then remove from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Have a great week!