Day 26: Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies by Theresa Gill

Today's guest blogger is my cousin, Theresa. Theresa is one of those people you can't help but want to be around. I first mentioned her a few weeks back when we signed up for the Chicago Marathon. Theresa is a busy mom of two absolutely adorable kids. One of my few older cousins,  I have always looked up to her. I have loved being able to grow up with her. She is inspiring, thoughtful and really really funny. There are times we still giggle like we are 10 when we get together :)

With our cousin Andrea (middle) going to see the Mega 80's!

Theresa's cookie will be the perfect solution to busy mornings! I am going to make a bunch of these and freeze them. Enjoy!

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Top of the Muffin (Cookie) to YOU!!!

When my cousin Stephanie asked me to be a "guest blogger" I was a little worried. After all, my baking skills don't go much further than the Chocolate Chip Nestle Tollhouse Recipe. I also make a mean Oatmeal Raisin every once in a while, but how boring is that?

My daughter, Katherine, started Kindergarten this year. Each morning is a whirlwind of getting dressed, brushing teeth, and eating breakfast. The other morning I had my famous chocolate cookies sitting on the counter and that's exactly what Katherine wanted at 7am. I'm sure every parent has experienced these exhausting mornings. After debating with my very persistent 5 year old for 10 minutes about how eating cookies for breakfast is "not healthy" or a "good start to the day", she finally gave in with tears running down her cheeks and had a bowl of Frosted Flakes...Just kidding. No sugar cereal over here just a good old fashion bowl of Cheerios.

Then the idea came to me...A breakfast cookie!! Well, after googling "breakfast cookie" I found I wasn't the only one with this idea. In fact, there were millions of recipes. I started to search and most of them looked, well, just pretty gross (and okay, maybe a little complicated). HMMM....I proceeded to google blueberry muffins and then I saw the ray of light...Blueberry Muffin Cookies. I found a few recipes and came across one that looked simple and tasty. Better yet, they were called "Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies" and I immediately thought of an episode from one of my favorite all time shows, Seinfeld..

Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup salted butter, softened

1 cup sugar
1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 teaspoon lemon zest, about 1 lemon

1 cup frozen blueberries, thawed and drained

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, set aside.

2. In the bowl of your mixer, cream together butter and sugar until well combined. Add in egg and beat until combined. Add milk, almond extract and lemon zest then beat until combined.

3. Slowly add dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and mix until combined. Gently fold in blueberries. The dough will seem too thick, but just keep at it!

4. Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour, then shape into large balls. Bake 6 to a baking sheet for 13-15 minutes, or until slightly golden brown on the bottom, and set on top. Do not overbake, Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool all the way.

Katherine: YUMMMMM!! TASTY!!

The Cookies were delicious. So good that I had 3 myself (It's a good thing I'm just a guest blogger). The lemon zest is what gave it superb flavor. They tasted exactly like a blueberry muffin top. I'm excited to try different variations such as adding oatmeal, applesauce, orange zest, flax seeds, etc. TOP OF THE MUFFIN-COOKIE TO YOU!!!!