These recipes originally appeared in the May 2022 issue of HomeLife Magazine.
My sweet friend, Holly, texted me early one morning to see if I wanted to go for a brisk walk through the neighborhood. Because we live just down the street from one another, and are on similar work schedules, it makes Holly the perfect walking buddy. Not to mention I love her company. Five minutes later, Holly bounced onto my front porch while carrying a plate of home baked, hot-out-of-the-oven blueberry muffins. Did I mention she likes to bake too? What a friend!
Upon my return home, I made a beeline to that plate of still warm muffins for a nibble. They tasted like they were from a local upscale bakery — even better — with an amazing texture, unusual tang, and not-too-sweet finish. I instantly called Holly for the recipe.
When I finally glanced over the ingredients, truth be told, I was a little disappointed to learn that it called for buttermilk. My husband and I aren’t buttermilk drinkers and it’s not a staple in our fridge. Having a strong aversion to waste — keenly aware our grocer only sells buttermilk in quart containers — I was concerned about what to do with the leftover milk. But I gave it a little more thought by flipping through the archive of recipes in my brain. Nothing. I just couldn’t come up with another use for the buttermilk. No huge dilemma for sure, but to be fair I had just completed a spring-cleaning kitchen purge, vowing that no more one-off ingredients would take up valuable real estate in my fridge. Still, I really wanted to make (and share) those muffins.
So, after a little digital research, I discovered a website that allows you to simply search recipes by ingredients. Check out epicurious.com for this resourceful tool. I simply entered “buttermilk” in the search bar, and literally dozens of recipes, both savory and sweet, popped up for my perusal. Crisis averted.
Now I have a great tool for using up all my other one-off ingredients — allowing me to keep my waste-not-want-not plan in place.
This spring I hope you find new inspiration in your kitchen, whether through a fresh spring-cleaning, new mouthwatering recipes, or money-saving tips.
Speaking of tips, Holly says she always uses her extra buttermilk in her World’s Best Pancake recipe, so I included that one too. Enjoy!
Blueberry Muffins ▼ Makes a dozen muffins
Ingredients:
3/4 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. granulated sugar
5 Tbsp. butter (melted)
1-1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1 egg
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 c. blueberries
3 Tbsp. raw sugar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, sugar, butter, lemon zest, egg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until smooth. Gently fold in flour and blueberries until just combined. Divide batter evenly between muffin cups then sprinkle tops with raw sugar. Bake until the tops are golden brown and the toothpick comes out clean (about 18 minutes). Move to a wire rack. Serve warm.
Tip from Laura
If you don’t have a lemon handy, you can use two tablespoons of lemon juice as a substitute.
Texas Sheet Cake ▼ Makes 12 servings
Cake Ingredients:
1 stick butter (melted)
5 Tbsp. cocoa
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 c. brewed coffee
1/2 c. brown sugar
1-1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Icing Ingredients:
1 stick butter
3 Tbsp. cocoa
1 c. pecans (chopped)
1 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. milk
16 oz. confectioners’ sugar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. For the cake, in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the stick of butter. To the melted butter, add the cocoa and stir to combine. Remove from heat and add the oil, brewed coffee, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, flour, buttermilk, soda, salt, and vanilla. Mix the ingredients well. Grease pan and transfer batter to pan, spreading evenly. Bake cake for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, make the icing. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add cocoa and stir to combine. Remove from heat and add chopped pecans, vanilla, milk, and confectioners’ sugar. Stir to combine well. When the cake comes out of the oven, cool for about three minutes, then pour icing over the entire top of the cake while it’s still warm.
World’s Best Pancakes ▼ Makes 4-6 servings
Dry Ingredients:
2 c. + 2 Tbsp. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
Wet Ingredients:
1/4 stick of butter (melted)
1/2 c. milk
2 c. buttermilk
Directions:
Preheat the griddle to 350 degrees. Measure dry ingredients and place in a large bowl. Mix well. Place wet ingredients in a smaller bowl and whisk. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients all at once. Carefully (with the minimum amount of stirring necessary) combine wet and dry ingredients. Let the batter sit for five to seven minutes. Add a little butter or oil to the griddle. Pour 1/3 cup of batter onto the griddle. When the edges of the pancake appear dry and there are bubbles in the middle, it’s time to flip the pancake. Cook flipped pancake for another minute, then remove it from the griddle to a warm plate in a 150 degree oven until all are ready to serve.
Tip from Laura
Add a tablespoon of lemon juice to the pancake mix for extra flavor.
