Breakfasts

Heat oven to 450°F. Reserve 1/2 cup blueberries for garnish. In a large bowl combine baking mix, milk, sugar, cinnamon and remaining 2 cups blueberries. Stir just until soft dough forms. Turn dough onto surface dusted with baking mix; knead 5 times. Roll 1/2-inch thick; cut dough with a 3-inch heart or other shaped cookie cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Gently re-roll and cut out scraps; place on cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. To serve: Slice biscuits horizontally in halves; spread apricot preserves on bottom halves; cover with tops. Serve with reserved blueberries and whipped cream, if desired. (Any unfilled biscuits may be frozen for later use.)

Yield: 8 servings

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray.  In a medium bowl beat eggs, peel, juice, 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the salt until well blended.  Pour into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan; set aside.  In a small bowl combine blueberries and the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar; set aside.  With the tip of a sharp knife, cut a 1-1/2-inch wide pocket in the side of each bread slice.  Fill pockets with reserved blueberry mixture, dividing evenly.  Place filled slices in egg mixture.  Let stand, turning once, until egg mixture is absorbed, about 5 minutes on each side.  Arrange bread on prepared baking sheet; sprinkle with almonds.  Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes, turning slices after 10 minutes.  Serve with Blueberry Orange Sauce.

Yield:  4 to 6 portions

In a medium-sized bowl, combine ricotta, butter and egg yolks until blended. In a small bowl, stir together flour, sugar and lemon peel. Stir dry ingredients into ricotta mixture. In a medium-sized bowl, beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold egg whites and then blueberries into batter. Over medium heat, form cakes by spooning 1/4 cup of batter per pancake onto a hot lightly greased griddle or skillet. Cook cakes, turning once, until browned, about 4 minutes. Serve with Blueberry Ginger Sauce.

Yield : 6 portions (24 pancakes)

In a small saucepan, thoroughly combine cornstarch with 1/3 cup cold water, stir in half of the blueberries, the sugar, cinnamon and black pepper. Over medium heat, bring to a boil; boil until sauce is clear, about 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in remaining blueberries; cool. Place warm waffles on dessert plates. Scoop ice cream onto waffles; top with Spiced Blueberry Sauce.

Yield : 4 portions

Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease 24 (1-inch) mini-muffin pan cups. In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour and sugar. Make a well in the center; add milk, egg and butter. Stir gently until mixture begins to form a soft dough; fold in berries; spoon into mini-muffin cups, dividing evenly. Bake until tops are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Yield : 24 mini-muffins

Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet. In a medium-sized bowl, combine biscuit mix and sugar. With a wooden spoon, stir in milk until mixture forms a ball; on a lightly floured board, flatten dough. Pat or roll out dough to make a 14- X 7-inch rectangle. Scatter blueberries over half of the dough (in a 7-inch square); fold over remaining half of the dough. Gently press to a uniform thickness. Cut dough in 4 squares (3-1/2 inches each); cut each square diagonally in both directions to make 16 triangles. Arrange mini-scones on prepared baking sheet.  Bake in upper third of oven until browned on top, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Yield : 16 mini-scones

For full size Blueberry Scones : Prepare dough as directed above; cut each square diagonally in half to make 8 scones; bake at 375°F until tops are golden, 12 to 15 minutes.

Yield : 8 scones

1.     To prepare filling: In a blender container, place cottage cheese, egg yolks, 3 tablespoons sugar and orange peel; whirl until well combined.  Add chopped almonds; whirl until smooth; set aside.
2.     To prepare blueberry sauce:  In a saucepan combine the remaining ½ cup sugar and the cornstarch.  Stir in orange juice and blueberries.  Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir until thickened and clear, about 1 minute.
3.    To assemble:  Place 2 rounded tablespoons of filling on each crepe.  Roll and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
4.    At serving time:  Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.  Bake filled crepes until hot, about 15 minutes.  Top with blueberry sauce, sprinkle with toasted almonds and, if desired, a dollop of sour cream.

Yield : 18 crepes

TO PREPARE CREPES:  In a blender container, place 4 eggs, 1 cup each flour and milk, 1-tablespoon light brown sugar and ¼ teaspoon almond extract.  Whirl until smooth.  Spray crepe pan with non-stick cooking spray; heat over medium heat until hot.  Add about 3 tablespoons batter to pan, tilting to make an even layer.  Cook on one side until crepe begins to brown, about 1 minute.  Place on a sheet of waxed paper, browned side up.  Repeat with remaining batter; layering the crepes with waxed paper.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove crusts from bread; cut in 1-inch cubes (makes about 10 cups).  Cut cream cheese in small cubes (makes about 1 cup).  Grease 9-x-9-2-inch baking dish.  Place half of the bread cubes in the dish.  Scatter cream cheese cubes and 1 cup of blueberries over the bread.  Top with remaining bread cubes and blueberries.  In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, maple syrup and butter.  Carefully pour over bread mixture. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes our clean, about 1 hour, covering with aluminum foil if edges brown too much.  To serve, cut in squares.  Accompany with additional maple syrup, if desired.

Yield : 9 portions

1.    Combine the flour, sugar, cardamom and salt in a processor. Pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse to pea size. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons water over flour; process 3 to 4 seconds until starting to come together (if dough looks very sandy, add water and pulse a few more times until clumping but slightly loose). Turn out onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Bring wrap up and cover top of dough; press to form 7-inch disk. Chill until cold.
2.    Divide dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll out on lightly floured board to form 1/8-inch thick circles approximately 5-inches in diameter. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; transfer circles to sheet. Spoon cookie crumbs into center of circles.
3.    In a large bowl, gently toss blueberries, nectarines, sugar and cornstarch. Mound fruit evenly in center of each circle, leaving a 1-inch border around edge. Bring pastry up and over filling just to form a 1-inch border. Brush pastry lightly with egg mixture and sprinkle with sugar. Chill until cold.
4.    Position oven rack in lower third of oven; heat to 425 F. Bake crostata 35 minutes until center lightly bubbles and crust is deep golden. Cool 15 minutes. Serve warm with gelato or lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Yield : 6 portions

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease twelve 2-1/2-inch muffin cups. Toss blueberries with 1 tablespoon of the flour. Combine the remaining 1-3/4 cup flour, the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt; set aside. Beat egg, sour cream and milk; stir into flour mixture until just combined (batter will be lumpy). Stir in blueberries until evenly distributed. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake about 20 minutes until golden.

Baking with frozen Blueberries:

For best results, stir unthawed blueberries lightly dusted with flour into batters.

Preheat oven to 425˚F. In a 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish, evenly spread butter over bottom and sides. In a blender jar, combine eggs, milk, flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla; blend until smooth. Pour batter into baking dish; bake until pancake is golden brown and puffy, 20 to 25 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small skillet over medium heat, heat blueberries and corn syrup just until the first blueberry pops, about 2 minutes; remove from heat. Remove pancake from oven; pour blueberry syrup into the center of the pancake; cut into 6 pieces. Serve immediately.

Ina a small bowl, stir together ricotta and preserves. Spoon an equal amount on each of the rice cakes almost to the edge. Arrange fruit slices in circles, on top of the ricotta mixture. Top each with 1/4 cup of the blueberries; serve immediately.