It’s the first of the month, guys! And if you remember from last month’s post, that means it is time for another installment of our Friends First series! For those of you just joining us, Friends First is a new series meant to introduce all of you to some of my favorite blogging friends.
This month’s guest is no stranger to regular Eat Your Heart Out readers, but I couldn’t do a series on friends without including Stefanie from Sarcastic Cooking! Stef is not just one of my dearest friends on the web – she’s also one of my dearest friends in real life (though she’ll tell you more about how that came to be in a moment). Stef is a native to the Chicago area, former vegetarian (who saw the light…and that light was bacon…), mom to pug Weezer, and my sounding board for all things life, love, and blogging. I can’t wait for you to see this bread she’s made today, so I’ll hand it over to her!
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Hello again, Eat Your Heart Out readers! I am so happy to be back posting on Stephie’s blog. Since this is a series about friends, let me tell you how Stephie and I first “met.” I remember it like it was yesterday, when really it was almost a year and a half ago. I had only been blogging for about a month or two and who should find her way to my blog, but Stephie. I feel like it was totally random, but totally meant to be.
Stephie had commented on a few of my early posts. The one post that I remember her commenting on was about my blogging insecurities. I wrote about how it was hard not to compare yourself to other bloggers and want so much more for yourself blog-wise than what you have at that moment. Yes, a bit of a dramatic post for somebody that hadn’t even been blogging for a year…but that’s me.
Stephie expressed that she was feeling the exact same way. That comment made me go check out her blog. I realized we both lived in Chicago. We kept commenting on each other’s blogs, tweeted each other, and then started emailing. When Joy the Baker was coming to town for a book signing we finally met in person. The rest is history.
Now, thanks to Stephie, I not only have a real life blog friend and great cooking and baking sounding board, but I have a new found addiction to all Bachelor/Bachelorette shows and The Voice. Because I rrrrrreally needed another TV show to add to my viewing repertoire…
Since Stephie is my baking guru, I decided to bake something for all of you, our blog friends. This blueberry cobbler bread is the perfect bread to share with a friend because you know that if, let’s just say, you eat this and only this all day, that friend will not judge you. They will grab a slice and join in!
Adapted from the Joy the Baker Cookbook.
Blueberry Cobbler Bread
Ingredients
For the Bread:
- 1 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour
- ½ Cup Granulated Sugar
- ¼ Cup Packed Brown Sugar
- 1 ½ Teaspoons Baking Powder
- ¾ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 7 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 Large Egg Yolk
- 1/3 Cup Milk
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 ¼ Cups Fresh Blueberries
For the Topping:
- 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter cold
- ½ Cup All-Purpose Flour
- ¼ Cup Packed Brown Sugar
- Pinch of Salt
- Pinch of Cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Set the pan off to the side for later.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugars, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium/high heat until it stops crackling and turns brown. Once it is browned, remove from the heat and place off to the side to cool.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together egg, yolk, milk, and vanilla. Once the butter has cooled, slowly pour it into the bowl while whisking continuously. Make sure to use a rubber spatula to get all the brown bits out of the pan. Whisk until well incorporated.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Fold together. Once no flour remains, add in the blueberries and fold until well incorporated. Add the batter to the loaf pan.
- To make the topping, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Use your fingers to blend all the ingredients together until they are about the size of oats. Sprinkle the topping all over the top of the batter.
- Bake the cobbler bread for 55 to 65 minutes until fully risen and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Notes
Thanks, Stef! Be sure to follow Sarcastic Cooking on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest so that you never miss a single delicious post.
Love it!! Plus, as hard as this is to believe, I just bought 4 boxes of blueberries to munch on. I think I need to make this bread for us to nibble on next week. Yum!
I met Stefanie through foodbuzz when it was still around. She prepares delicious food and this is no exception.
I might differ with your taste in TV, however…hahahaha
Not everyone can be as cool as Stef and I. It’s our burden to bear.
This is how blogging should be 🙂 !! Yum, this looks like tomorrow’s breakfast to me!!
…and lunch…and snack…and dessert…oops, at the whole loaf in a day!
What better way for two blogging friends to finally meet than a joy the baker book signing?? That’s so awesome! This bread looks delicious 🙂
It was seriously the best possible blogger blind date. 🙂
My whole family is addicted bread, I’m going to add this to our list for the week! Yum! Do you think frozen blueberries would be OK?
My experience is that frozen berries will work in things like this, but they might turn the bread kind of weirdly grey, so be very careful when folding them into the batter.
I love the story of your friendship, and I ADORE the looks of this bread. I will most certainly be making it.
Let us know how you like it! Although how could you not love bread with a yummy crumb topping?? 😉
AWwwwwww that is SO SWEET! I love how close you two are and I adore each of you and totes wish I could hang with you!
If you ever make it out to Chi, you are TOTALLY going to hang with us! 🙂
you two should have a girls trip to NYC 😛
I love how blogging can bring people together!
Isn’t it great? I’ve met so many amazing people that I never would have known about if not for blogging. It’s been such a blessing.
Everything from the blueberries, to the cake-like texture, to that mouth watering topping looks delicious to me! Quick breads are wonderful! I have read about NY food bloggers who have regular informal monthly gatherings and I’m jealous that nothing like that exists in St. Louis. Do Chicago bloggers have anything like that? Connecting with people who “get it” is so important, no matter what the “it” is. 🙂
If something like that exists, I don’t yet know about it. So Stef and I usually just get together on our own and cook our little hearts out. Someday maybe others will join us in our Chicago awesomeness. 🙂
Lookit how cute the two of you are! This bread is killing me with all them blueberries and sweet moistness! Headed to Sarcastic Cooking to say hello!
This bread was great! I did use frozen blueberries dusted in a little flour. Really nice flavor and topping. It’s a “keeper” 😀 Thanks.