wild blueberry recipe Archives

We’re finally beginning to feel the crisp Fall air here in the Northeast, which means that Halloween is around the corner. My husband I are thinking about dressing up as Johnny and Baby from Dirty Dancing – it’s one of my all-time favorite movies, and I just love the soundtrack to it. But we’re also wondering at what age are we too old to dress up? I’m thinking never.

I love Halloween, and I love dressing up. Perhaps it’s the theatrical kid in me who used to act in all her high-school plays and musicals. Maybe that part of me still loves dressing up and “playing the part.” I also love all of the fun crafts and treats that come along with Halloween. It never ceases to amaze me but when the end of October rolls around, every food item that pops up in my newsfeed is a silly or spooky witch, bat, ghost or spider. I don’t consider myself a particularly crafty person, and I’m always impressed by what people are able to create for their Halloween parties.

If you’re not particularly crafty either, I’ve got good news for you. The Halloween recipe I’m sharing today requires no craft at all, just following a few simple instructions. If you’ve made homemade cut-out sugar cookies for the holidays, you’ll be golden.

This cookie recipe is an old family one with a few minor tweaks like swapping out one stick of butter with Greek yogurt and replacing about half of the white flour with whole-wheat. And if you’re no fond of your kids decorating cookies with artificial food colors, I’ve got even more good news for you. The icing is naturally colored from Wild Blueberries!

Now, I know you’re used to seeing me use frozen Wild Blueberries for smoothies, but the culinary possibilities with these little berries are endless. I reduced the frozen Wild Blueberries over the stovetop, blended them to a thick fruit puree and then strained it to remove any solids and used the strained liquid as my natural food dye! It’s pretty amazing how we can use produce and spices to make natural food dyes for icings and frostings.

Your family will love this recipe for Halloween. The cookies are sweet (but not overly sweet) and have a subtle Wild Blueberry taste. Enjoy them at your Halloween party and remember, you’re never too old to dress up!

Growing up, making mini bread loaves was a holiday tradition in our home. My mom churned out dozens of little loaves of pumpkin bread and packaged them up as gifts for neighbors, coworkers, and friends. I still make a dairy-free version of that pumpkin bread, but I also love to experiment with mini- loaf recipes packed with delicious new flavors.

My latest venture is a Sweet Cornbread spiked with a generous smattering of flavorful Wild Blueberries.

Wild Blueberries are a neat surprise to have around the holidays, since people typically think that blueberries are merely a summer fruit. One of the great things about Wild Blueberries is that you can enjoy them all year round because they are flash frozen, within 24 hours of harvest locking in their nutrition and flavor. You can pick them up in the freezer section of most supermarkets – even Trader Joe’s has them!

Wild Blueberries are also smaller in size when compared to regular blueberries, which means you’ll get more berry in each bite compared to regular blueberries. Because they have twice the antioxidants of cultivated blueberries, Wild Blueberries also provide more intense blueberry flavor to my sweet cornbread recipe. Yes, higher nutrition equates to more flavor! Cool, huh? Wild Blueberries are tasty little super-fruits that Mother Nature has perfected over 10,000 years. I’ve only been perfecting my mini loaf recipes for a decade or so, but I think this one is definitely worthy of those sweet-tart gems.