I love cookbooks.   Seriously, I am that dork that keeps a shelf FULL of cookbooks and cooking magazines just for inspiration and ideas.   When the opportunity to review Farmer’s Daughter, A: Recipes from a Mennonite Kitchen came up, I jumped at the chance.  I ADORE home-cooked comfort food type recipes and this book just screamed family favorites.  In fact, when I first received it and was flipping through it, a few family favorites were in it!

My favorite cookbooks are those hardcover seasonal ones from magazines like Taste of Home or Southern Living.  This is nothing like those.   BUT!   Oh and the but is a big one (pun intended), the recipes in A Farmer’s Daughter are simple.  And DELISH!

I made these Lemon-Raspberry Crumb Muffins (page 55) and I may or may not have skipped lunch and ate a half dozen of them.    The recipe was super easy to follow and the ingredients were pretty common and I actually had them all on hand!    The directions were perfect, though I still second-guessed my self as to whether they were done because they were soft in places (where the raspberries were), but I followed her directions (fingers-crossed) and she was spot on.  They are so good I can’t stand it.

One of the things in A Farmer’s Daughter that move it to the top of my list is the variety of categories.   If you’ve read a Mennonite cookbook before, it’s typically pretty good about using what’s in season or what you have and this does that as well.  But it doesn’t just include your normal categories or foods by season but has Appetizers, Dips & Beverages, Spring Salads AND DRESSINGS(!), Summer Sandwiches and Winter Soups, Garden Fresh Veggies, Comfort Food & Sides and Simple Do-It-Yourself Recipes.   In addition to Breads, Main Entrees, Desserts & Cookies, Cakes & Bars.    I swear, she thinks the way I think.  My family favorite cookbook is set up in a very similar way.

And she has allowed all of us on the tour to pick a recipe from her book to share so I’m sharing the Lemon-Raspberry Crumb Muffin recipe from Dawn Stoltzfus with her permission:

Lemon-Raspberry Crumb Muffins

  • 2 cup raw or white sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream (I had sour cream on hand)
  • 1 cup salted butter, softened
  • 2 Tblsp. lemon juice
  • zest of 2 lemons (I had some in the freezer)
  • 3 cups cake flour (or 1 c. cake flour + 2 c. white wheat flour)
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 cups red raspberries, frozen

Streusel:

  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 Tblsp. salted butter, softened

Lemon glaze:

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 Tblsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350.  Beat sugar and eggs until light and fluffy, then add yogurt, butter and lemon juice; beat until mixed together.  Fold in lemon zest.  Add flour, baking soda, and salt.  Blend just until mixed; do not overmix.  Fold in raspberries.  Place in muffin tins.

For streusel, mix ingredients together to form a crumbly mixture.  Sprinkle 1 generous tablespoon on top of each muffin.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  For glaze, stir together powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth.  Poke holes in tops of warm muffins with a fork.  Drizzle glaze over top of muffins.   Garnish with lemon zest if desired (I didn’t.).  Allow to sit for 15 minutes before removing from pan.

Yield:  2 dozen muffins.

 

For more fabulous recipes, check out A Farmer’s Daughter: Recipes from a Mennonite Kitchen.  Available October 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group

Jen S.

 

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

by | 2 Comments

2 Comments on A Farmer’s Daughter Cookbook: Recipes from a Mennonite Kitchen {Book Review} & Lemon-Raspberry Crumb Muffin {Recipe}

  1. Dawn Stoltzfus
    30 October 2012 at 3:48 PM (12 years ago)

    Thanks for your kind words! So happy you liked these muffins!

    [Reply]

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