I love the rain. Let’s just be honest.
I’m not and have never been one of those people who bitches and moans when it starts raining. I love the rain. It’s so serene and calming and refreshing, especially compared to hot, sweaty summer days–those of which I bitch and moan over.
I know, I totally need to move somewhere perpetually rainy and cold, like Seattle or San Francisco, where there’s a sunny day here and there and the rest of the year I can acceptably wear peacoats and tights and boots and look adorably chic and not sweaty and disgusting in cut-offs and a wife-beater, complaining about how my denim shorts have suddenly materialized with the skin on my thighs. Yeah, this really does happen in the dead-summer in Sacramento. It’s miserable.
And then when people complain about the weather acting as it should in the appropriate season, I really don’t understand. It’s February. It rains in February, seeing as it IS STILL WINTER. Of course I enjoy the sunshine-y days where you can get away with a light cardigan, but come on. Did you really think it was going to last forever? No. And the rain is a nice reminder that summer is still awhile away. I’m enjoying every dripping-wet second of the rain before–I don’t even want to think about it.
I’m sure this post sounds like a giant whine to anyone who doesn’t live in California and who only experiences a thick snowstorm during times like this. Let me humor you real quick: I don’t even really know what snow is like. But I digress.
Anyways, seeing as I’ve been bitching about weather and people bitching about weather, it’s pretty obvious the weather isn’t in top shape for Sacramentans. It’s been pouring nonstop for two days now, and it has people in quite the tizzy. Personally, rainy days are perfect excuses for lazy days. It’s too hard and unsafe to drive anywhere, it’s too cold to do chores, so the only real thing to do is sit around like a lazy-ass and watch bad TV while eating handfuls of cookies. It’s precisely what I did today, and I needed the perfect cookie to match.
I had a box of fat-free blueberry muffin mix sitting in my pantry for awhile that needed a use besides the standard, typical progression into a blueberry muffin. So with a little research (and ample taste-testing) I crafted my own blueberry streusel cookie that is positively perfect for shoveling into your mouth on a lazy day like today. It’s soft and chewy and tastes just like a muffin, but in cookie form. Oh, and the lemon-butter glaze realllllly elevates this cookie from delicious to highly addicting. TRY NOW.
Blueberry Streusel Cookies
1 box fat-free blueberry muffin mix (I used Krusteaz)
3/4 c quick-cooking oats
1/3 c, plus 2T oil
1/4 c brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 T milk
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease two cookie sheets and blot excess spray with a paper towel.
2. In a large bowl, mix together muffin mix (not the blueberries), oats, oil, brown sugar, egg and milk until well combined. Dough will be soft but crumbly. Carefully fold in drained and rinsed blueberries, combining. Using a cookie-scoop, portion out dough onto baking sheets, evenly spacing dough-balls. Bake, approximately 8-10 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through baking time. Cookies will be soft but lightly golden when done. Do not overbake. Let cool on wire racks completely.
Lemon-Butter Glaze
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
2 T melted butter
1/2 tsp lemon peel
2 tsp lemon juice
1-2 T milk
1. In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients until a glaze forms. The consistency I liked was thick but still–ready for a new word?–drizzleable. You can adjust the thickness or thinness by adding more or less lemon juice or milk, depending on your liking. Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies and let sit to allow glaze to slightly stiffen.
These cookies taste just like a blueberry streusel coffee cake…or I suppose how I’d imagine that to taste. But you know, it sounded believable. You MUST try them–so easy to prepare and to diiiie for. And I’d like to think healthier too, but it’s to be debated, since more than likely you’ll eat like, seven. I did.
xo, Hayley
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