Blueberry & Lavender "Lumples"

Two years ago, right before Richard and my wedding, I met the most lovely woman named Kathy, who just so happened to be from Virginia. Since my soon to be husband was also from the south, we became fast friends due to her constant insisting that since I was NOT from the south, she  had to teach me how to bake just like a proper southern lady. You see, Kathy is seriously one of the best bakers I have ever met. Not just someone who can follow a recipe and actually remember to include all of the ingredients, a skill that I sadly lack... but she could whip up a perfect pie, decadent brownies, and impressive desserts. You name it, she could bake it!

I immediately started joining Kathy in her home on Saturday mornings for my weekly lady lessons, as we liked to call them. I learned how to properly make pimento cheese, bagels, pies, and my very favorite treat to date, "Lumples." Well, that's what she called them. A sort of scone, muffin, pastry lump-of-a-thing which is stuffed with fresh blueberries and smells of heavenly lavender. Like me, they are slightly hard on the outside, flaky and delicate on the inside, and just slightly, perfectly sweet. And I mustn't forget the glaze. Ah, the glaze. They are drizzled with a light meyer lemon glaze that adds the slightest taste of sour. And there you have it. A lumple. The kind you'd never want to have removed. I love them.

Blueberry & Lavender "Lumples"

Ingredients:
Makes about 8 Lumples

2 cups unbleached King Arthur all purpose flour (Kathy said King Arthur is the ONLY flour to use.)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon dried lavender buds

1 egg 

3/4 cup whole milk

7 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together. 

Cut the chilled butter into small pieces and blend together with your fingers until the mixture resembles course corn meal.

Mix in the dried lavender buds. You can find these in the spice aisle at Whole Foods and other nice grocery stores. 

Add the egg and the milk and mix quickly with a fork until just combined. Do not over mix or the lumples will become dense. 

Drop large spoonfuls of the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets, about two inches apart. The dough can be kind of messy. Then, once the lumples are formed, add several blueberries to each lumple by lightly pushing them into the lumple so that they will stay in place while baking. You don't want to mix the blueberries into the mixture before forming the lumples because the berries will get mushy and mix into the dough. 

Bake 15-20 minutes until just slightly golden. 

Meyer lemon glaze:

2/3 cup confectioner's sugar (sifted well)

6 tablespoons of butter at room temperature

Juice of 1 Meyer lemon

Mix well until smooth. If the glaze is too thick to drizzle, add another tablespoon of softened butter.

Drizzle with the Meyer Lemon Glaze onto the lumples immediately after removing them from the oven. The heat will make the glaze melt perfectly over the lumple. 

Enjoy!