Tag Archives: scones

10th Day of Christmas: Gingerbread Scones and King Arthur Flour Giveaway!

December 14, 2011 – 11:59 pm

On the 10th Day of Christmas my sweet tooth gave to me Gingerbread Scones and a King Arthur Flour giveaway!

The holiday season is in full swing. Chances are you will be hosting guests, attending parties and looking for edible gifts to share. There never seem to be enough hours in the day this time of year to accomplish everything you would like to and before you know it, days blur into weeks and it’s 2012!!

Sometimes I overwhelm myself with trying to do too much in this short season. It’s not that I think that anyone else will actually care how many cookies I make or how nicely my presents are wrapped. But it’s just that I enjoy doing these things and it makes me so happy to give someone beautifully decorated cookies or a great present. We can all use a little help and a few shortcuts to get us through the hustle and bustle.

Just in time for all of the madness I’ve got a great giveaway to share with you to help you through the madness.

The fabulous folks at King Arthur Flour sent me some of their scone mixes and lovely sparkling sugar to try and they are so kind they want to pass on these great products to one lucky reader! Have you tried King Arthur Flour products before? Their products truly are superior and they are dedicated to providing the highest quality ingredients. The company is employee-owned and that means that bakers with years of experience are actually behind the products making sure that you get a consistent result every time you use their flours.

Check out King Arthur Flour’s new products for holiday baking and learn a bit more about their amazing programs and initiatives:

Learn more about our flours, our commitment to quality, and why you get so much more with King Arthur Flour
Find out how to bring the free Life Skills Bread Baking Program to middle-school students in your community
Get step-by-step instructions for your most delicious baking through our Baking Banter blog or one of over 2,000 free recipes online
Get help with all your baking challenges from the experts on our Baking Hotline
Join our online community, The Baking Circle
Learn more about our Social Responsibility efforts, employee-ownership, and the farmers who grow our wheat

Ok, more about the giveaway! I made these Gingerbread Scones and they were so incredibly flavorful and elegant with very little effort. And this sparkly sanding sugar is perfect for making all of your baked goods shine. How perfect for a last minute breakfast treat for you and your family or guests! Enter to win the King Arthur Flour products that you see in the photo above:

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Raspberry Coconut Scones

October 4, 2011 – 8:00 am

Earl Grey and I go way back. When I have a cup, it is like visiting a comforting friend. When I need to relax or am chilled to the bone, nothing soothes me like a hot mug of Earl Grey tea with a splash of milk. I have so many fond memories of having tea with my mom, grandmother and aunts. And even now when I return home, there is a small group of ladies that my mom and I get together with and drink tea and visit for hours. As you might expect, I enjoy a sweet with my tea. Scones are one of my favorite tea party treats. I love that scones are a bit dry and crumbly because that makes the tea that much more refreshing and rehydrating. Also, any baked good that not only I, but the majority of society acknowledges as an acceptable breakfast food gets extra points in my book.

I have not met a scone that I did not like, but I particularly enjoy scones with fresh fruit in them. Again, there is something about the contrast between the burst of fruit juice and the dry scone that is very pleasing to me. It is for those reasons that I love these Raspberry Coconut Scones. In my opinion, they are the perfect crumbly scone texture and the tart burst of berry flavor marries so nicely with the subtle sweetness of the coconut. Who’s up for a tea party?

Raspberry Coconut Scones

by Mercedes Porter

Keywords: bake breakfast dessert raspberry scone

Ingredients

2 cups flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 eggs, plus 1 egg for wash
1 tsp almond extract
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup rinsed and dried fresh raspberries

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400° and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender, mix in butter until well blended and mixture resembles a coarse meal.

In a small bowl, whisk eggs, cream and almond extract together.

Pour egg mixture into the dry ingredients and combing with a spatula until dough comes together. Gently fold in coconut and raspberries.

Place dough onto floured work surface and gently form into a disc about 1 inch tall. Use a pizza cutter or spatula to cut dough into wedges.

Place scones onto baking sheet. Whisk remaining egg and brush scones lightly with egg wash.

Bake 16-18 minutes until lightly golden brown. Enjoy with tea and good company!

mix butter into dry ingredients

pour egg mixture into the dry mixture

fold in raspberries and coconut and place dough onto floured work surface

cut dough into wedges, place onto baking sheet and brush with egg wash

bake and enjoy

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Blueberry scones and a kitchen blooper

June 21, 2011 – 8:00 am

Hello sweet teeth!

My husband ASKED me to BAKE last week. No, you do not understand how significant this was. I imagine that a lot of men would be thrilled to have a wife/girlfriend/significant other who is obsessed with all things food. I know that my husband appreciates and enjoys the things that I make, but my culinary adventures are often met with comments such as, “Who is going to eat all of this?” Or “Why would you make graham crackers when you can just buy them?” So, as I mentioned, when he asked me to bake something for him to bring to work, I was shocked and excited! He requested something “breakfast-y” and since I had just purchased two pints of plump, juicy blueberries, scones it was!

With all of the seasonal summer fruit coming to its’ peak, I find myself with even more excuses to bake. I like to take advantage of the produce that we are only able to enjoy for a few short months out of the year in this part of the country.

Blueberry Scones

by Mercedes Porter

Keywords: bake breakfast blueberry scone

Ingredients

2 cups flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces
1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 eggs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400° and line baking sheet with parchment paper

In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients

With a pastry cutter, blend in butter until the largest pieces are the size of peas

In another small bowl whisk eggs together with heavy cream

Make well in center of flour mixture and pour in wet mixture (save bowl that eggs and cream were mixed in)

Combine using a fork until dough just comes together

Mix in blueberries gently using hands

Place dough into floured round cake pan and pat down evenly (this allows easy shaping of the dough)

Turn formed dough out onto floured surface and cut like a pie into 8 equal pieces

Place scones on prepared baking sheet and brush with remnants of the egg and cream mixture

Bake 16-18 minutes until lightly golden brown

(adapted from Martha Stewart)

Blend butter into dry ingredients

....until pea-sized pieces remain

Whisk together eggs and cream

Pour wet ingredients into well created in center of dry ingredients

Once dough comes together, gently mix in blueberries

Pat dough gently and evenly into prepared cake pan

Turn dough out of cake pan onto floured work surface

Cut into equal-sized pieces

Brush scones with remaining egg/cream mixture before baking

Bake until golden brown

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Blend powdered sugar and lemon juice until well-mixed (add more powdered sugar or lemon juice as necessary to thicken or thin glaze)
Drizzle glaze over cooled scones using a fork

Pass the Earl Grey please!

**My kitchen blooper of the day**

I made two batches of these scones and I ran out of baking powder after the first batch. Luckily, I have a corner market across the street and so I ran over (covered in flour as usual) and quickly replenished my supply. Before I purchased the baking powder, I looked at the expiration date (2012) which got me thinking about how long I have probably had my current baking powder. Although I bake very often, the powder I ran out of had been a backup that I found in the back of my baking cupboard. Well, let’s just say I recommend that you check your expiration dates! Look at the difference between the scones made with the expired baking powder and the ones with the newly purchased powder! They all tasted wonderful but, I learned my lesson.