Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Scones

I had a dream I was drinking black tea and eating a scone. Which must be a sign that I needed to try and make some scones!! Apparently scones are very basic but sound fancy and intimidating.

This was a fantastic basic recipe that could be adapted for many different flavors. You could add different dried fruits. I've included the footnote that is from the All Recipes site.

There are quite a few steps...but don't worry! It really comes together nicely and these scones were elegant, flaky, and so tasty!!

Would I make them again? Yes. Would I only make them on special occasions? Probably. While they weren't a ton of work - they are rather unhealthy with all the butter and sugar and I probably shouldn't eat them all the time!

Scones
Adapted from: All Recipes
Makes 8 scones

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, sliced into tablespoons, very cold right from the fridge
1/2 cup raisins (or dried currants), optional
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 large egg

Directions
  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • In a food processor: mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add sliced butter. Pulse until texture of coarse sand.
  • In a small bowl, whisk yogurt and egg until smooth.
  • Add wet mix into food processor and pulse until starting to combined.
  • Put on the counter, lightly floured, and start to knead. The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.
  • Pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. of sugar. 
  • Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a Silpat lined cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart. 
  • Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

Footnotes
Cranberry-Orange Scones
Follow the recipe for Simple Scones, adding a generous teaspoon of finely grated orange rind (zest) to the dry ingredients and substituting dried cranberries for the raisins.
Lemon-Blueberry Scones
Follow the recipe for Simple Scones, adding a generous teaspoon of finely grated lemon rind (zest) to the dry ingredients and substituting dried blueberries for the raisins.
Cherry-Almond Scones
Follow the recipe for Simple Scones, adding 1/2 tsp. almond extract to the sour cream mixture and substituting dried cherries for the raisins.

Monday, May 2, 2016

Fluffy Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

There is so much to celebrate right now. It is finally spring (although it hasn't stopped raining and was 45F yesterday), so much fresh fruit and veggies at the grocery store, AND my beautiful kitchen remodel has finished!! We now have gorgeous counter tops and large to the ceiling cabinets! We even added recessed lighting instead of one florescent light in the middle of the kitchen!! Let us all just agree that it is a glorious day. I am so giddy to start cooking again in this lovely lovely space!

I have a few recipes that I haven't had time to post so lets start with these fluffy Blueberry Muffins! I've been craving blueberries so I decided to make some muffins this morning! Of course I didn't have all the correct ingredients so I've adapted it from the original recipe provided by King Arthur Flour. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!

I used silicon baking cups instead of paper or greasing the muffin tins. The muffins popped out of the silicon cups easily.
I used frozen blueberries.
I used Almond Milk with a squeeze of Lemon Juice.
I omitted the sugar topping.

And before you poo-poo these healthy (ish) muffins...they were so light and perfect for breakfast! 

Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Yield: 18 muffins

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
½ cup oats (or sub with additional flour)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (or a little more if you want them sweeter)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (heaping) blueberries, fresh or frozen (or other berries/diced apples)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil (or olive oil)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk or plain (not Greek) yogurt; or 1 ½ Almond Milk + 1 tbsp (ish) of lemon juice
cinnamon-sugar or coarse white sparkling sugar for topping, optional

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the cups of a standard muffin pan; or line with paper baking cups, and grease the paper cups.
Whisk together all of the dry ingredients, including the blueberries.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, lemon juice, and milk/yogurt, and oil.
Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring just to combine.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them 3/4 full.
Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with coarse sparkling sugar or cinnamon sugar, if desired.
Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.
Remove the muffins from the oven, and after 5 minutes (or when they're cool enough to handle) transfer them to a rack to cool. Serve warm, or at room temperature. Store leftovers loosely wrapped at room temperature.