My Favourite Scones

Before I had made these my success with scones was here and there. Here being great and there being dry flour lumps. There was a lot of there. I think it was when I tried to make whole wheat peanut butter scones. Just one big no. But then I tried one from Bon Appetit and it was amazing! Then another dud. But then these came along. They have a different formula and it works.

These babies use a lot of whipped cream in place of the butter and the result is the perfect scone. I have made these several times in several different ways. Oh and as if they couldn't be any better, they are easy and can be made ahead of time in the freezer. Awesome? Heck yes.

Cream Scones

From America's Test Kitchen

2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, preferably a low-protein brand such as Gold Medal or Pillsbury
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
5 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup currants (Variations below)
1 cup heavy cream
 

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425°F. Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in large bowl or work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Whisk together or pulse six times. If making by hand, use two knives, a pastry blender or your fingertips and quickly cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few slightly larger butter lumps. Stir in currants. If using food processor, remove cover and distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. Cover and pulse 12 times, each pulse lasting 1 second. Add currants and pulse one more time. Transfer dough to large bowl.  Stir in heavy cream with a rubber spatula or fork until dough begins to form, about 30 seconds. Transfer dough and all dry, floury bits to countertop and knead dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Form scones by either a) pressing the dough into an 8-inch cake pan, then turning the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, cutting the dough into 8 wedges with either a knife or bench scraper (the book’s suggestion) or b) patting the dough onto a lightly floured work surface into a 3/4-inch thick circle, cutting pieces with a biscuit cutter, and pressing remaining scraps back into another piece and cutting until dough has been used up. ** Place rounds or wedges on ungreased baking sheet and bake until scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

* I have used raisins instead with or without 3/4 tsp cinnamon added to the flour mix, dried cranberries with or without 1 tbsp lemon zest, or omitted the fruit entirely and added the seeds from a vanilla bean. All have worked and each taste amazing! 

** At that point the scones can be placed on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and placed in the freezer for an hour. After the hour, or until they are pretty solidly chilled, they can be moved into a air tight freezer bag and be kept in the freezer for a month. Bake at the same temperature for a few extra minutes and do not defrost beforehand.

Apple Baked Oatmeal with Roasted Apples

This was a filling breakfast. For real. I woke up with a mission, a mission from God. Not necessarily but you get the idea. And so I put my sweat and blood into this oatmeal and the results were good. This is special because it normally takes a few hours for me to function properly. Emotions run high during the morning hours. There have been several times when I have cried because there was no milk. I lead a simple life clearly.

A quarter of this puppy was stashed in the fridge and was eaten the next day and it was perfect. I may just go make another batch before I go to bed if one Barney Stinson and one Marshall Erikson don't keep me.

Apple Baked Oatmeal

2 cups oatmeal

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 tbsp cinnamon

pinch of allspice

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 1/3 cup milk

2/3 cup apple sauce*

2 tsp vanilla

4 tsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350º. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients which is oatmeal through baking powder. In another combine the wet ingredients which is the egg through to butter. Add the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a butter 8 x 8 pan. Bake in the oven, rotating halfway through, for 20 minutes until golden brown on the surface. Serve with milk and roasted apples (recipe below). Makes 4 servings.

Roasted Apples

4 large granny smith apples, peeled

4 tsp fresh lemon juice

4 tsp pure maple syrup

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350º. Slice the apples into 1/4 inch slices lengthwise. In a bowl, toss the sliced apples with the lemon juice, maple syrup and cinnamon until the apples are fully coated. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spread the apples out. If they are cramped they will steam and become soft not roasted. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through. Serve with baked oatmeal.

* I used my homemade applesauce recipe but only cooked the apples for about 5 minutes so that the apples wouldn't be fully cooked. It allowed the oatmeal to have bits of apple slices in it.

Oatmeal Chocolate Pecan Cranberry Cookies

That's a mouthful. School has started again which is a good and bad thing. I've been making a lot of cookies, muffins and loafs as a result. These, from America's Test Kitchen, were so chewy. Anything from them has been great, no word of a lie. I'm not a fan of crisp oatmeal cookies and these are the perfect amount of chew but no goo. That rhymed. Being deliriously tired, here is a recipe.

Oatmeal Chocolate Pecan Cranberry Cookies
These are very chewy but don't overbake, just let them set a bit on the sheet.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup coarsely chopped, toasted pecans
1 cup dried cranberries*
1 cup milk chocolate chips
12 tablespoons softened butter, but still slightly cool
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions; heat oven. Line 2 large (18 by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. In second medium bowl, stir together oats, pecans, cherries, and chocolate. In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until no sugar lumps remain, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula; add egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low speed until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl; with mixer running at low speed, add flour mixture; mix until just combined, about 30 seconds. With mixer still running on low, gradually add oat/nut mixture; mix until just incorporated. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed. Scoop out large scoops, precise I know. Bake both baking sheets 7 minutes, rotate them front to back and top to bottom, then continue to bake until cookies are medium brown and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will seem underdone and will appear raw, wet, and shiny in cracks), 6 to 7 minutes longer. Do not overbake. Cool cookies on baking sheets on wire rack 5 minutes; using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

*I soak them for about an hour in boiling water, or rum, and drain them before mixing them in. It makes them extra soft and chewy.

Vanilla Tea Oatmeal

I had a day off. Party, party, party, party and oh yeah, party. Sure it was mid week and I had a paper to write but.. party! I need to get out more as my definition of party is clearly losing its meaning.

To celebrate such a party I had oatmeal. How lame. But it was good. Similar to the Chai Tea Oatmeal but clearly vanilla. And lots of it. 

Vanilla Tea Oatmeal

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 vanilla tea bag
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 packets of splenda
1 tbsp craisins
1/2 cup old fashioned oats, as always

In a small sauce pan, put the water, milk and tea bag. Heat for about 5 minutes so the tea flavour comes out. Bring to boil and remove the tea bag. Mix in the vanilla, splenda, craisins and oats. Continue to stir until most of the liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with more craisins and milk if you like, which you will.

Zucchini Bread Debate

One thing I enjoy is finding a great recipe. As if that weren't obvious from having a food blog. I was on the search for a zucchini bread recipe in this case. Having read about zucchini bread but never actually tasting it, I went out and tried four different varieties. These were: two chocolate and two spice varieties. The first was called chocolate chip zucchini bread from Pinch My Salt. The second was double chocolate zucchini bread from Baking Bites. The third was zucchini sweet potato bread from Joy the Baker. The fourth was straight up called zucchini bread from Smitten Kitchen. 

So here is the break down of each recipe. This little trial began at around ten o'clock at night. It was late and I was home alone and bored so zucchini bread tests! Therefore I tried the bread the next morning not immediately. They had about 6 hours to cool and then they were tested. 

First up is the chocolate chip zucchini bread. This is a very moist (yes, that word again) bread. It was the softest of the bunch I would say. It held together when it was sliced instead of crumbling. The chocolate chips were a great addition for flavour because the bread didn't have a very strong chocolate flavour on its own. The cinnamon in the recipe came through which was nice. This was great but in terms of chocolate bread, it was not the richest. But, like I said, I really liked it. I hear it is low fat too.

This bread right here was the double chocolate zucchini bread and boy was it chocolatey! It was so rich. While it was not as moist as the first, it was still moist. It sliced nicely. The tops of loafs are always the greatest and this was great. Very rich and nice top. 

This is the first of the two spice breads. On my notes for this it says immediately "moist!". I slightly undercooked this which may have been why but I think it is from the zucchini and sweet potato. It crumbled slightly when it was sliced but that could have been because it was undercooked. Despite the crumbling, no complaints. It had a nice crunch from the pecans and the cranberries added to the moistness and bit of tartness. It is kind of pumpkin pie like with the spices, which I love. I love pumpkin pie! Getting off topic. All in all, this is a great one because it is so well rounded and tons of different flavours.

Last, but not least, is the other spice bread. This one was my Mum and Dad's favourite. It was not as moist as the others but keep in mind just how moist all the others were. Also, I slightly overcooked it I think by a few minutes. They did not care clearly. This one had milder spices and the nuts were not as distinct. Also the raisins added a greater sweetness which was great. The nuts weren't as distinct but still provided a soft crunch.

The final verdict? Out of the two chocolate loafs, I would have to say the second is the richest. I really liked them both but in terms of chocolate, that one completely overpowered the other. Out of the two spice loafs, I really like the first but my family loved the second. The first my favourite texture. the second was the greatest chocolate loaf. The third was something different then I have ever made. And the last was nice spice bread, it was basically a less moist version of my Mum's date loaf.

Here are the recipes:

1. Chocolate chip zucchini bread from Pinch my Salt

2. Double chocolate zucchini bread from Baking Bites

3. Sweet potato zucchini bread from Joy the Baker

4. Zucchini bread from Smitten Kitchen*

*I used pecans and raisins because I had already used walnuts and cranberries in the Joy the Baker recipe and chocolate chips in the first two.

Rugelach

This year my friends and I decided to celebrate Hanukkah. In honour of this celebration we thought we would give Jewish home cooking a try. One of my friends brought matzo ball soups, another brought brisket, another brought challah and I provided the latkes and rugelach. To my great surprise, I loved it all. I had my doubts about it but my god is it good! The decision of which recipe to try for the rugelach was the real challenge. I looked through my Martha Stewart cookie book and the recipes appeared to be tasty, but not too authentic. But in the end I went the not so authentic route with cherry, chocolate, walnut rugelach. But trust me, these babies are good. The jam on the inside keeps them moist but the outside wash with sugar gives a nice crusty outside layer. The dough actually tastes like a shortbread, all the more reason to try them!

Chocolate Chip, Cherry and Walnut Rugelach
Adapted from Bon Appetit

dough
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
6 ounces chilled cream cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces*
filling
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup cherry preserves
1/2 cup dried cranberries or sour cherries
1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup finely chopped, toasted walnuts
wash
1/4 cup cream (half and half, whipping, etc.)

dough: Blend first 3 ingredients in a food processor. Add butter and cream cheese and cut in using pulsing turns until the dough begins to clump together. Gather dough into ball. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic and refrigerate 2 hours. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated. Let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)
filling: 
Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. Roll out 1 dough disk on floured surface to 9-inch round. Spread 3 tablespoons cherry preserves over dough, leaving 1-inch border. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons dried cherries, then 2 tablespoons chocolate chips, 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar and 2 tablespoons walnuts. Press filling firmly to adhere to dough.
assemble: Cut dough round into 8 equal wedges. Starting at wide end of each wedge, roll up tightly. Arrange cookies, tip side down, on prepared baking sheet, spacing 1 1/2 inches apart and bending slightly to form crescents. Repeat 3 more times with remaining dough disks, preserves, cranberries, chocolate chips, cinnamon sugar and walnuts. Place baking sheet in freezer 30 minutes.
bake: Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Brush cookies lightly with cream and sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar mix. Bake frozen cookies until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely. These can be made ahead. Just store in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month. Makes 32 cookies.
* I used 25% reduced fat cream cheese, because I had it on hand, and it worked well.