This month’s Barefoot Bloggers Bonus Recipe Challenge was hosted by…….me :) Yay!!!! I can’t tell you how thrilling it was to find out I’d been chosen to host this since I just joined the Barefoot Bloggers last month. Seeing as how I’m so into pastry, of course I had to choose something from the sugar food group. I wanted to find something fun, quick, a little bit different… but still tasty too… and Ina’s recipe for Cranberry Orange Scones was all that… and more!
In the spirit of “keepin it real” I’m just gonna put it right out there for ya…. I’m looking for a little sympathy today. We’re having some work done on the first level of our house and it’s just got everything discumbobulated right now. We had to clear everything out of the living room and dining room… the furniture was moved to the family room, my “studio” (haha yeah, good one! LOL) was disassembled and moved to the guest bedroom… and everything that was in my china cabinet and curio cabinet is sitting all over the kitchen. The stovetop has the china, the countertops have some of the glassware and the rest is on the kitchen table. O-M-G. The living room… the dining room… the family room… and worst of all the kitchen… all out of commission. It’s been painful and very hard on my psyche as I’m unable to cook or bake… or photograph. It’s unfortunate I made these scones about a week ago because I’d surely LOVE to have some right now. These are really good… and of course, the addition of a wee bit of alcohol (optional, of course) doesn’t hurt a bit ;-) The batter is so tasty that I had to stop myself from eating it. This recipe is extremely versatile… use your choice of fruit… and your choice of alcohol… omit either one… omit both… as I like to say “do whatcha like”… but do make these :)
Before March of this year I’d never tried a scone. But just a single one had me hooked… hooked I tell ya! Now, I eat them all the time, mostly because I bake them so often. More complex in texture and taste than either a biscuit or a muffin, done right, a scone melts in your mouth and makes your tummy happy :) I had some dried cherries in the pantry, and we usually have Amaretto on hand so that’s the combination I made since cherry and almond flavors really appeal to me. But use your imagination, be creative! Maybe peaches and brandy, pineapple and Grand Marnier (orange) or whatever you like. You can omit the fruit entirely or use nuts instead. The base recipe is noteworthy all on it’s own so don’t feel like you have to dress them up because most certainly you do not.
Adapted from Alton Brown
Ingredients
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
3/4 cup cream
1 egg
Handful dried cherries
Enough Amaretto to just cover the cherries
Preparation
Put the cherries in a small bowl and pour in the Amaretto so that the cherries are soaking. Let them sit for about 5-10 minutes to soften. Come back and using either a muddler or end of a wooden spoon or similar utensil, kind of mash down the cherries just enough to open them up allowing more of the Amaretto to be absorbed. Let this sit for about 30 minutes. Pour the cream into a measuring cup that is larger than 1cup size. Add the cherry/Amaretto mixture and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 375°F
Line cookie sheet either with silicone baking mat or parchment paper
Directions
In a food processor combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar then pulse a couple of times to mix well. Add in butter and shortening and combine for about 15 seconds or until you have a pebbly mixture. In a separate bowl, combine cream mixture with beaten egg then add to dry ingredients and mix just until combined (don’t over mix but your cherries should be pretty well broken down and incorporated into the dough). Spoon or scoop the dough into rough balls and place on cookie sheet. Use a wet finger to smooth “peaked” areas. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
These come together quickly and easily. They’re tender, slightly sweet, moist and delicious. Great with tea or for breakfast or as an anytime snack. The work on our house should be completed this weekend so with any luck I’ll be back to baking soon :)
Enjoy!
Sadly, the end of the summer fruit season is approaching. But it’s not done yet!!! These lemon-glazed raspberry scones come together quickly and are sure to be a crowd pleaser.
If you ask me, raspberries have been really expensive this summer. Though that hasn’t stopped me from buying a couple of pints every few weeks or so. With the exception of the seeds, I love everything about red raspberries. I’ve never tried black raspberries… do you think they’re similar enough that I’d like them too? Maybe I’ll have to buy a pint today and see :)
To make these lemon glazed raspberry scones I adapted a Tyler Florence recipe for blueberry scones. I love blueberry scones but didn’t have any fresh blueberries on hand… just a bag of frozen Trader Joe’s Wild Blueberries. I did have fresh raspberries so that’s what I used. Other than that the recipe is the same and can be found here.
In general, I love scones. I mean, I’ve got seriously mad love for them. I think this is my fourth blog posting with a scone recipe. If you’re interested do a category search and see what I mean. I even have a cast iron pan specifically for making scones although it can be used for making cornbread too… and I do :) In this recipe, the tartness of the lemon glaze is nicely balanced by the sweetness of the raspberries. When I made it, I halved everything and still I think there was way waaaaaaaaay too much glaze. Too bad I didn’t have something else already made that I could use it on because the glaze is good and tart… just the way I like it. I didn’t use the quantity of berries the recipe indicated… I just added in a small handful. Feel free to adjust to your liking. I did… and I loved them!
Have a delicious day!
It’s Tuesday and that means it’s time for another Dorie Greenspan recipe :) These apple cheddar scones come together easily, bake up beautifully and taste great! Serve with some honey butter and they’re M’mmm M’mmm deelish 
In my repeated perusing one of my favorite baking books – Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home To Yours, I have come across this recipe several times. While I admittedly just looooooove scones, to me they’re a sweet bread, not a savory bread. And truth be told the idea of cheddar cheese and apples just didn’t excite me. As much as I trust and respect Dorie Greenspan, I simply had no intention of trying out this recipe.
This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie was hosted by Karina of The Floured Apron who chose, you guessed it, the Apple Cheddar Scones recipe! I’m actually really glad she did because like I said, I had no intention of baking these! LOL! But as a TWDer, I’m open to any recipe in this fantastic book.
This recipe is so easy and so quick! You don’t need a lot of time and you don’t even need any kind of mixer… I made these with just two bowls, a fork and a rubber spatula. Could it be any easier?!?!?!!!! And quick? Just 20 minutes in the oven. I think it took me a grand total of 45 minutes from thinkin’ to eatin’ :) :) :) :) Dorie provides instruction of how to roll these out and cut into the appropriate shape before baking on parchment… but you know I can’t possibly pass up an opportunity to use my super nifty cast iron scone pan so that’s what I used!
As written, the recipe calls for either apple cider or apple juice and dried apples… but… I’m a rebel and instead used freshly diced apples figuring the natural juices in the fresh apples would compensate. Who knows if that really *really* worked but the end result tasted just great to me and DJ :) And to make the honey butter I just whipped some honey into softened (not melted) butter. Easy-breezy!
For dinner last night we bbq’d some ribs on the rotisserie, grilled up some corn, heated some baked beans… and enjoyed these apple cheddar scones. The texture is nothing like the sweet scones I’ve blogged about here and here. Along with all purpose flour, these include a bit of cornmeal for a much more rustic texture that makes them perfect as a dinner bread.
They’re good… and they’re different…. they’re differently good!!!
Check out the others who also bake Tuesdays with Dorie – and see what they came up with as well.
Have a delicious day!
This weekend is Mother’s Day. At least it is in the United States :) If you’re not in the US, would you please leave a comment and let me know if your country has a holiday that celebrates mothers… and if so what is it called. I’d really like to know! I thought I’d post this a day early and give you a quick and easy recipe that you could whip up for Mother’s Day breakfast or brunch. Honey scones.
I love scones. I make them a lot… and this is not the first scone recipe I’ve posted. When I mention scones, I’m often asked what a scone actually is since it’s not a very “common” baked good found in the US. Oh, so sad. They should be offered more because they’re a delicious cross between a muffin and a biscuit. And I happen to love them :) Sometimes I think scones have an unfortunate reputation for being dry… crumbly… tasteless. I assure you, a good scone is none of those – especially not when I make them :)
I called my mother today. Last week she asked that I make a cheesecake for her for Mother’s Day. Of course, being the dutiful daughter that I am (haha, she doesn’t read this! LOL) 
I didn’t mention how I’ve made two cheesecakes in the past week and I’m really kinda tired of making cheesecake and looking at cheesecake and thinking about cheesecake. No, I shared none of that with her. Instead, I just said “sure Mom, I’d love to make a cheesecake for you”. So today I asked what kind of cheesecake she’d like since I was hoping to amp it up a little… give it a little ooompfh… maybe do lemon… or strawberry… or even add chocolate ganache topping… something… anything to make this task somewhat interesting. But… alas… she wanted a regular cheesecake. {sigh}. Okay, it’s for my mom so I’ll do it :)
I told her I’d made scones yesterday. Not once… but twice I made them because the first time I was a bit disappointed in how this recipe turned out. I mean it tasted great, sure, but they were too moist… too heavy… and didn’t come out of the pan easily even after cooking them longer. It wasn’t until someone asked me for the recipe did I realize I’d added **twice** the butter that the recipe called for. D’oh!! Kicking myself for making such an elementary mistake, I jumped off the sofa, headed into the kitchen (at 9pm no less!) and made another batch which DJ yummingly proclaimed turned out fantastic :) :) :)
So when I told her I’d made scones, I could hear nothing but silence on the other end of the line. Finally she asked me “what’s that”? I tried to describe it and it was pretty clear she just didn’t get it. And that’s okay… because now I can make these for her tomorrow. I know she’ll like them :) I’ll lug my cast iron scone pan over to her house and make them fresh in her kitchen. Of course, that means DJ and I will get to eat them too! LOL
Make some… for your mother… or just for yourself. They’re quick… they’re easy… and they’re good. What more couldja ask for?
Happy Mother’s Day!!!
(and don’t forget… if you’re not in the US, post a comment and tell me if they do something like this in your country. And if you *are* in the US, post a comment just the same… tell me something that comes to mind regarding Mother’s Day).
Honey Scones
2c all purpose flour
1T baking powder
1/4t salt
4T cold, unsalted butter cut into pieces
3T honey
1c cream
Preheat oven to 400F
Combine dry ingredients, cut in butter until crumbly.
Whisk honey and cream, add to the dry ingredients and mix with spoon – this will be thick, almost like dough
Press into greased scone pan… or… lightly flour a work surface, roll out the dough into a circle, cut into 8 triangle-shaped pieces and transfer each to a baking sheet lined with parchment.
Bake for approx 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Cool for 5 minutes in pan then turn out onto wire rack and cool for another 5 minutes.
Serve warm with butter or whipped cream… and jam.
ENJOY!!!
