Basic Scone Recipe

Yum

I have to say that baking runs in my blood.  While I cook just about everything baking is a secret passion of mine.  (As if you couldn't tell by the dozens of muffin recipes I have!) I come from a long line of "home bakers" as it was just a matter of course in feeding their family.  Making homemade breads, pies, cakes, biscuits, and quick breads were all just part of the makeup of what they ate.  

I remember my grandma making pies and cakes in her little kitchen and the anticipation of eating her "Red Cake" as we called it.  Grandma was one of those "a little of this, a little of that" cooks.  My mom, was the "Pie Queen".  She would whip up all kinds of pies in nothing flat.  My dad's favorite was her blueberry pie, but mine was her chocolate meringue pie.  It was so chocolaty it was like having a piece of heaven!  On most weekends we include something baked for breakfast such as muffins or biscuits.  And as Dad said "there's nothing better than Mom's biscuits and gravy."  In later years we started branching out into other baked goods, namely, scones. 

BASIC SCONE RECIPE

We had never really eaten a scone when I was young.  They were just a more crumbly form of an English biscuit to us.  When I first tasted them I didn't think much of them.  They were very slightly sweet and very crumbly.  Certainly not as good as our Southern biscuits!  I think I didn't get a very good one because they started popping up all over in bakeries and Starbucks, gaining in popularity so we decided to add this to our baking repertoire.  Once we made them and tasted a really good scone, oh boy, did my viewpoint change!  Scones are really really good!

What is a scone?  Originating in Britain, this is a baked good that used flour along with baking powder as the leavening agent.  Scones can be made savory or sweet containing dried fruit such as currants.  Some scones are made with cream instead of butter and milk which produces ultra-tender and cake-like scones that are softer than the butter version. We are going to make the butter version in this recipe which is worth learning as it uses ingredients that you will most likely always have on hand.  They produce a sturdier scone with crisper edges, and are super delicious.

So while I have a few scone recipes already on my blog such as these fabulous Lemon Scones made with yogurt, or these luscious Strawberry Shortcake Scones. I noticed that I haven't posted a Basic Scone Recipe.  So here we are!  This is your basic "start here" recipe.  This is the perfect vehicle for your favorite ad-ins from cranberries to cheddar and chives.  

It's so worth it to bake your own scones!  A cold scone is something that's tolerable and better than no scone at all.  But having a hot scone, split open and spread with butter or jelly so it's ooooozing out the sides and dripping on your fingers as you eat it.  Boy! THAT’S the way to enjoy a scone.

Enjoy!

Basic Scone Recipe

Yield: 12 scones

3 cups all purpose flour

3 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup butter (cold)

1 egg

1 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and combine.

Using a pastry cutter cut cold butter into flour mixture until there are pea-sized pieces of butter throughout.  Add the milk and egg and mix just until combined. 

Remove the dough to a generously floured work surface and knead just til it comes together. Pat the dough out to 3/4 - 1 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter.  

Place the biscuits on a baking sheet bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for several minutes.  Serve warm.

Sweet Peach Dutch Baby with Honey Laced Ricotta

A showstopper presentation is made when you serve this deliciously light and fluffy Dutch Baby filled with juicy ripe peaches at your next breakfast or brunch!

Yum

While it is starting to get a little crisp in the mornings it is still hot in Los Angeles during the day.  We had several days of 102 degree heat to prove it over the past week!  Being that it is still warm we are still getting in some late summer fruit which is heaven in our book! 

I walked in to the local grocery store Saturday morning to buy 1 item, chili powder, when I was suddenly hit by the most delicious fruity smell. Navigating toward that smell I was lead to a huge display of the prettiest yellow peaches.  Oh man, that smell was calling me!!!  The smell alone made me pick up 4 of them right then and there.  No bag in site, not even a cart.  So I'm toting them around looking for my favorite chili powder for dinner and off I go.  I'm going to make:

SWEET PEACH DUTCH BABY

We have an old family recipe for Dutch Babys and I laugh now remembering my mom and I trying to make one but we didn't have a 10" skillet handy.  So we grabbed an 8" skillet and I just thought it would come out thicker.....oh boy that was NOT the case! The Dutch Baby overflowed in the oven and made a mess.  Oh my, what was left was tasty but cleaning that up left me not wanting to try that again anytime soon.  But today I got up my courage once again to tackle this beauty of a breakfast.  Plus I have my 10" skillet ready to go!

Sorry, I don't want to scare you away.  It really is easy to make.  You just need to make sure you have a 10" skillet for this recipe in order for it to come out without issues.  Too much batter, or too small of a skillet and it may end up in a big mess like the one my mom and I created so long ago!

What is a Dutch Baby?  AKA a German pancake, it can be called considered an American popover.  Basically it's a large fluffy pancake.  The Dutch baby baked in the oven, in a skillet, and is usually a little thicker than most pancakes.  Plus it doesn't contain any of the additional leavening ingredients, such as baking powder, that pancakes do. A nice hot cast iron skillet causes the pancake to puff up dramatically which will slightly deflate soon after being removed from the oven.

This large, fluffy pancake is excellent for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dessert any time of the year.  All you have to do is just dump all of the ingredients into a blender, give it a good whirl, pour it into a heated skillet sizzling with butter, and pop it into the oven.  Poof! a masterpiece with emerge!

How Do I Serve this?  You can leave the Dutch Baby as is and serve if with hot maple syrup or a dusting of confectioner's sugar.  Plain and simple with do you in a pinch.  However, if you want to jazz it up then the variation of what you can do are endless. Berries and whipped cream would be fantastic.  Warm cinnamon apples would be perfect for fall.  But since the weather is still warm and I bought those luscious peaches I'm going to jazz mine up with juicy peach slices and a dollop of honey laced ricotta cheese for good measure.

Note:  Frozen fruit will work perfectly and allow you to have this dish all year round.  Make sure to thaw the fruit first if using frozen.  

What special equipment do I need?  A good 10" cast iron skillet such as this one, or a metal oven proof skillet like this one is needed to make this.  I love my cast iron skillets because they are so versatile and are perfect for the stovetop and the oven, so that's what I used.  A heavy skillet that gets really hot it a necessary component for this dish so that the pancake rises.  

NOTE:  Make sure to use a 10" skillet with this recipe so that your batter doesn't spill over the sides, (been there, done that!) or if too big it won't fill the pan correctly and rise like it should.  If you prefer to use a blender to mix the ingredients that works perfectly, but mixing them by hand is what I did and was just a simple, and I didn't have to clean the blender.

The results are in!  MGG gave a big wow when i served this on the breakfast table Sunday morning, straight from the skillet.  So that was a huge plus!  Even better was that he had several helpings.  I was very pleased with the presentation, the pancake was nicely browned with big poofy spots.  The fresh peach topping was the perfect addition for a nice late summer breakfast, and the ricotta with honey gave it just a little extra something.  Come to think of it, yogurt with honey would be nice too.

I hope you make this while the peaches are ripe and the sun is shining bright!

Enjoy!





Sweet Peach Dutch Baby

serves 6

2 cups sliced peaches (fresh or frozen, thawed)
3 tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
2-3 Tbsp honey

Peal and slice peaches if fresh.  Place in a medium bowl and add the sugar and lemon juice  Stir to coat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a 10" cast iron skillet add the butter.  Place in the oven to melt butter for about 5 minutes.  Meanwhile in a medium bowl beat the eggs until light an fluffy.  Add flour, milk and salt to the bowl and whisk until smooth and combined.

Remove skillet from the oven and immediately pout the batter into the hot skillet.  Place in oven and cook for 20-25 minutes until puffy and golden with very few wet spots.

Meanwhile add ricotta cheese to a small bowl and add the honey.  Stir to combine.    Remove skillet from the oven and fill with the peaches.  Serve with ricotta.

Bakery Style Almond Blueberry Banana Muffins

A hint of almond brings out the flavors of these delicate and light blueberry and banana muffins.

Yum

Let's make big bakery style muffins!

I did a little frig foraging today and found some blueberries that needed to be used along with a very ripe banana. Since the banana was way passed it's prime something baked was in order. Muffins it is! There's nothing better on the weekend than a hot bakery style muffin. Especially one that is bursting with blueberries! I added the banana for flavor and and the addition of almond extract enhances the blueberries. 

Another change to my basic muffin recipe was to use Coconut sugar.  This lends a more earthy flavor and a darker coloring to the muffing than regular sugar.  It also has the added benefit of having a lower glycemic index.  If you would like to use regular sugar in it's place you can do so without any issues.  The muffins will turn out delicious either way!

How do you get a high rise on your muffins?
The temperature in which you bake your muffins has a lot to do with how they rise. To get that beautiful high domed tops you need to have a slightly hotter oven than normal. This helps the muffins have a rapid rise as they bake. I always cook my muffins at 400 degrees Fahrenheit which lends to a beautiful finished product.

How to make the perfect muffin?

→ Follow this tip: The muffin method is a standard 2 bowl procedure of mixing ingredients together in a specific order. Start by mixing the dry ingredients together in one bowl, and the wet ingredients in another bowl. Then the wet ingredients are added to the dry ingredients and stirred together until just mixed. If you still see small lumps after combining, that is ok! You don't want to over mix which will over develop the gluten. By gently and minimally mixing you will get that nice crumb particular to a muffin.

Muffins are meant to be pillow-soft, light, and airy. If you follow these tips your muffins will turn out just perfect!.

Enjoy!





Bakery Style Almond Blueberry Banana Muffins

yield: 6

1 large ripe banana, mashed
1 large egg
1/2 c 2% milk
1/4 c canola oil
1 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c coconut sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 - 1 c fresh blueberries
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl mash the banana.  Add the egg, milk, oil, and almond extract.  Mix together using a whisk to completely incorporate.

Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to the egg mixture.  Stir just until combined.  Do not over mix.   Toss blueberries with 1 Tablespoon of flour.  Fold in the blueberries just until combined.

Using a cookie scoop, add batter to the prepared muffin tins. Bake 18-20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool 5-10 minutes in the tin.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats

Wonderfully sweet and gooey rice krispie treats that are bursting with strawberry flavor.

Summer is still going strong and I want to get every last bit of anything strawberry that I can.  Last week I brought an excellent creamy Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream which was bursting with strawberry flavor.  Today we have a wonderful treat for you that quick and easy to make but still brings that fresh strawberry flavor.

STRAWBERRY RICE KRISPIE TREATS

The other day I was in the cereal aisle of the grocery store when I spotted strawberry flavored rice krispies...what???  Yes sirree, they now have strawberry flavored Rice Krispies that are flavored with natural flavors.  How great is that?  So I new I had to make some treat with these and grabbed a box without hesitation.  

These treats are just as easy to make as the originals, but I made them a little extra gooey by mixing in some whole mini marshmallows in with the cereal so when you bite into them you get that little extra something.  I've seen fancy bakery made treats prepared this way and I've been doing this for years.  Along with any other mix in you may add this takes the treats up a notch!

MGG just gobbled them down and I must say that I really, really liked the flavor of these treats.  Needless to say they didn't last very long in our house.  Hmmm, think I'll go make another batch now!

Enjoy!



More Strawberry Dishes
Lighter Strawberry Crisp
Strawberry Cinnamon Smoothie

Quick and Easy Strawberry Lemonade

Strawberry Vanilla Waffles with Yogurt

Strawberry Sour Cream Muffins

Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats


6 tablespoons butter
6 cups Strawberry Rice Krispies
1 16oz bag mini marshmallows
1 teaspoon almond extract

In a medium pan over medium add butter to melt.  

Place cereal in a large bowl and add 1 1/2 cups of loose marshmallows.  Once the butter is melted, add the rest of the bag of marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat and add almond extract. Using a rubber spatula, pour the marshmallows into the cereal.  Stir until everything is coated and transfer to an 8x8 pan.  Coat hands with a little water or cooking spray and pat down mixture lightly in the pan. 

Cut into squares and serve.