Orange Scones

When I came across this recipe, I was a tad skeptical. Make that more like very skeptical. A scone recipe without heavy cream and eggs? What's up with that? Sure, there's both an egg and heavy cream in the ingredients, but that's for brushing the tops. There's no cream inside the scone itself. Granted, my knowledge of scones is a bit limited, seeing as I've only been making them for a couple of months, but what I do know tells me that a scone recipe without cream is wrong. Very, very wrong.

Except when it's right. And this recipe is very, very right.

I was worried these scones would be dry. After all, it must be the cream keeping scones moist, right? Well, these are not dry. In fact, these scones have the lightest, fluffiest texture I've ever experienced in a scone. The orange flavor in these is just spectacular. It's citrusy and bright without overwhelming the delicacy of the scone. These would be excellent to serve for a brunch or tea.

So has making these scones ruined me forever to the more traditional version? I wouldn't say that. I definitely think there's room at the breakfast table for both. I'm so glad I gave these a chance, though. And I will mention these were eaten in record time. It's probably a good thing my resolution this year was to branch out into trying more creative recipes instead of trying to lose ten pounds by next week, huh?


ORANGE SCONES
from The Pastry Affair

for the scones:
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 c sugar
zest of 1 large orange
pinch of salt
5 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 c freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 c sour cream
1 egg
1 tbsp heavy cream or whole milk

for the glaze:
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, orange zest, and salt. With a pastry blender, cut in the butter, until the flour mixture looks crumbly with pea-sized chunks scattered throughout.

3. Stir in the orange juice and sour cream. Mix with a spatula until dough comes together. Knead it a few turns on a lightly floured surface. The dough might be sticky, but add as little flour as manageable to your board. Shape dough into 12 small rounds, each about 2 inches in diameter. Place rounds on the baking sheet. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and heavy cream. Brush tops of scones with this mixture.

4. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the tops just start to brown. Allow to cool before drizzling with icing.

This recipe is shared with Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Craft-O-Maniac, Made by You Monday, Tuesday Talent Show, Totally Tasty Tuesdays, This Chick Cooks, Full Plate Thursday, It's a Keeper, Foodie Friday, Cast Party Wednesday, Foodie Friday

Nutella Scones

 

This is another recipe I was inspired to bring to you through the wonders of Pinterest. Not because this recipe came to me through Pinterest; it's from one of my favorite cookbooks, Baked Explorations. But because my pin board has made it clear that Nutella is all the rage. Remember those commercials about how Nutella was a healthy part of breakfast because it was made with skim milk and a "hint" of cocoa? Most of us know that Nutella is more like chocolate with a hint of something else (and who cares about what that something else is when there's chocolate to focus on!). Those commercials seemed ridiculous. Yet, that's about the time Nutella recipes started popping up all over the place. Hmm... maybe that was the goal all along. Pretty sneaky, Nutella.

So how many times can I use the word Nutella in one paragraph? A bunch, apparently!

Making these scones, I did have to make a change to the original recipe. My dough was too dry and would not come together. I added an extra 1/4 cup cream, and it worked like a charm. After doing some research, I discovered other cooks made the same change, and so I feel confident enough in it to write this change into the recipe. I also ignored all warnings about overworking the dough and went to town with my kneading. These scones needed it.

The end results were very tasty. They had the richness of chocolate but restrained from being too sweet. I enjoyed the hazelnuts, but think it would be equally good without them. These scones are definitely on the larger size. I don't know that you'd get too many complaints about that, though!

NUTELLA SCONES

2 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c dutch process cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes and chilled
1 egg
3/4 c heavy cream
3/4 c hazelnuts, chopped
1/2 c Nutella

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until you achieve pea-sized crumbles. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and cream. Pour into the flour mixture. Using a spatchula or fork, start to work the wet into the dry, getting the dough to start to come together. Add in the hazelnuts. Once the dough has come together, knead it a few turns.

3. Shape dough into a rectangle, about 6 by 12 inches. Spread 1/4 c Nutella on the dough. Roll up the dough along the long side. Stand dough roll on one of it's ends and then squish it down to form a disk. You will probably get Nutella on your hands during this step. Try to power through. Cut the disk into eight wedges, placing each wedge on the lined baking sheet.

4. Bake for about 20 minutes. Allow scones to cool on a wire rack. Once cool, drizzle the tops with the remaining 1/4 c Nutella (microwave for a few seconds first to get a more drizzly consistency).

This recipe is shared with Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Craft-O-Maniac, On the Menu Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Made by You Monday, Tuesday Talent Show, This Chick Cooks, Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday, Sweets for a Saturday

Chocolate Chip Scones with Coffee Glaze

A family friend is throwing a baby shower for her daughter and asked me to bring some scones. This, of course, meant I had to learn to make scones. Somehow, I made it to the age of thirty without ever having tasted one. I think I avoided them because I thought they were were dry and pasty by nature. Few things bum me out like a mouthful of dry biscuit.

Well, I'm very happy to report I was laboring under a misunderstanding. These scones are anything but dry. Instead, they are rich and creamy. I love the addition of the mini-chocolate chips, which replace the currants from the original recipe. No offense to any currant lovers out there, but give me chocolate any day of the week, and twice on Sundays. The chocolate chips also play nicely with the coffee glaze. And as nothing says "good morning!" quite like coffee, the glaze helps transforms these scones into the perfect breakfast treat.


CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONES WITH COFFEE GLAZE

for the scones:
1 large egg
2/3 c. heavy cream
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
5 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
3/4 c. mini chocolate chips

for the glaze:
1/2 c. powdered sugar
3-5 tsp brewed coffee
1/2 tsp maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a small bowl, beat the egg. Whisk in the cream. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in the chilled butter using a pastry blender or by criss-crossing two knives. The butter should blend in with the dry ingredients, creating a crumbly texture.

4. Whisk the egg mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix until ingredients are combined and dough comes together. Add in the mini chocolate chips. Knead the dough about 8-10 turns, working in the mini chocolate chips as you knead.

5. Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut dough into two equal pieces. Shape each piece into a circle that's about 5-inches in diameter. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Place wedges on the prepared baking sheet.

6. Bake the scones in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until tops turn golden. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

7. In a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, maple syrup and 2 tsp coffee. Add more coffee, a teaspoon at a time, to get the desired consistency. Drizzle glaze over scones. These scones are best eaten within a day or two.

Source: Tracy's Culinary Adventures, who adapted it from Cafe Lynnylu, who got the recipe from Dorie Greenspan

This recipe is shared with Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Craft-O-Maniac, On the Menu Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Made by You Monday, Tuesday Talent Show, This Chick Cooks, Full Plate Thursday, It's a Keeper Thursday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Fresh Food Friday, Sweets for a Saturday, Sweet Indulgences Sunday