Cookies N'Cream Scones

Where have I been for the last month??? Why haven't I posted?

Well... for starters there were family issues that had to be handled, then I was traveling a bit to be with the family.  Then somehow my schedule just got a bit out of control, though I'm not sure how it happened.  As a yoga teacher, I'm used to a certain amount of changes - even last minute ones - but for some reason it was much more challenging these past few weeks.

I decided to get back on the posting bandwagon as soon as possible because pretty soon my kitchen will be out of commission.  That's right, my hubby and I are renovating the kitchen.  It's overdue and thus the time has come.  Hopefully I won't have too much a gap between posts like this last month.  I'm hoping it's just a week or so... fingers crossed.

Anyhow, as I was experimenting with scone recipes recently I decided to give this latest one a whirl: adding Oreos.  OMG.  What results!  They came out GREAT!

Check them out...

COOKIES N' CREAM SCONES

INGREDIENTS:

Original scone recipe can be found here on a previous post.

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

1 egg

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda, and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in the butter. Stir the sour cream mixture and egg into the flour mixture until just moistened. Mix in crumbled Oreos. Add about as much as you want. I used about 1 cup.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. Roll or pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick round. Cut into 12 wedges, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom.

PERSONAL NOTES:
 I chose to add sugar glaze icing to top it off, although it doesn't need it.  If you like sweeter scones, go for the icing.  Otherwise you can leave it off.
I used 1 cup confectioner's sugar, 1 tsp milk, 1/2 tsp vanilla (or you can use any variation thereof as you like it).  Then I took Oreo crumbles and sprinkled them on top. 

SO GOOD!!!

Beautiful British Scones!

So scones are my latest endeavour in baking.  I'm experimenting with a few different types.  I've previously made the Cinnamon Streusel Scones and last week made Black Treacle Scones.  Yesterday I tried out this wonderful recipe for what I consider typical English scones.  SO good!  I adapted the recipe from this one found on Allrecipes.

This latest recipe worked out great.  Although, I have to say that if the Black Treacle Scones had raisins in them, I'd probably like them better.  (Plus, the Black Treacle Scones were only about 90 calories the way I made them!).

BEAUTIFUL BRITISH SCONES

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

1 egg

1 cup raisins (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda, and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in the butter. Stir the sour cream mixture and egg into the flour mixture until just moistened. Mix in the raisins.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. Roll or pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick round. Cut into 12 wedges, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom.

Yields 12 scones.

PERSONAL NOTES:

I must have made these guys much smaller than the recipe stated.  The original recipe yields 12 scones and I halved it (after all, it really is just me and my hubby chowing down on them. We don't need 12 large scones!).  Even after cutting it in half, I still came out with 10 scones.  I used a glass to cut out round scones.  I suppose I could have made them thicker, but I just didn't.  Frankly, I really like them as they came out. The way I made them each scone is approximately 220 calories.

In place of the sour cream I used fat free Greek yogurt.  My favorite go-to ingredient when recipes call for sour cream or even buttermilk.  It's a fantastic substitute.  You would never tell the difference in flavor. 

In place of butter I used Olivio so there's no cholesterol.  And for the egg I used Egg Beaters - another  go-to for eggs used in dishes.  Because believe me, when it comes to eating eggs, I'm going to make the real thing!

Black Treacle Scones

I wanted to be productive during my midday break.  Being productive can amount to a great many things. Today as usual, that meant trying out a new recipe.  And I didn't go through the vast list (or cookbooks) to find this.  No, I went trolling online for something new.  I don't know why I keep looking for new things when there are already so many dishes I want to try out.

Anyhow, I wanted something new and of course something easy.  Enter Black Treacle Scones into the picture.  Original recipe is courtesy of allrecipes and can be found here. 

The last time I made scones I made Cinnamon Streusel Scones.  While they tasted fine and cinnamon-y, the consistency just wasn't what I was expecting.  I'm used to traditional scones like the kinds you'd have with an English tea service.  Served with jam and clotted cream.  You know which scones I'm talking about.  When I saw the recipe for Black Treacle Scones I thought they screamed British!

And here they are...

BLACK TREACLE SCONES

INGREDIENTS:

3 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

4 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup butter

2 tablespoons molasses

1 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:

- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet. 

- In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cream of tarter, salt, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg and ginger. Cut in butter with a fork or pastry blender. Combine milk and molasses in a small bowl; stir into flour mixture until moistened. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly. Roll dough out into a 1/2 inch thick round. Cut out circles with a medium biscuit cutter and place pieces on prepared baking sheet so that they are barely touching.

- Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Move to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving. For soft scones, cover with a dry cloth for 10 minutes. For crisp scones, do not cover.

PERSONAL NOTES:

I really don't have too much to add to this.  I kept pretty close to the original recipe.  For milk I used skim (as always). 

Oh wait, what am I saying?  When mixing the wet ingredients with the flour mixture it was super dry.  Like, maybe I didn't need so much flour.  In a pinch I used a small bit of fat free Greek yogurt to add moisture.  That worked - and they came out great!

These will be amazing with jam and clotted cream or even with just butter.

Cinnamon Streusel Scones

It's funny, now that I'm moving away from the winter squash sweets and dishes, I find myself more and more being drawn towards cinnamon and all other manner of sweet confections.  Then I'm reminded of course, that I've been trying to move away from the sweets and bread-y dishes.  I seriously can't help myself.  I'm not sure I can ever keep far enough away from them.   

Anyhow, I realized I hadn't ever made scones before - never ever.  Thus, my hunt for the perfect (and frankly, easy to make) scone began.  Luckily, I didn't have to hunt all that long.  I found this recipe here and decided it looked yummy enough - and easy - to make. 

The verdict? It was wonderfully yummy and easy to make. This recipe is a keeper :)

CINNAMON STREUSEL SCONES

INGREDIENTS:
scones:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

streusel filling:

• 2 tablespoons cold butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

topping:

• 1 egg white, beaten
• 2 teaspoons sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.


In a large bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Cut in butter until pea size crumbles. In separate bowl, stir yogurt, egg and vanilla together. Stir into flour mixture. Pour onto a lightly floured surface and knead five or six times. Divide dough in half. Pat each half into about an 8 inch circle. Carefully place one dough circle onto a greased or lined baking sheet.


In a small bowl, combine streusel filling until crumbly. Sprinkle over bottom dough circle. Place remaining dough circle over streusel filling. Pinch edges together gently. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut into 8 wedges.


Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.


Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.


Serve warm or at room temperature.

PERSONAL NOTES:

Boy, these were pretty easy. I thought I'd run into some difficulty when it came time to put the two halves together but it actually worked rather nicely.  I used a rolling pin to flatten out the dough, piled on the streusel mixture then laid on the top layer of dough.  I used a pizza cutter to slice down the edges to make a square piece.  Then I cut the wedges from there.  Easy peasy.  I half expected the streusel filling to ooze out during baking, but it never happened.  Must be enough flour in there to keep that from happening.

Just so you know, I didn't have vanilla yogurt so I used fat free Greek yogurt.  It worked out great.  Like it was made to be used for scones.  I added vanilla extract and half of a vanilla bean (scooped out with the vanilla mixed in).

YUM!