Mouth Watering Scones for Breakfast

To any out there who believe all scones are too dry, I beg to differ. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, of course, but my scones are pretty much always amazingly good: lightly moist, tender and delicate, needing nothing at all on them to enjoy.
 

Buckwheat Scones with Romano, Figs, Thyme & Walnuts

This morning I had a little brainstorm. I had no bread left in the house (I know - SHOCK!), so I was going to make some scones for breakfast to go with our weekend splurge of bacon and cheese omelets. I wanted to use mostly a whole grain or seed of some kind. I already knew that both whole Kamut flour and whole buckwheat flour (no relation to wheat whatsoever) make very delicate scones. I opted for buckwheat. Then, what other flavors to use? I have fresh thyme growing outside, so that would be one flavor. I didn't have much cheese, but I had a chunk of Romano, which I love, so I got that out. For a touch of sweetness, I used dried white figs. And nuts. Gotta have nuts! I used walnuts this time, despite the fact that my husband doesn't like them. Sometimes, I just need to make myself happy too. And guess what? He loved the scones. There are so many wonderful flavors packed into them, the nuts made no difference to him.

Lovely Texture in the Scones

Lots of things were going into these scones, so I was kind of holding my breath to see how the dough would look, how they would bake. Well, the dough came together perfectly. Perfect texture for forming. They cut perfectly. They baked perfectly. The aromas while baking were mouthwatering. And the flavors? O - M - G! These are absolutely my favorite scones since I came up with my Earl Grey Currant Scones with Lavender & Pecans, over two years ago. While I love all the scones I have made, those last were the reigning favorite. Now I have a true contender. 

I added a little sugar to the scone dough. Usually I use only 2 tablespoons, though this time I opted for 3 tablespoons to give balance to the saltiness of the cheese. This was perfect, and there is barely over a teaspoon of sugar per scone. Not that onerous a portion. We do not use any butter or jam on our scones, as they are truly perfect alone. There is just under 2 teaspoons of butter per scone in the dough. What with the cheese and the cream, there is plenty of richness in there already, and with the mix of all the flavors, nothing more was needed. They were that good! I do brush the tops of the scones with cream, then sprinkle on some sugar, just to add a tiny sparkle and crunch. You may opt to do this or not, as you prefer. The added amount of cream in doing this is negligible. I just use whatever is left in the measuring cup when I measure out the cream for the recipe. Some always stays in the cup. I use this, sometimes needing a few drops more, but most often not.

Parchment lined pan - Scones patted out and cut - Brushing with cream

I have avoided using dried figs in scones or anything else. Generally, all that are available are dried Black Mission Figs, and somehow, I just do not like them. I discovered, however, that I really do like dried white figs. I love eating them right out of the bag. Since I ordered a large bag of them recently, I thought I would give them a try in these scones, and I must say, they were an excellent addition; just another little bit of sweetness into the mix. The thyme was not at all overwhelming, but just adding a pleasant herbal note. Altogether perfect.

Buckwheat Scones with Romano Cheese, Dried Figs, Thyme & Walnuts

Makes 8 scones
 

Buckwheat Scones with
Cheese, Figs, Thyme & Walnuts

1¼ cup (125 grams) buckwheat flour
¾ cup / 105 grams all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
2.6 ounces / 75 grams Romano cheese, grated on large holed grater
5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter 
¾ cup / 3.15 ounces / 88 grams dried white figs, chopped
½ cup / 1.45 ounces / 40 grams walnuts, coarsely chopped
¾ cup / 6 ounces / 180 ml heavy cream
sugar for sprinkling 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees with rack in 2nd or 3rd shelf from bottom. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a large bowl, combine the buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, thyme leaves and Romano cheese. Toss to distribute the ingredients evenly. Cut in the cold butter as for pie dough, until the mixture is in coarse crumbles. Add in the chopped figs and walnuts and toss to distribute in the mixture. Drizzle on the cream, reserving some behind, in case it is not all needed. Toss the mixture quickly with a fork to moisten evenly, without actually stirring. If most of the mixture is already moistened, and it is possible to bring the dough together into a fairly stiff ball without too much handling, then do not add more cream. If there remains too much of the dry mixture, drizzle in the cream by bits until all the dry parts have incorporated. 

Oil a clean surface and turn the dough out onto the surface. Bring the dough together into a neat ball with as little handling as is possible, then flatten into about an 8-inch diameter circle. With a long chef's knife, cut across the circle four times, to create 8 scone wedges of equal size. With the knife, lift the scones onto the prepared parchment lined pan, keeping them at least an inch apart, as they will grow and spread during baking.

Use any remaining cream in the measuring cup to brush the tops of the scones, then sprinkle the tops with a little more sugar. Bake the scones for about 16 minutes, until golden and set. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Unusual Scones both Tender and Light

Unusual Scones? Well, I describe them this way because not everyone will have the flours I used, nor necessarily be able to replicate. I just had to put this recipe out here though, simply because these have to be the absolute lightest and most tender scones I have ever made.
 

Buckwheat Spelt Scones with Craisins & White Chocolate

I love scones. If they are rather dry, as with store-bought ones at times, I simply sip coffee or tea with them. No problem. If they crumble? No problem at all. I expect them to crumble a bit. But light? Even with all the awesome scones I have made to date, I don't think I have ever been able to describe them as "light." But these? They are light as feathers. Well, almost. But close enough.

You know how a really great pie crust has lightness, tenderness, flakiness? I would not go so far as to say these scones are flaky, exactly, but the tenderness and lightness is truly beyond amazing to me. Do they crumble? Oh yes. Not horribly. They just need a light hand, because they are that tender. 

One thing I did differently than usual, and I don't know how much difference this may have made: I used Kerrygold unsalted butter, instead of Land O'Lakes, as I usually do. I know European butters have less water content, and I had some Kerrygold on hand because I had made croissants recently and wanted the best butter possible.

(Oh, and Happy St. Paddy's Day to all my readers!)

So What are these Scones Made of, Anyway?

This morning I was thinking of making scones. My initial thought was to grind some whole Kamut grain and use that whole meal flour, since it is so light colored, it doesn't feel or taste like you are eating a whole grain. And then I thought about some organic white spelt flour in my freezer and went that direction instead. 

Buckwheat Spelt Scones
with Craisins & White Chocolate

But - I really didn't want just white flour scones. Granted, spelt is an alternative wheat, sometimes tolerated better than our modern-day wheat. But this spelt flour was not whole grain. So, whether modern wheat or not, it is still white flour. Empty carbs. And I sat there a few minutes looking around the kitchen wondering what I could add to the spelt flour to make these less "empty-carb." And I thought, "Buckwheat!" Buckwheat (read more about buckwheat here) is not a grain at all, not is is in any way related to wheat. Nor is it a grass. In actuality, it is a seed encased by its fruit, and related to rhubarb. I digress.

I happen to love the flavor of buckwheat. I have eaten it as a breakfast "cereal" instead of oatmeal. I often grind it in my grain grinder and make pancakes or waffles. Or even just soak the buckwheat with other seeds to make waffles or pancakes without added flour of any kind. I know buckwheat may not fall into everyone's favorite category, but it is in mine. 
 

A Template for Really Great Scones

I used a very similar base template recipe to what I have been using for a couple of years now, since this template really turns out some fantastic scones. I only altered the base template a tiny bit. This is the base template for great scones:

• 2 cups flour (I play with the flour combinations a lot, but keep to 2 cups)
• 2 - 3 tablespoons sugar (depending on other flavors going in)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 5 tablespoons cold butter
• 1 cup heavy cream

The mixing is pretty much the same no matter what you are mixing. Mix the first 5 ingredients, cut in the cold butter, finishing with fingers to break down into very small bits, add cream and form into dough. Presto. 

The alterations I made were using a tablespoon less sugar, since I wanted to add white chocolate, always over-the-top sweet. I also went with 1 teaspoon of salt. The half cup of white chocolate and half cup of craisins (dried cranberries) were the flavors I chose this morning. And without further ado, here is my recipe:

Buckwheat Spelt Scones with Craisins & White Chocolate

Makes 8 scones 
 

Buckwheat Spelt Scones
with Craisins & White Chocolate

1 cup (preferably freshly ground) buckwheat flour 
1 cup white spelt flour (or substitute all-purpose flour)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
½ cup white chocolate bits, lightly chopped
½ cup craisins, lightly chopped
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

Place the first 6 ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add in the cold butter, cut into small cubes and cut in as for pie pastry. If the pieces stay too large, finish by using fingers to break up the butter into the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate and craisins, then pour the cream over all at once and stir , tossing slightly, with a fork until the mixture starts to come together in a mass. Oil or spray a counter or smooth surface with cooking spray. Turn out the dough and pat into a ball, then do a quick knead, twice, just to bring the mass together. Pat it out to an 8-inch circle. Use a large knife and cut the circle across 4 times, making 8 wedges. Use a spatula to transfer the wedges to the parchment lines baking sheet, setting them at least an inch apart.

Bake the scones for approximately 15 to 17 minutes, until set and golden. Serve warm. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Wonderful Cran Raspberry White Chocolate Scones

"Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake . . ." is what popped in my mind as I was readying my scones for the oven this morning.

Cran-Raspberry White Chocolate Scones

Happy New Year's Everyone! Perusing Facebook early this AM, I got a reminder of a post I had shared one year ago for Red Berry and White Chocolate Scones. The recipe was found on a site called www.orgasmicchef.com, though the recipe itself was from a guest poster - another blogger whose site is called www.notquitenigella.com. The recipe had things I just love: raspberries, fresh cranberries and white chocolate. The fact that these things were made into scones was a no-brainer. So last year I shared the recipe on FB when it came around, and then managed to forget all about it. 

Till this morning. When I shared the recipe again. But this time the difference was that I actually had fresh cranberries in the fridge, frozen whole raspberries in the freezer and white "chocolate" baking chips in the pantry!

Just because I find a recipe that sounds amazing, does not mean I follow the recipe. I seem to have a built-in need to tinker. Tweak. The only part of the recipe that I followed (sort of) is with the amounts for the three ingredients   already mentioned. Even those were altered a tiny bit. When the first issue of BAKE from scratch magazine came out and it featured scones (which I just love), I was hooked. Their method was quite different from what I had done previously in my recipes for scones, and I liked the way they came out. And yes, I actually did follow (some of) the recipes in that magazine - just to see how they came out. They sort of have a basic main ingredient list and then flavors are added. There is some variation in the basic ingredients, mainly if there is a need to compensate for a moist addition or dry addition. And then there is method . . . . . !

The magazine calls for:

• starting in a food processor, 
• then moving the mixture to a bowl to add in the add-ins, 
• and then to a cake tin to form the circle, 
• then they are turned out onto the counter to cut them apart. 

😧

I mean, really??? And that's not counting the measuring cups and things and the knife or bench scraper for cutting, etc.

Pat out then cut and onto pan to bake

I once remarked to my sister-in-law that you can always tell when a person has "staff" to help out with washing the pots, pans, bowls and things. They will tend to use every piece of equipment in the kitchen, just because they can - and then the "help" will clean up afterwards. I am a "one-woman-show" here, and I try to utilize the least amount of things I would otherwise have to wash afterwards. I mix my scones up in a bowl, cut the butter in with a pastry blender. I pat it out on the counter top [at this point is where the "Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake . . ." popped into my head] to form the round 8-inch circle. In the end I have one bowl, a pastry blender, a knife and the counter to clean. Oh, and maybe a measuring cup and spoon. 

Cran-Raspberry White Chocolate Scones

Anyway, back to making these scones. I opted to use the basics from the "BAKE from scratch" magazine, mainly:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons salt (which I find way too much, personally)
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup heavy cream

A friend had given me some fresh raspberries over the summer, which she had frozen individually on a sheet, then packaged. I'd not yet gotten around to using them, so today was the day. I had some fresh cranberries in the fridge, also which I had not gotten around to using. I had no actual white chocolate, but I had white baking chips, so those would have to do for now. And all I can say is Wow! The scones were fantastic. That said, they were still a little soft in the middles even after the 15 minutes at 425 degrees. I might have to lower the temp and let them go a little longer next time - but for now I have absolutely no problem with how they came out.

Here is my recipe:

Cran-Raspberry White Chocolate Scones

Makes 8 scones 

Cran-Raspberry White Chocolate Scones

¾ cup individually frozen raspberries
¼ cup chopped fresh cranberries
½ cup white chocolate in small chunks (or white baking chips)
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
1¼ teaspoons salt
5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
1 cup + 1 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place a piece of parchment on a baking sheet. Set aside.

Measure out the chopped cranberries and set aside. Measure out the frozen raspberries. Cut them in half if preferred. Set aside. Measure out the white chocolate and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt. Stir to combine. With a heavy pastry cutter, or two knives or fingers, cut in the cold butter. If doing this with fingers, cut the butter into little cubes, then work quickly so as not to heat the butter too much. 

Mix in the reserved cranberries, raspberries and white chocolate. Stir to distribute. Do not mix too much. With a fork, toss the mixture lightly while drizzling in the heavy cream. Once the cream is all added, continue tossing and scraping sides until most of the mixture is moistened. Do not beat. Spray a clean counter top with cooking spray and turn out the scone mixture. Press and pat the mixture together ["Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake . . ."] to form an 8-inch circle. Use a long knife and cut across the circle four times, creating 8 scones. Using the knife, separate and lift each scone to the parchment lined baking sheet, setting them at least 1-inch apart.

Bake the scones for 15 minutes, until browned and set. 



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

An Updated Scone Recipe

A couple of months back I discovered a brand-new publication called "BAKE from scratch". I have written about the magazine, most recently in my blog post of November 12, 2015. The magazine is absolutely gorgeous. I am not affiliated with the magazine, or it's owners or contributors in any way. I just fell in love with the magazine. I just today bought the 2nd edition. In the Premiere edition, there were recipes for 8 different kinds of scones. Let me say right here,

"I LOVE SCONES!"

So, over the course of the couple of months since I bought that premiere edition, I have made all but one of the scone recipes. I took the magazine with me when we went out to Denver over the holidays. We were gone three weeks and I made two of the scone recipes while visiting with my sisters. One of them that I had been putting off making was for Earl Grey Currant Scones. What is interesting is that a couple of years back I had created a recipe for Earl Grey Currant Scones with Lavender and Pecans. At that time, I used my own "base recipe" and tweaked it to use the ingredients as I wanted them. Some of my methods were a little fussy, perhaps. Still, the scones were, hands-down, the best scones, ever. Obviously, this is my own personal taste, but even smelling them baking was amazing. This is that older recipe I created two years ago:

Earl Grey Currant Scones with Lavender and Pecans

Makes 8 scones

Earl Grey Currant Scones with Lavender and Pecans

1 tablespoon loose leaf Earl Grey tea, or 2 teabags
¼ cup boiling water
½ cup currants
¾ cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon lavender flowers
1 cup cake flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup organic coconut sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, very cold
⅔ cup pecans, in coarse chunks
More buttermilk and sugar for brushing and sprinkling

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (375 on Convection Bake). Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside. Soak the Earl Grey tea in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Strain the tea over a small bowl with the currants. Press down on the tea - leaves or bag - to get all the liquid possible. Set aside. Measure out the buttermilk and stir in the lavender flowers to soak. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk together both kinds of flour, the sugar baking powder, soda and salt. Either grate the cold butter into the flour mixture on a large holed grater, or cut the butter into small cubes. Work the butter into the flour mixture until crumbly, using either fingertips or a pastry cutter. Add both the currants with any remaining tea and the buttermilk/lavender mixture and toss lightly with a fork until the mixture begins to come together. Add in the pecans.

Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and pat out to about a 10-inch diameter circle. Fold the dough in half, patting and pressing out again to a circle. Repeat the folding and patting put about 6 to 8 times. Now pat out the dough to about an 8-inch diameter circle. Cut across into either 6 or 8 wedges. Place them on the prepared baking sheet, about ½ inch apart. Brush the tops with some buttermilk and sprinkle a good pinch of sugar evenly over the surface. Bake the scones for about 20 minutes, until golden.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is little about scones I don't like. I am of the "no egg" mindset when it comes to scones, and that usually leaves them a bit dry and crumbly. I love them anyway. I have always loved using buttermilk in scones or biscuits, so I compensated on the fat (for moistness and tenderness) by using a whole stick of butter.  

Updated Earl Grey Currant Scones with Lavender and Pecans

Enter the New Magazine 

When I got the "BAKE from scratch" magazine and found all the scone recipes, I noticed that they, too had a base recipe, off of which all the recipes were created. Some that had something moist added in (sweet potato or ricotta, for example) used a little more flour to compensate. All the recipes used about the same amount of salt, baking powder and sugar. Instead of buttermilk, they used heavy cream and they used less butter than I had been using in my recipes. 

While visiting with my sisters, I made the recipe for Earl Grey Currant Scones from "BAKE". I was interested in them from various angles. Would they be more moist and tender, due to the amount of butter and the use of heavy cream? Would they be better than how mine came out, or would they fall behind in the flavor department? One thing that was done very differently in the magazine's recipe is that instead of brewing the Earl Grey tea, they ground it, left it dry and added it to the flour. While they did not plump the currants at all, if one has moist currants it doesn't really matter. 

Updated Earl Grey Currant Scones
with Lavender and Pecans

Ultimately, while I liked the recipe from "Bake", I did miss the addition of the lavender and pecans. I resolved to make some changes in my recipe and see how they would come out. I used heavy cream instead of buttermilk. I used 5 tablespoons of butter instead of 8. I used more baking powder, no soda and more salt. But to make the recipe less fussy, I also ground the whole leaf Earl Grey tea and added it to the flour mixture. I kept the part about soaking the lavender flowers. 

The outcome was wonderful. While the look of the scones was no different from my old ones, and even the flavors were not different enough to detect from memory (last time I made them was 8 months past), I think that there was a difference in moistness and tenderness. I believe from now on I will make my Earl Grey Currant Scones with Lavender and Pecans using this new method.

MAKE-AHEAD ALERT!

Something I started doing while at my sister's house making scones: I combined the dry ingredients and cut in the cold butter the night before, adding in the currants or nuts (as the recipe might call for) and then covered the bowl tightly and refrigerated overnight. This saved time in the morning, when all I had to do was preheat the oven, add the cream to the dry mixture and form the scones before baking. This is something I found particularly helpful, particularly in guest situations, when preparing things in the morning can end up chaotic. Having most of the prep done and cleaned up is wonderful, and I will be using this method most often from now on, guests or no!

Updated Earl Grey Currant Scones with Lavender & Pecans

Earl Grey Currant Scones, just baked

Makes 8

1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon dried lavender flowers
1 tablespoon Earl Grey tea (from sachets or whole, ground) 
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup coconut sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
½ cup currants
½ cup chopped pecans

extra 1 - 2 tablespoons heavy cream
extra sugar for topping

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Set a piece of parchment onto a baking sheet.

Stir the lavender flowers into the cream and set aside while prepping the dry ingredients. In a large bowl combine the flour, tea, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine. If you own a very sturdy pastry cutter, add in the cold, unsalted butter and cut in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Otherwise, grate the cold butter into the flour mixture with a larger holed grater and proceed to cut in the butter as described. Stir in the currants and the pecans. Add in the heavy cream and lavender flowers and mix quickly with a fork to moisten. Gather the mixture gently and quickly, as for pie dough, handling as little as possible. 

Depending on where you live and what the humidity level is, you might need a little more cream to get all the crumbs to come together.

Before and After Baking - showing why they must be set apart to bake!

Once most of the crumbs adhere together, spray a counter with non-stick spray and turn out the dough. Pat into an 8-inch circle. Use a large chef knife or a bench scraper to cut the circle into 8 wedges. Use the knife or scraper to lift each wedge to the prepared parchment lined pan, keeping them at least 1-inch apart. Brush the tops with the extra heavy cream and then sprinkle the tops with the extra sugar.

Bake the scones for 13 to 18 minutes, until golden.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.