Fresh Peach Scones

I am using the last of the tree-ripened peaches that I got from a couple weeks ago. You might wonder, how did I get these to stay fresh? For starters, put the ripe ready-to-eat peaches into the crisper drawer in the refrigerator. My crisper drawers have two types of vents on them, a larger vent for apples and a smaller vent for vegetables. I put these into the drawer I have apples in. I should also say that whatever nitrogen the apples give off don't affect each other since I have the apples in plastic bags. On a side note, apples kept this way in the refrigerator will keep for a few months before they start to desiccate and shrivel. Also, you should eat damaged or bruised apples as quickly as you can since they will be the first to go bad.

TheFoodening Blog - peach scones fresh from the oven

This recipe ratio comes from King Arthur's recipe website.

These don't look anything like a classic buttermilk or heavy cream scone. They are certainly not really a scone with a fluffy crumb texture that's for sure. I forgot to add the granulated sugar and I used 6-ish tablespoons of Trader Joe's Apricot-Mango Greek yogurt. Whoops!

Ingredients

2 c unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 c organic granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
sprinkling of ground nutmeg

6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, diced

2 large eggs
6 tbsp Greek yogurt, vanilla yogurt, or sour cream
1/2 tsp almond extract

1 c diced fresh peaches, skins removed

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F.

1. Sift dry ingredients together, then cut in the butter using a pastry knife, couple of forks, or a food processor.

2. Whisk the wet ingredients together. Stir in dry ingredients. Fold in peaches.

3. Use a 1/4 cup measure to drop the batter onto a prepared baking sheet.

4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Pumpkin Spice Scones

Just like how Starbucks makes them, well, not really. I really did try to replicate the taste. Except, I forgot to add the vanilla extract to the dough so I added it to the spiced icing instead. This scone tastes less sugary than what you can get at Starbucks. There's only a third of a cup of brown sugar in the whole batch, plus whatever icing that was squiggled on top of the scones. These taste really good when eaten the same day they're baked. They're slightly less fresh the day after. And, the scones have dried out somewhat after that but a good complement to tea and/or coffee.

Pumpkin Spice Scones, glazed and all for me...!

This dough was really, really wet and sticky. I was concerned that it wouldn't form into the triangles after baking. If you want easier cleanup, place a silicone mat under the rack that the scones are cooling on before glazing.

Scone Ingredients

2 c unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 c light brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 c organic pumpkin purée
1 large egg
up to 3 tbsp organic half'n'half
1 stick (8 tbsp) cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Spiced Glaze Ingredients

1 c powdered sugar
1 tbsp organic half'n'half
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

To make the dough, blend together all the dry ingredients and the butter in a food processor. Next, add all the wet ingredients (egg, pumpkin, half'n'half). Pulse until it just comes together. It'll be sticky and wet.

Turn dough out onto a silicone mat. If the dough is too sticky, wet your fingers with some water and gently press the dough out into a rectangular shape. You're aiming for an even block of dough that is 1/2" tall. If you're as good as a Starbuck's baker, you can pat this dough out to be 10" x 7". But, if you're not, it'll look like some rectangular blob.

Use a pastry knife and cut the triangle in half and in half again. Of the smaller triangles, cut these diagonally to make triangle wedges. Don't try to break these apart when they are wet. It simply will not work.

Bake on a rimmed or unrimmed baking sheet for 15 minutes. Try to break out the wedges as individual pieces and cool on a wire rack.

To make the spiced glaze:

Combine all the glaze ingredients together in a bowl. And use a spoon or sandwich bag to create zig-zag lines on top of the scones.

To make a simple sugar glaze:

Combine all the glaze ingredients except for the pumpkin pie spice and glaze accordingly.

Sweetened Cream Scones

Once you have a decent base recipe, making additions to it is easy enough. This particular recipe calls for a lot of sugar. While it isn't as ludicrously sweet as the scones you can get at a Starbucks, it has a noticeable amount of sugar that is more than what you'd get out of a standard cream-based scone at an English tea shop. It can easily be turned into a savory scone (aka a biscuit) with the omission of the sugar. It's the combination of cold butter and cold heavy cream that make these scones light and crumbly. Moisture is a big deal in a scone like this. Depending on your climate (here it is very humid during the winter), you may not need an entire cup of cream.

Sweet Cream Scones with Rosemary and Strawberry Jam

Basic Cream Scone Ingredients

2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 c. organic granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, diced
up to 1 c. organic heavy cream

This batch's additions:
2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
strawberry jam

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

1. In a food prep, pulse together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, butter and any additional fresh herbs until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

2. With the food prep running, slowly add heavy cream until the dough comes together.

3. On a lightly floured surface, turn dough out and knead into a ball. Lightly dust a rolling pin with flour then roll out the dough to 1/2" thickness. Using a biscuit or cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes and place them at least an inch apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

4. If using a fruit jam, make an indent in the center of the scone and put up to a half teaspoon of jam in the middle. I used a wine cork for this step; but you could easily use a thumb or index finger too.

5. Bake scones for 18 minutes. Let cool before storing. If you're using jam in this recipe, you should store the scones in a sealable container in single layers separated by wax paper. That way the jam doesn't bleed onto other scones.

Chocolate Chip Scones

The sweetness of the semi-sweet chocolate chips just overpowers the overall flavor of this scone, and the addition of the sugar is a bit much. These aren't as rich tasting as when using heavy cream.

Ingredients

2 c. all-purpose unbleached flour
3/4 c. buttermilk (can also use cream, yogurt, or buttermilk substitute)
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted cold butter, cut into pieces
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 c. organic granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

1. In a food processor, combine one cup of the flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, salt, and butter. Pulse until it resembles fine crumbs.

2. In a large bowl, add the butter/flour mixture to the remaining cup of flour. Stir in chocolate chips and dried cranberries until combined.

3. Gradually add in buttermilk and fold into batter until just combined. You may not need the entire amount of buttermilk.

4. Drop by rounded scoops onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. These spread out and rise a bit, so space scones out at least 1" apart. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden brown.

5. Let cool on a wire rack.

Buttermilk substitute

up to 1 cup of whole milk
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Add the lemon juice to the milk and let stand for about 5 minutes. Use as you would buttermilk.

Fresh Blueberry Scones

It'll be blueberry season through September and I'll probably go to Majestic Farms either this weekend or on Labor Day weekend for more blueberries. I'd say that fresh blueberries have a shelf life of about 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator after they've been washed, dried, and put into an airtight container. I'd like to make blueberry crepes before the season is over and need more fresh blueberries for that. Sure, I have already picked 11.5 pounds of blueberries, most of which are in the freezer or have been eaten or made into something. There's just no beating the fresh taste of blueberries.

Ingredients

2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tbsp granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp sea salt
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries
1 tsp grated lemon zest (optional)
1/3 c. heavy cream
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a bowl, sift flour, 3 tbsp sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Cut in butter.

3. Using a fork, whisk egg and cream together in a cup. Pour into the center of the dry ingredients. Stir lightly until the dough comes together.

4. Carefully fold in blueberries. I suggest that the bowl you are mixing the flour in be large enough to accommodate all the ingredients because kneading the dough on a floured board just doesn't seem feasible, at least, not to me. And this way it is far less messy. Though, that's not to say you won't make a mess.

5. Turn out dough onto a floured board and pat into a square-like shape, roughly 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut into scone-like shapes (usually triangles, but any shape will do). Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

6. Sprinkle tops of scones with granulated sugar.

7. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on wire racks before eating.