Cranberry Orange Cream Scones (revisited)

I made another batch of the cranberry orange cream scones because it was so well liked by everyone in my family and at work. This time, I think I perfected the recipe. I made a double batch and made slightly smaller scones, a bit bigger than bite size but not as large as original. These were the perfect size I think.

Cranberry Orange Cream Scones
makes 12 scones
based on this Epicurious recipe
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
Just under 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Just under 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup dried cranberries
About 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 Tbs freshly grated orange peel
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Topping
1/2 Tbs melted butter
1-2 tsp coarse sugar

Directions
1. Combine the dried cranberries and fresh orange juice in a cup, making sure to cover the cranberries. Allow to rehydrate for at least 15 minutes and then drain well.
2. Mix flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Mix in the cranberries and grated orange peel.
2. Pour in the whipping cream and stir just till combined. Form into a ball and lightly flour the surface.
3. Lightly flour a clean surface and your hands. Pull the dough out onto the surface and shape into a rectangle about 8-9" by 4-5". Cut in half lengthwise, then cut each strip into 3 squares. Cut each square diagonally to create triangles. (You can change the size and shape as desired. These are great made into bite sized scones too!)
4. Preheat oven to 420-425 deg Fahrenheit.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush the parchment paper with oil. Place the triangles of dough evenly across the baking sheet. Brush the top of each triangle with melted butter and sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes. You may turn it around 8 minutes to promote even browning. (Reduce time and check frequently if making smaller scones). Let cool on the rack for a few minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool further.

Cranberry Orange Cream Scones

If you have a lot of whipping cream that you need to use up, these cream scones are a great way to use it up. I myself had bought a bottle of whipping cream to make green tea cream puffs, but then my dad used all the matcha and then I got lazy to make the cream puffs.

In addition, these scones are great if you are low on eggs and butter. Rather than using butter and eggs, these scones use the pure fatty goodness of heavy (whipping) cream. The texture came out so great. It was moist with a texture somewhere between cakey and bready. It was not as dry and crumbly (aka flaky) as typical scones, but I like this better, I think. I was eating my mom's day-old red velvet donut and I think its texture was very similar to that. Cakey but firm and crisp on the outside. Ooo, great idea! This recipe could be piped into donut pans to make baked donuts! Will have to try that next time I get a donut pan.

This recipe is based on this one for lemon cream scones. I swapped out the apricot for cranberries and lemon for oranges, because I had those at home and they are two typical flavor combinations. I also added cinnamon because I think cinnamon should be added to nearly every baked good. Hey, they say it helps control blood sugar!

Cranberry Orange Cream Scones
based on this Epicurious recipe
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
Just under 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Just under 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 Tbs freshly grated orange peel
1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (next time I may reduce this to just 1 cup)

Topping
1/2 Tbs melted butter
1-2 tsp coarse sugar


Directions
1. Mix flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Mix in the cranberries and grated orange peel.
2. Pour in the whipping cream and stir just till combined. Form into a ball and lightly flour the surface.
3. Lightly flour a clean surface and your hands. Pull the dough out onto the surface and shape into a rectangle about 8-9" by 4-5". Cut in half lengthwise, then cut each strip into 3 squares. Cut each square diagonally to create triangles.
4. Preheat oven to 420-425 deg Fahrenheit.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush the parchment paper with oil. Place the triangles of dough evenly across the baking sheet. Brush the top of each triangle with melted butter and sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes. You may turn it around 8 minutes to promote even browning. Let cool on the rack for a few minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool further.

These scones can be eaten warm from the oven, at room temp, or lightly rewarmed. Goes very well with a cup of coffee or tea! I will definitely remake this in the future because it is so easy and rewarding!

Mango Cream Scones

I baked scones at midnight a couple days ago because:

1. I was craving scones
2. I had leftover dried mangoes
3. There was some sour cream and heavy whipping cream in the fridge
4. I was very sleepy from studying

That last point obviously points to baking at midnight. Derrr

I looked around the web for some scone recipes, and I usually go to EatingWell and CookingLight for relatively healthy recipes. This slideshow was nice and I selected their Apricot Scones recipe to model my midnight baking off of. I pretty much did everything in the recipe, but made it delicious again by using heavy cream and sour cream instead of buttermilk (plus I didn't have buttermilk and didn't want to use skim milk+lemon juice), and I used dried mangoes. I also cut them into squares, because I really don't like the triangle shapes they come in. Makes it hard to share with someone. Like, oh, let me break this evenly in half and give you an awkward shaped triangle or rectangle.

Drawn by me!! :-D

Just no. Make them squares or circles, but triangles are just selfish :'(

The scones come together sooo easily. They're great; they barely stick to your hands even when you knead or pat them out. I used a little less sugar, cream/egg mix, which may have contributed. When they get close to baking, you can smell the soft aroma of butter, cream, and slight sweetness in the air. They brown lightly and break easily. Mmm mm!!! These were so good, they made me remember why I love scones so much.

Mango Cream Scones (makes 12 squares)
Adapted from CookingLight
Ingredients
2.5 cups flour (I use Ultra-grain flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3-1/2 cup granulated sugar (I bet you can try mixing part brown sugar if you want)
3.5-4 Tbs salted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
6 dried mango slices (more or less to your liking, probably like 1/4-1/2 cup chopped)
1/4 cup heavy (whipping) cream
1/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 deg Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease with oil or butter.
2. Soak dried mango slices in warm water while you prepare the batter.
3. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar in a large bowl. Cut in butter with knife, fork, or hands till the mixture resembles coarse sand. (I use my hands and try to incorporate the butter well without melting it. It is imperative that scones use COLD butter)
4. In a medium to large measuring cup or small bowl, mix sour cream and buttermilk. Beat in eggs one at a time.
5. Drain mango slices. Chop up into small pieces.
6. Mix just enough of the wet ingredients into dry till you have a slightly sticky, not too wet batter. Mix till just incorporated. Add mango slices and mix to incorporate. Knead in the bowl about 4-5 times.
7. Place the dough on the prepared parchment paper, dusting hands with flour if necessary. Pat out into a 1/3-1/2" thick rectangle and cut into squares using a wet or floured knife. Separate pieces and place evenly on the baking sheet, reforming cute rectangles as needed.
8. Bake in the 400 deg F oven on the middle rack for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then on a wire rack for another 5 minutes.
9. Enjoy warm with some milk, tea, or coffee. They are great as breakfast, afternoon tea snacks, or midnight snacks!!!

Nutritional Info (1 of 12 scones):
195 calories, 7 g fat, 28 g carbs (9 g sugar), 5 g protein, 222 mg sodium

Recipe: Raisin Oat Scones

Continuing from my "Catching Up" post, where I put images and brief descriptions of my recent cooking and baking experiments...

Raisin Oat Scones- Sept 29, 2012

I love scones. Not the crazy sweet ones you get from grocery stores or chain coffee stores. I like homemade or artisan bakery scones, where the emphasis is on the good butter or cream and the simple combination of flavors. I love to see oats or seeds top my scones instead of icing. I believe, as a breakfast food, it need not have icing.

These are healthy scones made with oats, whole wheat flour, flaxseed, and raisins. These rose gorgeously in the oven. Coming straight from the oven, they are warm and tasty and delicious. A couple days later, they get dry, but that's why they are wonderful accompanied by tea!

I made about 8 wedges, which came out very large. You can see how big they look! It is not a trick of the camera. They are actually that huge! Like Starbucks or Panera Bread huge, but not overly sweet that you feel comatose after eating one. They are satisfying, wholesome, and sweet enough, especially great with some vanilla almond milk.

Unfortunately, I did not write where I got this recipe from. I just wrote "Blueberry Oat Scones" in my recipe booklet and forgot to write the site. So, if this is your recipe, please call me out so I can cite you! Thanks! As you can tell, I used raisins instead of blueberries, because that's what I had on hand.

Raisin Oat Scones (8 servings)
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats, ground
2-1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbs cold butter, cubed
2 Tbs maple syrup (I used honey)
1 egg, separated
1/4 cup buttermilk (or 1/4 cup milk soured with 1 tsp fresh lemon juice)
1/2 cup raisins (or blueberries or cranberries or dried apricots...)
1 Tbs flour
1 Tbs lemon zest (I didn't use this)
1 Tbs water
(I added some brown flaxseed for texture)

Directions
1. Mix flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (and flaxseed). Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
2. In a small bowl, beat the egg white, syrup/honey, and buttermilk. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour the wet mixture in. Stir to combine.
3. Toss the dried or fresh blueberries with the 1 Tbs flour and lemon zest. Fold into the batter.
4. Pat the dough out into a circle on a floured surface. Cut into 8 triangles.
5. Preheat oven to 425 deg F. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Place the triangles 1-2" apart.
6. Lightly beat the egg yolk and 1 Tbs water. Brush over scones. Sprinkle with oats (and flaxseed).
7. Bake int he oven for 15-18 minutes till golden.
8. Cool on a wire rack. Eat slightly warm, fresh from the oven for yumminess!

Notes:
1. The egg yolk wash gives it that nice golden color and sheen. Love it!
2. The texture and taste of this scone is more for the health-appreciating. It still is sweet, but just enough to satisfy. If you like sweeter scones, feel free to drizzle with icing or add more syrup/honey.
3. To up the creaminess or moistness next time, I my add another Tbs of syrup/honey or up the buttermilk just a tad (maybe from 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup).

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The next scone recipe I want to try is this pumpkin "farl", or a slim scone originally made of butter, flour, and mashed potato and cooked on a skillet. I snapped a photo of the recipe from this cookbook on display at the local Pecan Farm.

Next recipe: Mushroom Mataar

Yogurt Blueberry Scones

The best days are those when you get to sleep in, and then you wake up and bake yourself a nice breakfast.

Today, I slept in until 11, finally getting more than the 5-6 hours I've been getting all week. I got up and decided to use those nice blueberries in the refrigerator! I found this recipe for blueberry yogurt scones somewhere on the internet, but adjusted to my liking and resources. What I changed was using flavored yogurt instead of plain, adding a hint of spices, halving the sugar, and reducing the amount of milk. Adding the recipe's amount of milk proved too much. The scone recipe could actually go without the milk that is added, or just 1-2 Tbs of the milk. The recipe below will have my recommendations.

Yogurt Blueberry Scones
Ingredients
2 cups of flour (1cup whole wheat pastry, 1 cup all purpose)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs light brown sugar (instead of 2 Tbs)
Spices to taste (usually 1/2 tsp of spices such as cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, etc.)
4 Tbs (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
6 oz of some kind of berry flavored yogurt (instead of plain)
1-2 Tbs of milk (may omit if dough looks wet enough)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup fresh blueberries (may add lemon zest for extra flavor)

Directions
1) Combine flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, and spices.
2) Cut in butter and mix into flour until crumbly.
3) Add in yogurt and vanilla, and milk if necessary. Fold in blueberries (and zest).
4) Knead two or three times.
5) Preheat oven to 420 degrees Fahrenheit. Put parchment paper in a 9" round cake pan. Lightly butter if you want.
6) Roll dough into a ball, then place in center of prepare pan. Pat out into an 8" round, then slice into 8 pieces.
7) Bake in center of oven 12-15 min or 15-20 min, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and it's a light tan color. Let cool in pan 5 min, then remove to a wire rack to cool further.
Makes 8 scones

These came out very tasty. The mixed berry yogurt adds a wonderful aroma that wafts from the scones like heavenly perfume. So delicious and actually healthy! Not full of butter and cream like the traditional scones, yet still satisfying and taste-electrifying! Doesn't even need a lemon glaze (which I usually think overdoes it on any pastry). I bet crystallized ginger would have been a nice addition too, if I had it. Well, I hope you enjoy this wonderful treat sometime!