Tag Archives: Scones

Game of Scones: The Loving Lannisters Gluten Free Apricot Almond Scone

OnSome things just should not go together, like siblings and sex. Similarly, the terms gluten free and scones really do not belong in the same sentence. And yet, just as Jaime and Cersei somehow seem to work as the couple you love to hate, it turns out that gluten free scones are darned tasty.

As we come in to Episode 5, let’s review our cast. We have the White Hot Jalapeno Cheddar Jon Snow (AKA, the true hot king) Scone, the Sassy Sansa Lemon Ginger Scone and the Bittersweet Tyrion Whole Wheat Mini Scone. But now, just in time for Mother’s Day we head south to warmer climes and the Mad Queen, Mother of the Year, evil twin Cersei

For these scones I used Pamela’s gluten free baking mix, as recommended by Santa Cruz Susan. Susan is kind of an angel on earth, which is to say, the opposite of Cersei. Susan apologized that using a mix is sort of cheating, which happens to be appropriate for this particular scone, because nobody cheats more than Cersei, and gets away with it.

The Loving Lannister scone features apricots, prunes and almonds, all members of the prunus family. Not coincidentally, prunus siblings have a bitter cyanide compound in the seed that makes them poisonous (kind of like kisses from Spain). Toxic combos that are related to each other? Could there be a more perfect scone to honor the first family of King’s Landing? And sure, you don’t expect to get black-hearted prunes and golden apricots in one bite, but social norms never stopped a Lannister. And who doesn’t like a little plot twist?

Cooking notes: For this scone, I defied the recipe and tried to make them into the traditional round mound, cut into wedges. It required a lot of back alley repair, which nobody needs to see or repeat. Give yourself a pardon and make them as drop scones, as directed. They are unexpectedly delicious!

Oh beHAVE you two!

Gluten Free Apricot Almond Scones

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2-1/3 cups Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix
  • 1/3 cup sugar (preferably coconut or demerera sugar), plus 1 Tbsp for sprinkling
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup dried apricots and dried prunes (in any proportion), roughly chopped
  • 1/3 cup almonds, roughly chopped or painfully slivered
  • 4 tbsp butter (as cold as Cersei’s heart, which is to say frozen if possible)
  • 1 egg, beaten (ruthlessly)
  • 2/3 cup milk or cream

DIRECTIONS:

For scone newbies, see Queen Bee’s Kitchen’s short course in sconeology here for some excellent guidance. Feel free to substitute any dried fruit or nuts of choice, even if they are “just friends” and unrelated to each other.

Preheat oven to 375.
Mix the dry ingredients (through almonds) together. Cut in the butter using two knives (or make it easy on yourself and grate it in). Add the milk and beaten egg. Mix together with a fork. Dough will be thick. Drop large, tall dollops of dough (scones will spread when baking) onto lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with remaining coconut sugar. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until they look dangerously irresistible.

 

Game of Scones: Bittersweet Tyrion Chocolate Chip Mini Scone


Let’s talk about Tyrion. He’s been on the sidelines so far this season, but I trust his day is coming.  We love that little guy. He’s quite rugged and harbors his share of bitterness (about the whole ‘least favored bastard’ thing among other issues). He’s also soft and quite sweet on the inside. (Dude, we saw you looking at Sansa in the crypt!)

With all that in mind, it’s time for Tyrion — like White Hot Jon Snow and Sassy Sansa to have his very own scone. For Tyrion we have a mini scone made with whole wheat flour for some grit, and studded with bittersweet chocolate chips. The original recipe from Baker By Nature  calls for semi sweet mini chocolate chips, but there is nothing small about the chips Tyrion bears on his shoulders, so I opted for bigger, more bitter chips.    

Just as Tyrion has become my favorite character, this might be my favorite scone so far. Scones can feel like such a commitment, but mini scones feel much more doable. Plus, whole wheat flour gives them a wholesome heft that eases the guilt factor of eating so much butter in each bite.

As emphasized in this scone tutorial, make sure your butter is cold, even frozen if you are going to grate it. Making mini scones is just a matter of dividing the dough and making two mounds instead of one, and then cutting each into eight wedges. I pegged the slacker meter by shaping the scone mounds directly on the baking sheet.  And yes, they turned out just fine. They may not look perfect, but as with Tyrion, the beauty of these scones lies in their imperfections.

He’s little, gritty, and a little bitter, but sweet on the inside.

Bittersweet Tyrion Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Mini Scones

Prep 10 mins
Cook 20 mins
Total 30 mins
Yield 16 scones

Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour (preferably white whole wheat).
  • 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, VERY cold and cut into tiny pieces, or grated on a box grater
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup full-fat sour cream
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

For the egg wash:

  • 1 large egg, beaten1 teaspoon milk or water
  • 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (or regular sugar if that’s all you’ve got), for sprinkling.

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°(F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl mix together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar.
  2. Cut the butter into small cubes (or, even better, grate it on a box grater) then quickly work it into the mixture (using your fingers, or just two forks if you grated the butter) until it resembles a coarse meal.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla, sour cream, and milk, then add to flour and butter mixture. Use a fork to stir everything together until just moistened.
  4. Add in the chocolate chips and gently fold them into dough with a spatula.
  5. Pour the shaggy dough out onto a clean, floured work surface. Divide it into two equal portions  and shape the dough into a 6ish-inch circle. Cut the dough into 8 wedges and carefully transfer to the prepared sheet. (alternatively, dump the whole shebang directly onto the parchment lined sheet and form into two mounds
  6. Lightly brush each scones with the egg wash, then sprinkle the top of each scone with sugar. This is key. White sugar is ok if it is all you’ve got. Turbinado, demerera or coconut sugar gets you bonus points.
  7. Bake for 16-20 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden brown.

Game of Scones: Sassy Sansa Lemon Ginger Scone

Hands down, Sansa is our favorite ginger in the Seven Kingdoms. Like the scone that is named for her, Sansa looks soft and sweet but is full of substance and spice. Three kinds of ginger—fresh, powdered and candied—give these scones a sassy edge. Fresh lemon—zest in the mix, and juice in the glaze—serves as a reminder that Sansa’s got some rightful, pure acid in her soul, because life is not all sweetness and light! (But it could be if she and White Hot Jon Snow had their way)

This recipe comes from Flour Bakery in Boston, via Martha Stewart, which is kind of perfect. Sansa has a bit of Martha’s exacting savvy in her, not to mention a ruthless streak (I’m looking at you, Ramsay…woof). Plus, à la Martha, Sansa is tough as nails AND knows how to get things done! While careful historians will note that Thrones era natives likely did not have food processors, Martha’s use of it here is, as she would say, “a good thing.” And let’s be real—if Martha were in the Seven Kingdoms she’d have had her minions figure out how to get anything done to perfection, no matter how much effort it took. In this case, the food processor spares us the toil of minions.

I have put the recipe here as it came from Martha, noting the changes I made, only out of desperation. I was working with the Sunday episode deadline, a near empty fridge and whatever hodgepodge was in the pantry after a long absence.

My scones were Sansational—which is to say, not Martha perfect, but pretty in pictures, interesting, substantial and great tasting, which is all that matters. Well, that and seeing what havoc gets unleashed in Episode 3, the halfway point for the final season. Stay tuned for the next scone or (spoiler alert) mini scone…

Special thanks to:
Alice for the creative spark that led to this and so many Game of Scones contestants.
Patty, Jean and Sister A for the supply of Meyer lemons from Northern and Southern Cal, the remains of which made it safely to NH in my luggage and kept my clothes lemony fresh!

The sassiest ginger in the kingdom

Sassy Sansa Lemon Ginger Scone

From Flour Bakery c/o Martha Stewart

Makes 10

For a full scone Tutorial see this post on the White Hot Jon Snow Scone by Erica Wilson of Queen Bee’s Kitchen

Ingredients

Scones

  • 2 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • Grated zest of 2 lemons
  • 1 3/4 sticks (14 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 to 10 pieces
  • 1/2 cup cold buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup cold heavy cream
  • 1 large egg, well chilled
  • 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

Lemon Glaze

  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions

1. Scones: Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in center.

2. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, crystallized ginger, ground ginger, and lemon zest. Add butter; beat on low speed until butter is somewhat broken down with some visible pieces remaining, about 30 seconds.

3. In a liquid-measuring cup, whisk together buttermilk, cream, egg, and grated ginger. With mixer on low, add buttermilk mixture and beat until dough just comes together, 20 to 30 seconds (there will still be some flour mixture at bottom of bowl).

4. Remove bowl from mixer. Using your hands, gather and lift dough, turning it over in the bowl, until remaining flour mixture has been incorporated into dough. *This so did not unfold this way for me, but see below and carry on.

5. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently roll out 1 inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch round cutter, cut out 10 rounds, rerolling scraps as necessary. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart. **Big Bring It slacker note here: My dough was too moist (perhaps I forgot a cup of flour??). Rather than cut the scones I dumped the whole shebang on a parchment lined cookie sheet and shaped it into two circles, which I cut into scone wedges, gently separating each a bit so they had their own baking space. We all need our own baking space.

6. Bake until light golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack; let cool 10 minutes.

7. Lemon Glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar and enough lemon juice to make a smooth, thick, pourable glaze. Brush glaze over warm scones and serve.

Cook’s Notes

If you’re more Martha than Edie, here are the exact measuring weights. This probably would have saved me some anxiety:

385 grams unbleached all-purpose flour
70 grams granulated sugar
80 grams finely chopped crystallized ginger
200 grams cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 to 10 pieces
120 grams cold buttermilk
120 grams cold heavy cream
140 grams confectioners’ sugar

Unbaked scones can be frozen, tightly wrapped in plastic, up to 1 week. If baking from frozen, add 5 to 10 minutes to the baking time.

Scones are best enjoyed the day they are made, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Glaze can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

*** More Slacker notes: Out of necessity, I used almond milk and lemon juice instead of buttermilk and cream. As mentioned above, I baked them as one big round, scored into scone wedges. In short, my execution was not excellent, but the scones were fantastic. As Sansa knows, even if you only get the execution right one time, you can be satisfied. 

Just the Rhubarb Scones

Fresh rhubarb scones

Fresh rhubarb scones holding court, with nary a strawberry in sight.

Here it is strawberry season, so you’re probably thinking strawberry rhubarb scones would be appropriate. After all, sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb show up in the garden around the same time and perfectly complement each other. But just because the two ingredients hang out a lot, doesn’t mean they’re married. Today I’m giving some props to straight rhubarb, hoping it steals the show for breakfast this weekend.

The deal with scones is that you want the butter to remain in little bits, rather than creaming it into the mixture. Those butter bits are what gives scones their flaky excellence, and why scone recipes call for chilled butter. Trust the bakers on this. If you make scones with softened butter, or over mix the butter into the batter you’ll end up with a bunch of big muffins. It’s not a tragedy, but not what you envisioned. And once you get hooked on good scones you won’t be truly satisfied with anything but the real, flaky, crumbly thing.

These babies, known elsewhere in the cyber food world as Naughty Rhubarb Scones, are delish as is, with whipped or clotted cream (for Brits) or, of course, with strawberry jam.

Makes 12-16 scones

Ingredients

3 stalks rhubarb (roughly 1½ cups when sliced)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup vanilla sugar (if using regular sugar add up to 1 tsp vanilla with the cream)
2/3—3/4 cups heavy cream

Method

Preheat oven to 425.

Slice rhubarb stalks 1/4 ” thick. Toss with 3 tablespoons of the sugar.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together in large bowl or bowl of food processor.

Cut butter into flour mixture by hand (or pulse in food processor) until butter is the size of small peas.

Blend in 1/4 cup of the sugar.

Blend in sliced rhubarb. (If using the food processor, just pulse — you want the slices left mostly intact.)

Blend in cream until a soft dough forms. (note: you may need to add more than 2/3 cup depending on the weather,etc.)

Transfer dough to floured surface and divide in half. To make triangular scones, flatten into 6-inch disks and deeply score or cut each circle into 6-8 scones. Sprinkle with remaining sugar.

Arrange scones on ungreased or parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake about 20 minutes or until reddish-brown on top.

Enjoy and cheerio!

 

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Scones

Scones Sugaring

What better treat to make for Christmas morning than a warm, melt-in-your-mouth scone!  I learned how to make these scones at the Baking Education Center at King Arthur Flour in Norwich Vermont.  It was phenomenal class.  I am a self-taught baker (i.e. I learn by baking experiments gone bad), which made this class very enlightening. I learned more about baking in the first 15 minutes than I’ve learned from years of baking in my home.  So, thank you King Arthur for your cooking classes.  If you live in the area, or even if you don’t, you should take a class. You can check out the school, the store, and the café here.  This recipe comes from King Arthur Flour as well so all credit to them for these wonderful scones.

I flavored my scones with cinnamon chips and a thick vanilla syrup (Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste) which gives them an extra hit of flavor. I also topped them with sparkly white sugar.  But you can flavor your scones with whatever combination of flavors you want or whatever is on hand in your pantry.  When you take a class at King Arthur, they have every chip, dried fruit, nut, and spice available for you to choose from.  The selections are almost paralyzing.  Once I settled on cinnamon vanilla, I was quite happy. And I had already made a deal with my friend, who selected currants and walnuts, that we were to split our takes in half at the end of the class.  It was a win/win!

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chilled, unsalted butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg yolk (save the white for topping scones)
1/2 cup cinnamon chips (or whatever flavoring you like)

For the topping:
1 egg white
Sparkling sugar

Method

  1. Place the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
  2. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives.
  3. Whisk together buttermilk and egg yolk and stir into dry mixture until it a dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface and gently and quickly knead in the optional cinnamon chips (or dried fruit, nuts, etc…). Pat the dough into a flat disk about 7 inches across and cut it into wedges.
  4. Transfer the disk to a parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheet. For crispier scones, separate the wedges.  For softer, higher rising scones, leave them in a circle.
  5. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg white and sprinkle with white sugar.
  6. Bake them in a preheated 375 degree oven for 25 to 27 minutes, inspecting at the midpoint to admire and turn.
  7. Remove scones from the oven when they are light, golden brown and cool on a wire rack.

I’m sure you noticed that these scones are made with whole wheat, so a tad on the healthier side. But if you want to go full tilt health nut, you can make the following substitutions:

1/2 cup canola oil instead of butter
3/4 no fat plain yogurt instead of buttermilk
1 Tbsp egg beaters instead of egg yolk
1/2 cup dried fruit instead of cinnamon chips
No sparkly sugar (eh, what the heck, live a little and keep the sparkly sugar!)

Bring It

These scones are the perfect gift to bring to a friend’s house if you are visiting for the holiday.  Bring them with a jar of your favorite jam and a bag of coffee beans.  You are sure to get invited back!

Scone Flavoring

apples

Apple Cheddar Scones

Summer is skipping out and it’s just plain sad every year. But on the bright side, it’s apple season! We’ve only got a row of apple trees—six or so, with two pear trees thrown in—but darned if that doesn’t serve up more fruit than I can handle. It hasn’t even gotten chilly yet and already the apple fest has begun. We’ve made applesauce, apple cider, apple cider syrup (yum!), apple muffins, apple pie, apple compote and just now the first batch of apple cheddar scones. Oooh baby–they are the ultimate in apple goodness. Sadly, they don’t use many apples (get into cider and sauce for that), and they have a few more steps than my favorite slacker scones. They even require eggs fergawdssake, which is so un scone-y. But they’re worth it, and they work any time of day for any type of occasion, from picnic to shmancy party.  This recipe, slightly tweaked at every stop, came via The Bitten Word and they got it from a book called The Perfect Finish. So there’s the provenance. If you need apples come on over.

Ingredients

Makes 6 generous scones (at least 8 normal sized ones).

2 firm tart apples (1 pound. I used about 5 small ones)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar plus 1 1/2 tablespoons for sprinkling
1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt plus additional for egg wash
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes plus additional for baking sheet if not lining it with parchment
1/2 cup sharp cheddar, shredded (white is recommended, rogue westerners.)
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 large eggs

Method

Position a rack at the center of oven and preheat oven to 375 °F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Peel and core apples, then cut them into chunks. Placed them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake them until they take on a little color and feel dry to the touch, about 20 minutes. They will be about half-baked. Let them cool completely (in the fridge if you are eager). Leave oven on.

roasted-apples

roasted-apples

Sift or whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Set aside. Place butter in the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or a hand mixer or by hand, but it is more work), along with cooled apple chunks, cheese, cream and one egg. Sprinkle flour mixture over the top and mix on low speed until the dough just comes together. Do not overmix.

Generously flour your counter top and place the scone dough on top of it. Sprinkle with flour. Use a rolling pin to gently roll (or use your hands to pat) the dough into a 1 1/4-inch thick, 6-inch circle. Cut circle into 6 wedges. Transfer them to a baking sheet that has either been buttered or lined with a fresh sheet of parchment paper. Leave at least 2 inches between each scone.

scones pre baking

Ready to bake

Beat remaining egg in a small bowl with a pinch of salt. Brush the scones with egg wash and sprinkle them with remaining tablespoon of sugar. (I have blown off the egg wash on occasion, which is just fine, but it actually does make it better.) Bake until firm and golden, about 30 minutes. With a spatula, lift them to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Eat. Enjoy. Repeat.

Bring It!

Baked apple cheddar scones

Fully baked and ready to be demolished

Scones can be made ahead of time and stored unbaked in the freezer until you need them. Just take them on their baking sheet and at your destination brush them with the egg wash, sprinkle them with sugar, and bake them still frozen for just a couple extra minutes. Full disclosure, I have never done this, but it seems like a good idea. I hear these are not so awesome the next day, but ours have never lasted long enough to test that.