Orange Chocolate Chip Scones

 

Growing up in the west, scones were a fried bread affair, but as an adult, I've found several English type scones that I love as well. These are a scrumptious way to start any day! Orange and chocolate are a yummy pairing, but you could also substitute dried cranberries for the chocolate chips to enjoy a different experience. 

Orange Chocolate Chip Scones

3 c. flour (you can use part white, part wheat)

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. orange zest

1/2 c. cold butter or margarine, cut into pieces

3/4 c. chocolate chips

3/4 c. buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix first 6 ingredients in a bowl.  Add pieces of butter and cut in with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Stir in chocolate chips, add buttermilk; stir until evenly moistened.  Turn dough onto lightly floured board and knead about 10 turns. Divide in 1/2, and form 2 6-inch rounds, placing them on a greased baking sheet. Using a knife, cut through the dough forming 6 wedges. Do not separate them. Bake in preheated oven for 20 min. until golden brown. Remove from oven and glaze while warm. Dust with additional powdered sugar if desired.

Glaze:

1 c. powdered sugar

2-3 Tbsp. orange juice

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix together until smooth, adding orange juice to desired consistency. Drizzle over scones.

Notes: These puff up quite a bit, so make sure they have space to do that on your baking sheet. 

Some of my favorite fried scone recipes are also on this blog, you can find them at these links: Ever-ready Scones; Quick Scones and Sour Dough Quick Scones.

Jenny

Rocky Mountain Apple Bread

Happily apples store well and this quick bread can be made even in the spring. I love the flavor of this with the loaded goodness of the walnuts and raisins. The recipe is from an old Sunset Breads cookbook.

Rocky Mountain Apple Bread

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

1/2 c. buttermilk

1/2 c. mayonnaise

1 tsp. vanilla

3 1/2 c. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 medium apples, peeled, cored and chopped; use tart apples

1 c. raisins (I use 1/2 c. each raisins and dried cranberries)

1 c. walnuts, chopped

Beat eggs, sugar, buttermilk, mayonnaise, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth.  Add flour, salt, soda, baking powder and cinnamon and stir until just mixed. Add apples, raisins and walnuts and stir to combine. Spread batter into 2 greased 9x5 loaf pans. Bake in a 375 degree oven until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 min. Let cool in pans for 10 min., then turn out to finish cooling on a rack. Makes 2 loaves.

Notes: Only use real mayonnaise, not salad dressing for this, also low fat mayo breaks down in the oven and shouldn't be used. You can use this trick for getting quick breads out of the pan nicely. 

Jenny

 

English Muffin Bread

I have tried making this before, but I had a rather disappointing recipe, so I am glad to find this one, it is a gem, being easy, fast, consistent and yummy. It works up like a batter bread; even though it includes yeast, there is no kneading.  It comes from the Comfort Foods cookbook our local library staff created.

English Muffin Bread
2 pkt. yeast (4 tsp.)
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 c. milk
1/2 c. water
6 c. flour, divided
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
cornmeal for sprinkling

1) In a large bowl, combine 3 c. flour, yeast, sugar, salt and soda, set aside.
2) Heat liquids until very warm.
3) Add liquids to flour mixture and beat well.  Stir in remaining flour to make a stiff batter.
4) Grease two loaf pans and sprinkle the bottoms with cornmeal. Spoon batter evenly into both pans and sprinkle tops with additional cornmeal.
5) Cover the pans and let rise in a warm place for 45 min.
6) Preheat the oven (do this about 20 min. before rise is finished) to 400 degrees. Bake for 25 min.
7) Remove bread from pans immediately and let cool on wire rack. To serve, slice and toast.

Notes: Let the bread rise until it is as tall as you want it, it doesn't get an oven spring. I like to eat one loaf and freeze the second for another day. I have also used powdered milk, 2/3 c. added to the dry ingredients and then add a total of 2 1/2 c. water. This is excellent with strawberry jam. Yum.

Jenny

Maple Graham Bread

This is seriously yummy! We did eat some of it warm, which was lovely, but it's true greatness lies in toasting it after it cools and spreading it with butter. This is a quick bread but serves like a yeast bread. The recipe comes from The Butt'ry Shelf Cookbook by Mary Mason Campbell.

Maple Graham Bread

Mix together in a bowl:
3 c. whole wheat flour (they used to call this graham flour)
1/2 c. wheat germ
1/2 c. white flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

In a large bowl combine:
1 1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. maple syrup

Stir flour into milk mixture with a wooden spoon and mix well.

Fold in 1 c. raisins if you like (I did like!)

Pour into a greased loaf pan at 350 for 60 min., or until it thumps done. (I have to smile at this.)

Enjoy!
Jenny

Sourdough Quick Scones

I grew up with the word scone meaning dough stretched or rolled and fried in oil. Now I live further East, and I see that I have to explain myself, because these are not like their English baked cousins of the same name. Whatever you like to call them, these are delicious! Years ago the basic recipe came from my Aunt, which you can find here: Quick Scones.  I have since modified the recipe to use with a Sourdough Start. These are fluffier with the start added, and I prefer them this way now. We love them for breakfast.

Sourdough Quick Scones

2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. sourdough start
4 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
1 c. water

Mix all ingredients in a bowl to make a dough. Let it rest 5 min. while you heat  about 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Turn dough out onto floured surface and pat or roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a pizza cutter into 2 1/2 inch squares or pieces. Stretch each piece of dough a little before you place into hot oil. Fry until golden, drain on paper towel. Serve rolled in sugar or with butter and jam or honey butter. 

Notes: If you want to try my regular yeast scones, the recipe is here: Ever-ready Scones.

Jenny

Buttermilk Cornmeal Waffles

These golden waffles have a little crunch from the cornmeal. They are nice for breakfast, but they would be fun to top with taco meat and toppings or chili and cheese and sour cream for a quick weeknight meal too. The recipe came from a cookbook called Retro Breakfast.

Buttermilk Cornmeal Waffles
1 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. cornmeal
pinch of salt
1/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. melted butter or oil

Mix all and cook in hot iron.
Notes: The thickness of the buttermilk varies a little. You can add a little water to the batter if it is too thick.
Jenny

Cranberry Cream Cheese Muffins

These are deluxe yummy perfection! The cake is tender and rich and the tart cranberries make a nice contrast. I think the batter would lend itself to some experimenting with other berries, especially tart ones like raspberries or black berries.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Muffins
1 c. butter, softened
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Cream butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in cranberries and pecans. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 min. Cool 5 minutes in pan before removing to wire rack. Yield 2 dozen muffins.

Notes: Frozen cranberries go into the batter straight from the freezer, don't thaw them, just stir them in. Also, to freeze cranberries when they are in season, just take the bag of cranberries out of your grocery bag and place it right in the freezer. Use within a year. This recipe is from Taste of Home 2008.
Jenny

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Spread

This was inspired by the Grape Nuts Bread recipe when the author said she likes cream cheese on her bread.  I tried this for my Winter Squash Sourdough Bread and it was great.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Spread
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2-4 Tbsp. sugar (to taste)
1-2 Tbsp. milk (opt.)

In a small, microwave safe bowl, place cream cheese and microwave on high 20 seconds and then in 10 second intervals until just soft enough to stir.  Add cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar and stir until mixed and sugar dissolves.  Refrigerate.  Spread on bread or bagels, or muffins.  You can add the milk to change the spreading consistency if desired.

Notes: Now I can't wait to try this on some other quick breads! I think it might be lovely on Carrot Bread, Bag End Brown Bread and A.M. Delight Muffins.

Jenny

Grape Nuts Bread

This recipe is easy to make, and though it is a quick bread, the texture is like a yeast bread. It is from a cookbook called When Meals Were Meals.  The bread is a little sweet and full of the malty flavor of the cereal.  The author suggests to serve this with cream cheese.  I liked it best warm with butter or toasted.

Grape-Nuts Bread
1 c. Grape-Nuts
2 c. milk
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. honey
3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder

Combine Grape-Nuts and milk and let the cereal soak for 30 min.  Stir in egg, sugar and honey.  Combine and sift flour, salt and baking powder together.  Stir into Grape-Nut mixture and blend until smooth.  Spoon into greased loaf pan and bake at 375 degrees for 45 min.

Notes:  If you want to hurry the soaking process, combine the cereal and milk and microwave for 1-2 min. then allow it to cool to lukewarm.

Jenny

Irish Soda Bread-Savory

After making the sweet Irish Soda Bread from Sunset Breads cookbook, I wanted to make a savory version.  Here it is.  You can play with any herbs and seasonings you like.  I'm going to add some minced onion to my next batch, and maybe parsley. This is nice with a soup or stew.

Irish Soda Bread-Savory
3 c. flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. crushed dried rosemary
1 c. grated cheddar cheese
1 3/4 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. melted butter or margarine, divided

Combine dry ingredients with cheese in a bowl.  In a separate bowl, beat together buttermilk, eggs and 2 Tbsp. of the melted butter.  Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until moistened.  Pour batter into a greased 10 inch oven-proof skillet or cheesecake pan with removable bottom.  Pour remaining butter over the top. You can sprinkle on extra rosemary for garnish.  Bake at 350 for 40-45 min. until brown.  Serve warm.  Makes 1 loaf, about 10 servings.

Notes: to "oven-proof" a skillet, wrap the handle in aluminum foil.  Silicone handles should already be alright in the oven.

Jenny

Irish Soda Bread-Sweet

This is a fun treat to serve along side a meal.  The recipe comes from Sunset Breads cookbook.  It is like eating a biscuit, only a bit sweet.  I am posting a savory version soon.

Irish Soda Bread-Sweet
3 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 c. raisins (or dried currants)
1 3/4 c. buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 Tbsp. melted butter or margarine (divided)
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients with raisins in a bowl.  Combine buttermilk, eggs, 2 Tbsp. butter and vanilla and beat until blended. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and stir until evenly moistened.

Spread batter into a greased 10 inch oven-proof frying pan or cheesecake pan with removable bottom.  Drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp. melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees until bread is browned and pulls away from sides of pan, about 45 min. Serve warm or room temperature.  Makes 1 loaf, about 10 servings.

Notes: to "oven-proof" your skillet (unless it is cast iron, like mine) usually just takes wrapping the handle in aluminum foil. The leftovers were yummy with cocoa for breakfast

Sourdough Boston Brown Bread

This is a super-yum amazing batter bread!  I love, love it.  If you need to make your own sourdough start so you can try this click here. (If you like raisins, you DO want to try this!)

Sourdough Boston Brown Bread
1 Tbsp. molasses
2 c. raisins
2 c. cold water
1 c. sourdough start
2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 3/4 c. flour
1 c. sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped nuts

Mix molasses, raisins and water together in a saucepan.  Heat and cook on medium heat for 15 min.  Cool.  Add soda and stir.  Place raisin mixture in a mixing bowl.  Add sugar, sourdough start, salt, vanilla, egg and melted butter.  Mix well. Add flour and stir.  Add nuts.  Pour into 2 greased loaf pans.  (You can use this Quick Bread Tip.)  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Test with a toothpick for doneness.

Jenny

Pumpkin Pancakes

A fall breakfast treat! This recipe came from a Martha Stewart magazine and I have doubled the ingredients.  These are excellent with some Buttermilk Syrup or I recently used a Milk Syrup that I added molasses to. Yum!

 Pumpkin Pancakes
2 1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
2 c. milk
3/4 c. pumpkin puree
1/4 c. melted butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine dry ingredients.  In another bowl, combine milk, pumpkin, melted butter, eggs and vanilla and whisk together.  Cook on a hot griddle greased with a little melted butter.

I thought I would have to coax some of my children into trying these, so I made some of them have smiley faces with cinnamon chips.  If you want to try this, pour your batter onto the griddle, when they are almost ready to turn, add the chips and turn to finish cooking.

Jenny

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

These will remind you of the ones you get at Red Lobster.  If you don't have Bisquick on hand, you can mix up your own with this recipe: Quick Mix

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits
3 1/2 c. Bisquick or Quick Mix
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/3 c. cool water
In a bowl, combine Bisquick and cheddar and stir to coat cheese in flour.  Add garlic powder and water and stir to mix (dough will be sticky).  On a greased baking sheet, spread the batter, leaving it about 1/2 inch thick.  It doesn't matter if it is just a mass in the middle, just make it an even thickness.  Cut through dough with a pizza cutter into squares.  Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10-12 min.  While the biscuits bake, combine the ingredients for Garlic Spread.

Garlic Spread
1/4 c. melted butter, or margarine
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. dried parsley

Remove biscuits from the oven and immediately brush with Garlic Spread. Redefine cut spaces with tip of a knife if needed, break apart to serve.
Jenny

Sourdough Cinnamon Pull Apart

I've been playing with a sourdough starter for a while now.  So far, this is the biggest hit at my house, so I thought I'd share.  If you need a recipe to make your own start, try this one.

Sourdough Cinnamon Pull Apart
recipe for Sourdough Biscuits
1/2 c. melted butter
1 c. Sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
Glaze:
1 c. powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Make biscuit dough as directed.  Combine cinnamon and sugar. Roll small balls of dough in melted butter, then in the cinnamon sugar mix and crowd them into a pan. Let rise 20 min. and preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Bake for 15 min.  Mix glaze ingredients with a whisk until smooth and drizzle over warm bread.  Serve immediately.

Jenny

Whole Wheat Crackers

I have been experimenting with this recipe, and I have it to where I like it.  I made them first for my daughter who wouldn't eat her tomato soup without crackers, and of course, there were no crackers in the house.  They are quick to put on the table, the recipe is simple and I have enjoyed the results. The crackers are also cheap to make, and I think if you double the batch, it is equivalent to a normal box of wheat crackers.  See what you think.

Whole Wheat Crackers
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. seasoning salt
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. onion powder
1/3 c. water
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Mix dry ingredients in small mixing bowl.  Add water and oil and stir to combine.  Mixture should form a ball of dough.  Roll dough very thin, directly on a large cookie sheet and cut into strips, then cut across into squares (I use my pizza roller, and then just take a knife to the edges I can't get because of the sides of the pan).  Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 8-10 min. or until brown and crisp. (Nobody wants soft crackers!)  Serve warm or cool with soups or dips.

Notes: I have doubled the batch and baked two cookie sheets at once using this tip. You can use white flour with these, you can add pepper or herbs or use olive oil--you could even use a sea salt over the tops.  I'm just beginning to experiment, but I think there are lots of possibilities here.  I like the wheat flour flavor better than white. Do let me know how your experimenting goes!

Jenny

Carrot Bread

I found this recipe while digging through my mother's box over Thanksgiving.  I've never eaten this before, and I thought I'd give it a try.  It is nutty, and yummy, and the color is beautiful.  My kids didn't really trust it, so I had much of the loaf to myself.  I liked it best spread with a little butter.  I think it would also be nice glazed like this zucchini loaf.

Carrot Bread

6 eggs, beaten

1 c. oil

1 c. milk

4 c. shredded carrots

2 c. sugar

Mix this together, then add:

4 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. white flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

Mix together, fold in:

1 c. chopped pecans

Pour into two greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Best served second day.

Notes: use this trick to reliably get your bread out of the pans.  You can bake this in smaller loaf pans for gift giving, the baking time will be reduced.  Test with a toothpick.  I actually had two large loaves and two small from this recipe.  You can reduce the recipe if you like you can also use all whole wheat or all white flour.

Jenny

Refrigerator Bran Muffins

This is a blast from my past.  All the cookbooks from my mom's era had a handful of entries of this particular muffin and I remember my mother making them.  The recipe is nice because it makes a big batch, but the batter can sit in your fridge for a week.  Makes mornings so easy, and this is a good-for-you muffin as far as they go.  I like them with jam or jelly.

Refrigerator Bran Muffins
2 c. boiling water
5 tsp. baking soda
In a bowl, stir baking soda into water until dissolved.  Set aside to cool.

In a mixing bowl, cream together:
1 c. shortening
2 c. sugar
4 eggs

Combine:
5 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
and add to shortening mixture alternately with
1 qt. buttermilk
Mix well.  Beat in the baking soda/water mixture.

Fold in:
6 c. bran flakes cereal
1 c. chopped walnuts
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 min. Yield: about 5 dozen

Notes:  You can add raisins to this, or it even works to make this with raisin bran cereal.  Last time I made it, I used 5 c. bran flakes and 1 c. wheat germ.  Next time I make it, I think I'm going to try using brown sugar instead of white.  I make 2 dozen for my family at a time, and usually I get about 4 dozen total.  I grease my muffin cups, and the yield may be higher with paper-lined cups, as they tend to hold a bit less.

You can also bake all the muffins at once and freeze them.  This is great for on-the-go mornings, as a frozen muffin takes only about a minute in the microwave to be hot.  True fast food. :)

Jenny

Apple Ring Pancakes

These are fun to serve in the fall, with a sprinkle of powdered sugar and a drizzle of syrup.

Apple Ring Pancakes
apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into rings  (We used a slicer that turns the apple and peels at the same time.)
your favorite pancake batter, I use this one

Place apple rings on a hot, greased griddle

Pour pancake batter over and around the rings.  Cook just as you would normal pancakes.

Serve warm with syrup and powdered sugar.

Jenny

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I have been looking for a good pumpkin muffin for years!  I am never quite satisfied with the taste, or the texture--wanting them to taste a lot like pumpkin pie, and not be dry.  I have a pumpkin bread that I love, but it is too involved to be tweaked into a breakfast muffin.  I hadn't given up, but I was becoming cynical. Today I am happy to post a pumpkin muffin that suits my tastes! It was quick to make, starting with a cake mix.  The result was a tender, moist texture and that pie taste I have been looking for.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 spice cake mix
1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. water
4 eggs
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 c. sour cream or plain yogurt
pinch of salt
1 c. chocolate chips

Mix by hand until all ingredients are moistened.  Divide dough between 24 greased muffin cups.  Bake at 350 for 18-20 min.

Jenny