Hello everyone! I felt it necessary to give everyone a little life update since my last post was nearly a year ago. I hope that everyone is doing well with everything that is going on in the COIVD pandemic. Life has been awfully complicated for me and it has been quite difficult to get to do anything fun or relaxing. Since the start of the Pandemic in March 2020 I was already dealing with a mental rough patch while still working in a grocery store. Needless to say things weren’t going great, but early on in the pandemic I was able to get a new less stressful job in the Healthcare industry and I’ve been loving every minute of it. It is hard to believe that things are less stressful for me in the healthcare industry than in retail during a pandemic but the work atmosphere is a complete 180 difference from retail. Since life is starting to finally returning to something more normal for me, I’ve begun working on some more detailed posts. I also have been making more shorter posts to my Facebook page as well as to Instagram. If you wish to see more of my Kreations please like and follow me. Alright enough babbling about me lets get to some scones!
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I love scones. Its a delicious breakfast pastry that is great for eating breakfast on-the-go (or at my desk). Unlike my other favorite on-the-go breakfast pastries these can be made to be less sticky and messy and still be delicious. Also unlike other on-the-go breakfast foods I can control what ingredients go in or more importantly which ingredients shouldn’t go in due to a food allergy.
I begin with the dry ingredients, add the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder and whisk together. You can also use a fork to whisk them together. Then add in grated butter. Using a pastry cutter (or your fingers) to combine, mix until there are pea-sized crumbs (picture #2). Place into freezer while you work on the wet ingredients. The single most important thing you need to remember about this recipe is to not let the butter melt from being handled too much. If at any point you feel like things aren’t going right put the mixture in the freezer for a few minutes. This trick tends to correct most issues and can be easily forgotten when in a bit of panic.
For the wet ingredients: add heavy cream, egg, and vanilla extract to a bowl and whisk together and set aside, in the fridge if possible. To ensure that the butter-flour mixture isn’t going to soften too much I also prepare my fruit/chips/nuts/etc. so that the butter-flour mixture can remain in the freezer a bit longer. Typically I like to use dehydrated fruits but all that was available to me at this time was canned apple filling. I don’t really recommend this unless its a last resort. But if you need to use it get as much of the goo off the fruit as you can and chop into smaller pieces. I also put the chopped pieces into a bowl and mix with some flour to help absorb as much moisture as possible before baking. Depending on the fruit I also add another sprinkle of sugar to help absorb the moisture. Once you have the wet ingredients and your fruit prepared its time to get the dry mixture out of the freezer and begin bringing it all together.
Carefully drizzle the mixture of wet ingredients a little at a time into the dry mixture and mix until everything appears well moistened. I like to put the mixture back into the freezer while I get the table prepared by sprinkling flour and getting the remainder of the baking prepped. I preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, line my baking sheet(s) with parchment paper, and get my bench scrapper or knife out. I also get the wash prepared. Pour some heavy cream into a bowl and add any spice you like. For this particular recipe I added cinnamon and sugar.
When everything is prepped, take the dough bowl out of the freezer. Get a little flour on your hand and begin working the dough into a ball. This dough will be super sticky so I recommend getting started in the bowl and then once it has solidified a little transfer to the floured surface. If the dough feels too wet add a little flour. If the dough feels too dry add a little heavy cream. If it suddenly returns to being sticky again put in the freezer for a few minutes.
Roll the dough out flat with a rolling pin (or your hands) and then cut into desired shape. Traditionally it should be triangles but I like to do rectangles because it is easier to stick into the travel containers I have. Arrange on the baking sheet(s) and brush the heavy cream mixture over the top of each. I also recommend sprinkling some sugar over the top as well.
Once everything is on the baking sheet(s) it goes into the pre-heated oven for 18-25 minutes. Time varies by size of scone and oven. larger scone may need more than 25 minutes. Basically you are looking for scones that are golden all over. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Any other frostings, drizzles or confection’s sugar is optional. My fiancé made a special request for some with Maple glaze. Pictured below is the plain apple cinnamon scones and the apple cinnamon scones with a maple glaze.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour, plus a little extra for work surface
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 stick frozen unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-1.5 cups for fruit/nuts/chips/etc.
Directions
- add flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder into a bowl and wish to combine. Add grated butter and combine with a pastry cutter until there are pea-sized crumbs. Put bowl into freezer until needed
- Add heavy cream, egg, vanilla extract into a bowl and whisk until combined. Add to flour mixture and gently mix until moistened. Put bowl in freezer until needed.
- Prepare floured work surface. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, pour small amount of heavy cream into a bowl and add desired spices and mix until combined.
- with floured hands remove dough from bowl and work out on floured surface. If the dough feels too wet add a little flour. If the dough feels too dry add a little heavy cream. If it suddenly returns to being sticky again put in the freezer for a few minutes. once the dough comes together roll out and cut into desired shapes and place on baking sheet(s). brush heavy cream mixture over scones and then place in the oven
- Baked scones in the oven for 18-25 minutes or until golden all over. remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Once cooled, add optional frostings, drizzles or confection’s sugar and enjoy!
Katagi's Kreations 