Blueberry Streusel Scones

Last week, I bought Ethan blueberries. He likes blueberries. . . or so I thought. He had one taste and spit the one he had out, which was quite the opposite of the last time, where he couldn't stop eating them. I decided to try them and so did my husband and bland and not sweet they were. That explained so much. . . I was beginning to wonder if my little toddler was just going to protest all food minus Gerber Graduate cheese puffs (which I am pretty sure he could just live off!). So, since we obviously wouldn't be eating these not-so-sweet (and might I add, expensive) blueberries, I needed to try to find a solution so I would not feel as if I were wasting our money.

Thankfully, I was hosting a playdate at my house and needed a new scone recipe to try. So, I found this one at Joy of Baking and whipped up a batch. So, since I started with bland blueberries I really wondered how these would even come out. . . which was a common theme throughout my baking adventure that day. This ended up being an almost-disaster. I usually just prepare my scones in the food processor - it cuts butter like magic and takes just a couple of minutes to prepare. Yeah, not such a great idea when you add blueberries. Basically, it worked well up until the last, and most important ingredient was added. If you haven't guessed already, I ended up with very pureed blueberries. My scones were no longer white with blueberry chunks, but a blue/purple tint and no chunks. OOPS!

I baked them anyway, cutting them in circles and adding the yummy streusel topping (mmm. . . good!) and baked them. I mean, what was there to loose? The blueberries started off yucko and were now juiced, so if they even turned out a little tasty, then I wouldn't feel as if I had wasted money on these blueberries.

The end product, would be that of the picture above. .. nothing like the picture here (which is what they are supposed to look like). The taste. . . well. . . apparently, they are husband's new favorite scone (Which is funny, because I actually also made his favorite scone, the Buttermilk Cranberry Scone for the playdate, too!). They also received rave reviews from the ladies at the play date. So, needless to say, for a recipe that started out VERY bad, it turned out not to be a disaster at all. I will try making them again. . . someday, just not right now.

You can find the recipe here.

Tis the Season . . .

For Pumpkin!

October is here and my dreams of pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pies, and pumpkin . . . well anything else are coming true. I live for FALL. Well, I live for Christ, but I love fall! I look forward to it all year, especially when I start getting sick of triple digit weather!

Last week, I hosted a play date for the mom's at my MOPS table. I found the Starbucks Pumpkin scone recipe. . . mmmm. . . so delicious! I made mini ones for two reasons. . .
1. smaller ones make a batch go longer
2. I just couldn't see 560 calories in just one large scone. . . why not split them up?

After making the scones, I had a half of can (or about a cup) of pumpkin left and I just couldn't let it go to waste. . . especially since there seems to be a shortage of canned pumpkins out there (Many stores in my area are sold out!). So, I found this recipe for Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies that only called for 1 cup and a delicious cream cheese filling. . . so very tastey! I even added some nutmeg to the cream cheese filling that just added a little touch to the already delicious treat! My small group gobbled them up on Sunday night!

COOKIES
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
CREAM CHEESE FILLING
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

PREHEAT oven to 350° F.

Lightly grease or line four baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and vanilla extract; beat until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until combined. Drop by heaping measuring teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes or until springy to the touch. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Spread a heaping teaspoon of filling onto flat side of one cookie; top with flat side of second cookie to make a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Store in covered container in refrigerator.

Cranberry Buttermilk Scones

 Note:  Updated with new pictures on November of 2018.  These are still my favorite scones that are often the first ones that I make when I'm in need of a good scone for coffee dates or something to bring for brunch.  Most of the time, I have all of the ingredients in my fridge or pantry, so it's super easy! 

I recently stumbled across a scone recipe and made it for Christmas. They were so yummy and so easy that I made them again yesterday. I found them on the blog pinchmysalt.com. I highly recommend them for a quick breakfast treat. I used my food processor to make them and it only took a couple of minutes. I didn't follow these directions exactly, I just poured everything into the processor and pulsed until everything is soft and crumbly. I also used milk instead of cream and sprinkled a bit of sugar and sanding sugar over the top of it to give it a bit of a sparkle.

Cranberry Buttermilk Scones
adapted from Pinchmysalt.com

Ingredients: 
2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

1/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries, chopped fine

finely grated zest from one small lemon (about 2 teaspoons)

heavy cream (optional, for brushing tops of scones)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.2. In a medium bowl, whisk or sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Add butter chunks and toss lightly with flour; place bowl in fridge.3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, and lemon zest; place bowl in fridge.4. Get organized: measure out and chop the cranberries; set aside. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat; set aside. Lightly dust a counter top with flour. Pour a little bit of heavy cream in a bowl and have a pastry brush handy.5. Remove bowls of flour and buttermilk from fridge. Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender or rub together with your fingertips until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add cranberries and stir to combine.6. Add buttermilk mixture all at once to flour mixture and stir until the mixture clumps together. Dump mixture out onto floured counter top and, with floured hands, gather into a ball and knead once or twice to combine everything. Pat into a circle about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 8 slices, like a pie, or cut with biscuit or cookie cutters into whatever shape you prefer. Put scones on lined baking sheet and brush lightly with heavy cream (optional).7. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 13-15 minutes until lightly browned. Remove to cooling rack.