Gingerbread Scones

I have not been a very good food blogger in the last month. My only defense is that I successfully gifted an awful lot of homemade items this Christmas, and so, you know what I've been doing instead -- knitting, wiring, sewing. I'm afraid I wasn't doing a whole lot of exciting cooking either (I guess you didn't miss anything great). I did, however, make these yummy Gingerbread scones a few Sundays ago, with some sausage patties, for breakfast before Mass. They were delish, and would be a nice, annual, holiday treat.

The recipe came from Joy of Baking.com, though I omitted the dried fruit and lemon zest, and used a simple vanilla glaze (powdered sugar, milk and vanilla) instead of the maple glaze they used.

Gingerbread Scones

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 t. ground ginger

1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/8 t. ground cloves

1/4 t. salt

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Zest of 1 lemon (optional)

1/3 cup (35 grams) dried cranberries or cherries (optional)

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 1/2 T. unsulphured molasses

1 t. pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place rack in middle of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the lemon zest and dried cranberries, if using. In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, molasses and vanilla and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix the dough (you may have to knead it a few times to get it to come together).

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 8 or 9 inches round and about one or so inches thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 3 pie-shaped wedges (triangles). Place the scones on the baking sheet so that they are near each other but not touching.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Irish Soda Scones

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Yummy, yum. You know I love scones (just click on "scones" in my sidebar), and I really love Soda Bread. So, I knew when I saw this recipe for Irish Soda Scones I would love them, it just took me a while to get around to making them. But this morning I did, bright and early before it got too hot. The oven doesn't have to be on all that long, so it did not warm things up much at all. And these little yummies were more than worth any heat they generated. Little Irish Soda Bread loaves is what they are -- soft and slightly sweet, with raisins and caraway, just the way I think soda bread should be.

One note to make: I used shortening because I was low on butter, but I did brush the tops with melted butter after they came out of the oven. Serve them with jam or butter or on the side of a plate of eggs -- anyway is good, just serve them!

Recipe modified just a tad from the Brown-eyed Baker.

Irish Soda Bread Scones

makes 12

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3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
1½ t. baking soda
1½ t. cream of tartar
1 t. salt
4 T. unsalted butter, softened
1¼ cups buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup currants or raisins
1 T. caraway seeds (optional)
2 T. butter, melted (for brushing)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and position rack in upper-middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat (or lightly grease).

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Work the softened butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry blender or a fork or your hands until the flour mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add the buttermilk, egg, raisins and caraway seeds and stir with a fork just until the dough begins to come together. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead gently just until the dough is cohesive. It should be bumpy – overworking it will cause the resulting scones to be tough instead of tender and flaky.

Divide the dough evenly into two pieces and pat each into a round shape. Using a sharp knife, each round into six triangular scones. Place on baking sheet in the rounds, but separating scones so they are not touching. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. The scones should be golden brown and a thin knife or skewer should come out clean. Remove from the oven and immediately brush with the melted butter. Allow to cool to room temperature.

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Lemon Blueberry Scones

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On Father's Day morning I dragged my sorry behind out of bed (yes, I would much rather have snoozed) and scraped together something hot and sweet for the father of my children. I had not planned ahead and when I gathered the blueberries, butter, sugar, flour together on the kitchen counter, I realized I had no oranges for my Orange Blueberry Scones. I did however, have lemons, so with a quick switch of ingredients I made Lemon Blueberry Scones instead of orange with the same recipe. The lemon scones were just as yummy as the orange, and my husband probably liked them more because he appreciates tart and sweet flavors.

Lemon Blueberry Scones
12 scones


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2 c. plus 2 T. all-purpose flour
2 T. sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
1 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
2 t. grated lemon zest
12 T. cold unsalted butter, diced
2 eggs
1/2 c. cold heavy cream
3/4 c. blueberries

1 c. confectioners’ sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
2 t. freshly squeezed lemon juice
few teaspoons milk to make a runny glaze

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix 2 cups of flour, 2 T. sugar, the baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Add the cold butter and mix at the lowest speed until the butter is the size of peas. Pour the cream into a measuring cup and add eggs. Whisk with a fork and then, with the mixer on low speed, slowly pour into the flour and butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough will look lumpy! Combine the blueberries and 2 T. of flour, add to the dough, and mix by hand -- very gently.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead gently it into a ball. Cut dough into two equal size pieces. Flatten, with your hands, into a round about 1 inch high. Repeat with other half. Cut each round into 6 triangles. Place triangles onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes, until scones are lightly browned on top. The scones will be firm to the touch.

Allow the scones to cool for 15 minutes and then whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, and milk, and drizzle over the scones.

Source: modified from Smells Like Home

Pumpkin Scones with Ginger Icing

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Having opened a large can of pumpkin over the weekend for this coffee cake, and stowed the rest in the fridge, I was looking for a way to use up some of the leftovers. Since it was, like 7 o'clock on Monday morning, I was thinking scones. I had filed away a blog post in my memory and after a few clicks I was there. I modified the recipe just a tad for family preferences and because I omitted the white chips, I added a ginger icing. Yum!

Pumpkin Scones with Ginger Icing
makes 12

2 c. all-purpose flour
⅓ c. light or dark brown sugar
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. cinnamon
dash ground nutmeg
pinch ground cloves
1 t. baking powder
¼ t. baking soda
¼ t. salt
½ c. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
½ c. buttermilk
½ c. pumpkin puree
1¼ t. vanilla

1 c. powdered sugar
¾ t. ground ginger
½ t. vanilla
2 T. half & half

Preheat the oven to 400° F and place a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, pumpkin and vanilla, and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times. Pat the dough into two 6-8 inch circles about 3/4" high. Cut each round into six triangles. Carefully place the scones on the baking sheet with about 1 inch in between each.

Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and ginger. Add vanilla and half & half and stir until you get a thin spreadable consistency, adding more half & half if necessary. Spread over tops of scones.

Modified from: Smells Like Home

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Orange Blueberry Scones

I'm still on a scone kick and I haven't tried all the recipes on my list -- it's the summer of scones I believe. This recipe is wonderful, but decadent. It has considerably more butter in it than the other two recipes I've recently tried. And as soon as you bite into them, you taste it and feel it. They are so tender and flaky. Oh yum! Better save these for special occasions. Originally this recipe was a dried cranberry scone recipe, but my source subbed with blueberries and I did, too. They would likely be good with dried cranberries or even dried cherries, but with blueberries, they were perfect. I halved the recipe and made a couple other minor changes, but the basic scones I kept the same.

I made these first thing in the morning, but you could start the night before and get your dry ingredients measured in a bowl and zest your orange and dice your butter. Then you just have to throw everything into the mixer and bake. If you are not safe with electric appliances first thing in the morning (except to press "brew" on the coffee maker) make these and freeze them in plastic freezer bags. Reheat on a cookie sheet in the oven (350 degrees F) for 10 minutes.

I'm sorry, but even if you click on the pic, you can't taste them!

Orange Blueberry Scones

12 scones

2 c. plus 2 T. all-purpose flour
2 T. sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
1 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
2 t. grated orange zest
12 T. cold unsalted butter, diced
2 eggs
1/2 c. cold heavy cream
3/4 c. blueberries

1/4 c. confectioners’ sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
2 t. freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix 2 cups of flour, 2 T. sugar, the baking powder, salt and orange zest. Add the cold butter and mix at the lowest speed until the butter is the size of peas. Pour the cream into a measuring cup and add eggs. Whisk with a fork and then, with the mixer on low speed, slowly pour into the flour and butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough will look lumpy! Combine the blueberries and 2 T. of flour, add to the dough, and mix by hand -- very gently.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead gently it into a ball. Cut dough into two equal size pieces. Flatten, with your hands, into a round about 1 inch high. Repeat with other half. Cut each round into 6 triangles. Place triangles onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes, until scones are lightly browned on top. The scones will be firm to the touch.

Allow the scones to cool for 15 minutes and then whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and orange juice, and drizzle over the scones.

Source: Smells Like Home

Old Fashioned Lemon Cream Scones

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I mentioned, a few posts ago, that I'm on a scone kick. There's just something about that crunchy-on-the-outside, soft-in-the-middle treat that I love for breakfast. A scone is the perfect pair to a cup of hot black coffee. I made these lemon scones and had a few more fans gathered around the breakfast table. My kids weren't so keen on the dried cherries in the Chocolate Chip Cherry Scones (there's no accounting for taste), but they were all over the lemon. Smeared with blackberry jam, they were heavenly. The base for the recipe came from Beth Hensperger's The Best Quick Breads, but I modified the method a little. The modifications are in italics. If you don't like using the grater method that I like to use for cutting in the butter, you can use the traditional method.

Old Fashioned Lemon Cream Scones

makes 8 scones (I cut mine into 12)

2 c. all-purpose flour
2 T. sugar (plus a bit for sprinkling the tops)
1 T. baking powder
grated zest of 2 lemons
1/4 t. salt
1/4 c. butter, cut into pieces (leave it whole if you will use the grater method and pop it in the freezer for 10 minutes)
2 large eggs
1/2 c. heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet or line with parchment.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, and salt. Cut in the butter with a fork or heavy duty mixer until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (or grate butter with a box grater into flour). In a measuring cup, pour in 1/2 cup cream and add eggs. Whisk. Add to dry mixture and stir until dough is formed (you may need to add another tablespoon or so of cream -- my dough was pretty dry at this point).

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead a few times. Divide into two circles of dough, patting to about 1-inch thickness. With a sharp knife, or bench knife, cut each round into six triangles (or four for larger scones).

Place scones on prepared baking sheets, 1 inch apart. Sprinkle with table sugar.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned and crusty on the top. Serve warm or cool and freeze.

To reheat from the freezer, bake for 5 to 8 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven.

Source: The Best Quick Breads

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Chocolate Chip Cherry Scones

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I've been trying so many yummy recipes lately, and have had so much success, that I have loads of pictures on my computer, all waiting their turn. Are you tired of seeing new posts here? I hope not, because for at least another couple days I have lots to share.

I realize I've been sharing lots of chicken lately, so this evening I'm sharing baked goods. If you could stop over, I'd brew a pot of decaf and we could share in real life.

But, if you can't stop by for real, then you'll have to make your own.

This recipe is modified from Beth Hensperger's The Best Quick Breads. I picked it up at the library and had a good time just browsing through it one night in front of the TV. The book is not too glamorous to look through (no pictures) but has a great store of yummy-looking, not-too-complex bread recipes. There's a whole section on scones and soda breads, which is why I picked it from the shelves and shelves of great cookbooks at my library -- I'm in the mood for scones.

If I could wake up to these scones and hot black coffee every morning of my life, I would never complain about anything ever again.

O.k. Maybe not ever again, but I would be very happy, I tell ya.


They are a basic scone -- light, mildly crumbly, slightly sweet, and with two of my favorite flavors, cherries and chocolate. Heaven.

P.S. That's not my Buckeye mug!

Chocolate Chip Cherry Scones

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. oats
1/4 c. light brown sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. cream of tartar
1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
5 T. cold butter (place in the freezer for about 10 minutes)
1 egg
3/4 c. buttermilk
1 1/4 t. vanilla
1/2 c. dried tart cherries (halve or quarter with kitchen shears)
1/2 c. milk chocolate chips



Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with baking spray.

Place flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt in a medium-large bowl. With a hand grater, grate butter into the flour mixture on the large holes. Stop periodically to remove butter from the back of the grater and toss into the flour. Toss flour and butter with a fork.

Add cherries and chocolate chips. In a 2-cup measuring cup, add egg to buttermilk and break up with a fork. Add vanilla. Pour milk mixture into flour mixture and stir gently until dough holds together. You may find it necessary to add another tablespoon or two of buttermilk, if dough is too dry.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead just a few times until dough holds together. Cut dough in half and form two circles, about 1-inch thick. Place circles on baking sheet and using a knife (bench knife or sharp knife) cut each round into 6 triangular wedges. Push each wedge apart from the others so they don't touch. Sprinkle with table sugar, if desired.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve immediately or cool and freeze in freezer bags.

(To reheat from the freezer, bake for 5 to 8 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven.)

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Oatmeal Raisin Scones

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These scones are great in the morning or at tea time, although they are so close to an oatmeal cookie you almost feel guilty eating them for breakfast. But, the oatmeal and raisins make them fairly healthy and if you use a whole wheat pastry flour you can knock the healthy up a few notches. Just a smidge of butter while they're hot is all you need to enjoy these.

Oatmeal Raisin Scones

2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup brown sugar
2 t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
¼ t. cinnamon
½ cup unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces
¾ cup buttermilk, chilled
½ cup raisins
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 T. water


Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Grease large cookie sheet.
Combine oats and flour in large mixing bowl.
Add brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
Mix thoroughly.
Add butter and cut in until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add buttermilk and mix briefly to form dough.
Add raisins and mix to disperse.
Divide dough in half and place one half onto a floured surface and sprinkle with flour.
Pat into a 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick round.
Cut round into 6 triangles.
Repeat with other half.
Transfer scones to baking sheet.
Bake 15 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.

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