I think scones have to be one of the most popular of all the quick breads.  Similar to the North American biscuit, but not quite the same.  Typically scones are a bit sweeter than North American Biscuits, not to be confused with cookies!  We may call cookies biscuits over here, but if you go to North American and request a biscuit with your cup of tea you are going to get something like a scone!  Not that that would be disappointing or anything, but  I'd rather dunk a Digestive Biscuit than a scone!



I have to say I have never bought a scone in a shop that I enjoyed as much as I enjoy the ones I make at home.  Tis true. I admit it.  I may be a bit of a scone snob though . . . and I've never been known to turn one down, shop bought or not.  I'm just saying that homemade ones are infinitely better than any you will find in a shop.



There are a few things that you can do to make sure you scones are always light and well risen with straight sides.

• Handle the dough as little as possible.   Try not to over mix the liquid ingredients into the dry.   You can knead them very gently to bring the dough together, but take care not to over do it, a few gentle turns should do the trick.
• Pat, don't roll.  I find that patting the dough out gently with my hands yields a much more tender scone.
• Use a sharp floured cutter to cut them out and use a sharp tapping motion, straight up and down.  Do not twist the cutter, or your scones will be lopsided and raise unevenly.  

 


There are all kinds of delicious scones available today.  I have posted quite a few tasty versions of the Scone, including my absolute favourite version . . . Maple Walnut.  Today however I wanted to show you a version that is a tiny bit different.



These are like a cross between a savory and a sweet scone.  There is no sugar in them at all . . . but the apple that you grate into the mix does add a bit of sweetness that goes so very well with the strong cheddar that is also in the  mix.



The result is a delicious scone with a tender wholesome crumb.   I love the melted cheese on the outsides and I can tell you they make a lovely light lunch with a slab of cheddar and some good mango chutney!




 *Apple and Cheddar Scones*
makes about 8
Printable Recipe

Beautiful scones, moist and tender on the inside and yet crisp on the outside.  Apples and cheese, the perfect combination!

225g of self raising flour (1 2/3 cups)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
50g of unsalted butter, chilled (3 1/2 TBS)
1 tsp dry mustard powder
75g extra mature English cheddar cheese, grated (3/4 of a cup)
1 eating apple, washed and dried
100ml of milk (6 1/2 TBS)

Preheat the oven to  200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Butter a baking sheet and set aside.

Sift the flour into a bowl along with the salt and baking powder.  Drop in the butter and then rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.  Stir in the mustard powder and 2/3 of the cheese.  Grate the apple into the bowl, using the large holes of a box grater.  Discard the core and pips.  Mix well to coat the apple with the flour.  Pour in the milk and mix together with a round bladed knife to make a soft dough.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.  Pat out to about 1/2 inch thickness.  Cut into 8 rounds.  Gather together the scraps and repeat as necessary.  Place onto the baking sheet, leaving some space in between.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese evenly over top of them all. 

Bake in the heated oven for 15 minutes, until well risen and golden brown.  Scoop off onto a wire rack to cool.  Serve warm, or cold as desired. 

Note: I like to use a 3 inch round cutter for these.

 

One of the things I missed when I first arrived here in the UK was tinned pumpkin.  It was very difficult to find and if you did find it, it cost you an arm and a leg.  I used to be able to get it at Waitrose down south and Sainsbury's.   Recently I scored big time when our local Aldi had it in as a special deal.  I bought about 20 cans!  Todd thought they would think I was crazy buying so many, but I didn't care.  If there is one thing I have learned in my years over here, it's to take advantage of a chance when you get it, because you might never get another one!  Kind of like making hay while the sun shines!



Of course you can always make your own.  I have done so in the past.  It's a bit labor intensive and it's not that easy to get a mixture that is as dry as the stuff in the tin, but it can be done.  I usually let mine drain in a sieve overnight, which works pretty well.  You can find a great tutorial on how to make your own here.  It's not really that hard.  The hard bit over here is finding the pumpkin!



So anyways, I decided to use some of my precious hoard of tinned pumpkin  to make the Toddster some delicious Pumpkin Butter as an early Autumn treat the other day.  He loved it when I made him apple butter one year, so I thought he would really enjoy some pumpkin butter.  I also thought that in some part it would help to justify my having bought 20 tins!

 

Pumpkin Butter is like a thick pumpkin jam . . . nicely spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom . . . very nice it is.   Very nice.  And not that hard to make either if you have a tin of pumpkin to hand.



It's as simple as stirring some pumpkin, honey, brown sugar, and the spices together in a pot along with some lemon juice and then cooking it down until it's nice and thick and jammy . . . it doesn't take too long either, only about half an hour.

 

We enjoyed some while it was still warm, spread on our toasted crumpets the other day.  Oh boy, was it ever good.  I am going to use it to fill a Victorian Sponge or a spice cake one day as well.  That sounds like it would be really lovely.   What do you think???



I do hope you will give it a go.  I think you would really like it.  I think if I was to spread it onto a few digestive biscuits, it would almost be like having a pumpkin pie . . . I'm going to try that tonight as a snack while we are watching Downton Abby.  I wonder if the Dowager would approve?



Well . . . .  maybe not.   I don't think I'll ask.

 

pinch salt   

Combine the pumpkin, sugar, honey, lemon juice and spices in a medium, heavy based saucepan. (I use my le creuset pan) Bring this mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, and then reduce the heat to low. Cook, stirring frequently, for 20 to 25 minutes or until nicely thickened. Serve with baking powder biscuits, scones, breads, muffins etc.  It's also lovely spread between two plain sponge cake layers. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

Any purists out there in blog land had best look away now!! I am quite sure that what I am about to show you today will upset you, and perhaps even send you off the deep end. Some of you might even consider these to be blasphemous . . . as far as Scones go!



I will agree that peanut butter and chocolate together is quite, quite a North American thing, somewhat along the similar lines of peanut butter and jam . . . but very delicious nonetheless!!



Think Reeses Pieces and Peanut Butter Cups. Altogether a scrummy idea indeed!



The Toddster is still not quite convinced that Peanut Butter and Jam belong together, but he quite happily scarfs down these tasty scones when I bake them. I think I can quite safely consider him to be a peanut butter and chocolate convert. ☺



Imagine short peanut buttery scones . . . oh so scrummily flakey and peanutty . . . warm from the oven . . . a tall glass of milk . . . You break one in half to eat and what a delightful surprise!!! A molten river of dark chocolate oozes out onto your plate and fingers . . .



You lick your fingers off . . . off one by one, and then you smile . . .



This is very, very . . . very good! Traditonal . . . almost certainly not. Different . . . absolutely. Delicious . . . most definitely YES!




*Chocolate Stuffed Peanut Butter Scones*
Makes 12 (2 1/2 inch) scones
Printable Recipes

A quintessentially delicious duo that are somewhat surprising in a scone, but very scrummy indeed!

280g of plain flour (2 cups)
85g of soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup firmly packed)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine seasalt
2 ounces of unsalted butter, chilled (1/4 cup)
3 heaped dessert spoons of creamy peanutbutter (about 3/4 cup)
2 ounces whole milk (1/4 cup)
2 large free range eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
60g chopped unsalted peanuts
2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, broken into 12 equal squares

Optional - a few whole peanuts to garnish the tops of the scones

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Take out a large baking sheet and set aside.

Whisk the flour, brown sugar, salt and baking powder together in a large bowl. Cut the chilled butter into bits and drop them into the bowl with the flour. Rub them into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, milk, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Pour over the crumbed mixture and knead in until well combined. Knead in in the chopped peanuts. Pat half of the mixture out about 1/2 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 12 (2 1/2) inch rounds, gathering scraps and repeating until you have all 12. Place about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Place a square of chocolate on top of each in the middle, pressing it down lightly. Pat out the remaining half of the scone mixture, again about 1/2 inch thick. Cut out 12 (2 1/2 inch) rounds. Place each on top of each of the chocolate topped bottom rounds. Press lightly around the edges to seal.

Bake in the heated ovem for about 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through the cooking time. Remove from the oven and let cool for five minutes, before scooping the scones off with a spatula to finish cooling on a wire rack. Serve warm or cool. Store in a tightly covered container.

A little while back the people at Panasonic sent me one of their combi-ovens to try out for a month to see how I would get on with it.   This month I am their guest blogger over in their Ideas Kitchen with my Sunshine Granola Recipe.

I did everything I could with the oven during the month that I had it.  I used it to melt butter and chocolate, cook casseroles, make scones . . . baked a cake, pretty much everything I use my regular oven for, with much success.  The nicest bit was that during the hottest bit of the summer, I wasn't having to heat my whole kitchen up by having to turn my regular oven on.  This combi-oven worked just dandy.   (Microwave/grill/convection oven)

I've actually had a combi-oven of my own for quite a while now, since 2009.   I had gotten a cake all ready to go into my regular oven and my regular oven gave up the ghost.   I needed something quick and so I had gone to the store and picked up a combi-oven to use until they could come and fix the regular one.  I had had one way back when yonks and yonks ago in Canada.  My first one was a mammoth. That baby was huge!  But it worked really well.  It did take up a lot of space though.  These newer ones are a lot smaller.  You couldn't roast a turkey in one of them . . . but they are pretty darned good for everything else.



The recipe which I chose to share in the Panasonic kitchen was a recipe for my favourite all time granola.   It's nice and crunchy, and stogged full of fruit and nuts.  There are lots of good things in there like maple syrup and orange juice, and flaked coconut.

 


In short it's a winner.  I cut my original recipe in half so that I could make it in the combi oven and it worked a charm.   Nice and nutty and golden brown with a beautiful crunch.



Why not hop on over to the Panasonic Kitchen to check out the recipe!  It's worth the trip my dears.   Absolutely.   There's lots of goodies there.  I think you'll enjoy!

Brush the tops with some of the reserved milk mixture.  Sprinkle each with a little granulated sugar.   Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until well risen and golden brown.   Lift onto a wire rack to cool.

  
Eat on the day with lots of soft butter for spreading, dollops of strawberry jam and cups of hot tea, herbal or otherwise!



Now THAT'S a tasty ♥ mouthful ♥ !!

Hooray for Strawberry Season!! My favourite time of year! I know we can get strawberries pretty much all year round here, with berries being flown in from Africa and Spain, but . . .

Let's be honest here though. They are not a touch on the flavour of a freshly picked home-grown English Strawberry.

Bake the scones for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden brown and firm on top.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.

To make the glaze whisk the icing sugar together with enough maple syrup, a few drops of maple extract and enough hot water to give you a thick glaze.   Spoon over top of the scones and sprinkle with a few toasted walnuts if desired.   Store in an airtight container.