Everything Bagel Drop Scones. I confess I am a bit late to the Everything Bagel Craze. Apparently it is all about the seasoning and it isn't something which I had really experienced over in the UK.
I did buy myself a bottle of Trader Joes Everything Bagel Seasoning online (at a premium price) while I was still over there, but I never did have a chance to use it. I had thought that all of my spices were packed to come here to Canada, but in all truth very few arrived. I don't know what happened to them.
And so I have had to start again from scratch for the most part. Not cheap I can tell you! Most bottles of herbs and spices cost around $8 and not everything is available. I am really missing out on middle Eastern and Indian spices.
Oh well. I was able to budge together my own mix of Everything Bagel Seasoning which is what I have used here today to make/enhance these lovely drop scones.
If there is anything I love more than a simple scone, its a drop scone! So much easier. No faffing about.
Quick to make, you simply stir all of the ingredients together and drop them onto a baking sheet. SO, maybe it is a little bit more than stir, but not much I can assure you!
And not only that but this is a slow batch recipe, making only half a dozen scones. Perfect for the smaller family or for when you are wanting a bread on the side with your lunch or dinner, but not wanting leftovers!
These Everything Bagel Drop Scones have crunchy flavor-filled outsides and soft fluffy, flaky insides. I would consider them to be the perfect savory scone!
You begin by making the seasoning. Of course if you have ready made seasoning you can skip this step. I wanted to make some to satisfy those who don't have it or who are not able to readily find it in their shops (UK).
It probably doesn't have quite everything in it that you would find in a readymade version, but it is close enough and I think it is delicious.
Its garlicky, oniony, crunchy and just salty enough. What more could you ask for! Its pretty tasty stuff!!
Once you have that made you can get busy with making the scones. Sift all of the dry ingredients into a bowl. Flour, baking powder and salt.
Two kinds of fat are used. Butter and cream cheese. Flaky and soft inside, the cream cheese adds another element of texture, an almost creamy texture which is difficult to describe.
But trust me when I say it is incredibly moreish. You just drop those two fats into the flour and rub them in with your fingertips.
Use a snapping motion and kind of lift the flour as you go. This gets even more air into it, giving you extra flakiness and a lovely rise.
You only want to rub it in until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs, with some bits being smaller than others.
This means you will get lovely pockets of flakiness when these bake. You are almost done.
All you have to do now is to stir in some buttermilk. That's right. Just stir in some buttermilk. You can also use regular milk, but I like to use buttermilk.
Some days you will need more than others. I am not sure why that is. You are aiming for a somewhat claggy, thick and droppable mixture.
Drop this into six, evenly sized (or as evenly as you can) clumps on your baking sheet. Leave plenty of space in between for rising, spreading. I try to budge them up a bit so that they are rounder.
But let me tell you, little extra bits that stick out get moreishly crunchy. Just so you know.
Once you have done that all you have to do is to mix together your seed mixture and sprinkle it over top. Be generous. You may not need to use it all, but do be generous.
You can save any extra and store it tightly covered in the cupboard for the next time. Or better yet, double or triple the amounts and you have enough to last you for a goodly amount of time.
That's it! Bake them in a nice hot oven until they are golden brown. One advantage of drop scones is you don't need to pat and roll.
Another advantage is you end up with all these extra crispy bits that everyone enjoys eating. Trust me when I tell you these are going to be enjoyed!
On the side of soups or stews. With cold plates or salads.
As a part of a Ploughman's Lunch along with some cold meats, cheeses, salad and pickles. Today I enjoyed one with one of those cheese snack packs you can get which includes dried cranberries and cashew nuts. Perfect!
They are good all on their own, simply split and buttered. Doesn't that look good?
Because they have cream cheese in them they are flaky, maybe not as flaky as a regular bake, but flaky enough. I can't quite describe the texture actually, but when you bake them you will see what I mean.
I adapted the recipe from one I found in Smitten Kitchen Every Day by Deb Perelman. Her measurements were a bit off, the metric ones, but no problem I have sorted them out properly.
If you are looing for a quick, easy and delicious side bread, look no further. These fit the bill on all counts.
I reckon they would be delicious divided into four rather than six and baked a bit longer to use as breakfast biscuits with some egg, bacon and cheese in side. Oh baby, come to mama!
Everything Bagel Drop Scones
Yield: Makes 6 scones
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 12 MinTotal time: 22 Min
Nothing could be simpler or more delicious than these easy drop scones. Sprinkled with everything bagel spice they go really well with cold plates, soups, salads, cheeses, etc.
Ingredients
For the topping:
- 1 TBS sesame seeds
- 1 TBS poppy seeds
- 1/2 TBS dried minced onion
- 1 tsp dried minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
For the scones:
- 1 1/4 cups (210g) plain all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 TBS cold butter, cut into cubes
- 2 ounces (65g) cold cream cheese, cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup (120ml) cold buttermilk (May need more)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450*F/225*C/gas mark 7. Line a large baking sheet with some baking parchment or a silicone liner.
- Mix together all of the ingredients for the topping in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Drop in the butter and cream cheese. Rub them into the flour mixture using your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Stir in the buttermilk, stirring everything together just until combined and the mixture starts to clump together. It should be damp and not dry. If you think it is too dry, add a bit more milk.
- Divide the mixture into six and drop onto the baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between. You can budge them into a rounder shape if you wish. Sprinkle the seed mixture evenly over top, dividing it between the scones.
- Bake for 12 minutes, until golden brown on top and the bottoms are golden brown. Scoop off onto a metal rack to cool.
- Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. Best on the day but can be frozen.
I am sure loving being able to feed my pasta loving heart to it's content. Not having anyone to please other than myself, I can cook pasta every night of the week if I want to, not that I would . . . variety is the spice of life!
Another ingredient I really love is tomatoes. I could eat them right out of the can and have sometimes feasted on a dish of cold chopped tomatoes and a slice of buttered bread. That is heaven to me.
Today I cooked myself a little pasta dish for two from a cookery book I have entitled, Clodagh's Kitchen Diaries by Clodagh McKenna. She is an Irish writer. You might say she is the Martha Stewart of Ireland.
This is one of the few books I was able to bring over with me from the UK. It is written on a monthly theme and is filled with lovely recipes that are quite simply delicious.
The true simplicity of this one really caught my eye. First of all it contains very few ingredients, bonus!
Second two of the major ingredients are tomatoes and pasta, double bonus! Oh, and there is bacon in there as well. TRIPLE BONUS!
Bucatini All'Amatriciana is a wonderful testimony to the Italian capacity to be able to cook something delicious from very few and simple ingredients. Making the most of what they have been given in every way.
Simply delicious, Bucatini All'Amatriciana derives its name from the small town of Amatrice which is found about an hour northeast of Rome, Italy. Visiting Italy was always on my bucket list of things to do that never got done while I was close enough to do them, so will remain a dream now.
I had always wanted to go but my husband didn't want to go because he said he didn't like Italian Food. He hated pizza and pasta and could not be convinced that they eat a lot more than just those things in Italy. His loss I guess.
Unfortunately mine too, but thank goodness I am a fairly competent cook, so whilst I may not actually be able to feast my eyes upon the physical beauty of Italy, I can at least enjoy some of her tastes!
Bucatini is one of the pasta's that I love. It is long like Spaghetti, but is a bit thicker and has a hollow center, much like macaroni does!
It is a pasta that I love to use, and works beautifully with a sauce like this. It has the capacity to hug the sauce and that is what you want in a pasta, and why certain pasta shapes are particular to certain sauces!
Traditionally this sauce will be made with Guanciali or Pancetta. Guanciali (pronounced Gwan-cha-lay) is an Italian type of cured meat made from the cheeks or jowls of the pig.
It has a much richer and sweeter flavor than pancetta or bacon. Those both come from the belly of the pig. The cheek or jowls of the pig have more intramuscular fat which has more flavor and tenderness.
Having said that, I could find neither one when I was at the shops the other day and so today have had to make do with bacon, which worked fine. At least taste-wise anyways! Italians might shake their heads at me in disgust!
I just happened to have some really thick (and I mean thick) streaky bacon in the freezer. Did you know that one easy way to freeze your bacon it to take it out of the package and roll each slice into a roll. Place onto a baking sheet and freeze and then pop into an airtight container.
It is really easy to then take out just as much as you require when you need it. Its also very easy to chop from frozen. In fact frozen bacon chops a whole lot easier than thawed bacon.
I know its a bit of a cheat using bacon, but one has to do what one has to do. I have not found pancetta in the shops here yet, but live in hope.
You will want to use really good tomatoes for the sauce also. I used to use Cirio tomatoes when I was in the UK. They were the best,
Here I am not sure what is the best. There have really only been two types/brands available in the shop other than the store brand or no name brand.
Trust me when I tell you that when it comes to tomatoes and cooking, you want to always use the very best ones that you can afford to buy. It really does matter.
And it really does show when it comes down to flavor. The flavor of good tinned tomatoes speaks for itself.
I have also been unable to find really good Parmesan or Pecorino cheese that hasn't already been grated. (Yes, it is a really small place.) What I wouldn't give for a nice big hunk of whole Parmesan.
Maybe I just don't know where to look. I've been shopping at the Independent or Foodland in town for the most part, or the Super Store every now and then.
I haven't really been to Sobey's. Perhaps they have more to choose from. I think I am going to check them out next time and see.
In any case, this turned out really well and tastes delicious. That's what truly counts.
The Bucatini I bought online via Amazon. You can get a lot in the way of food stuffs via Amazon. I was really spoilt in the UK, most things arrived pretty much overnight if you had Prime delivery.
Here it is usually a week or so, depending. Mind you Covid has a lot to do with that I have heard.
Food deliveries from shopping online from all sorts of suppliers worked well in the UK, but it is a really small country. I could get frozen fish/meats, poultry, cheeses, etc. all within a few days and in impeccable condition. Just one of the things I shall miss.
One thing I didn't have over there however was family, and being here where my family lives, being close enough to be able to spend time with some of them, more than makes up for me not having certain ingredients, etc. A competent cook can always improvise and I do!
I consider myself pretty lucky in that I was able to live over there in the U.K. and have my palate stretched and now I am able to be here with my loved ones and share some of that stretched palate with them as best as I can.
Its a win/win situation really. Anyways, do make this pasta dish. Its spicy with chili, but not something that you can't control. Its truly delicious! Trust me on this!
Bucatini All'Amatriciana
Yield: 2
Cook time: 20 MinTotal time: 20 Min
A delicious example of what can be done with a few simple ingredients. How spicy you make it is up to you. I find 1/2 tsp of the chili flakes to be more than ample, but I am a bit of a wimp.
Ingredients
- 2 slices of thick streaky bacon, chopped (Pancetta and guanciale are more traditional)
- 1 small red onion, peeled and minced
- 1/2 to 1 tsp dried chili flakes
- 1 (14 ounce/400g) tin of whole unpeeled tomatoes, undrained
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 6 ounces (150g) bucatini or other long pasta
- 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
- 2 ounces (50g) pecorino cheese, grated, plus extra to serve
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil.
- Sauté the chopped bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, until crisp and golden brown. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Leave the fat in the pan. Add the onions to the pan and sauté over low heat until softened without browning, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add a generous amount of black pepper and the chili flakes. Cook for about 20 minutes until fragrant, then add the undrained tomatoes and the sugar. Simmer for about 10 minutes, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon. The sauce should be starting to thicken at the end of that time.
- Drop your bucatini into the boiling salted water and cook just to al dente, according to the package directions. Drain well, reserving about 1/2 cup (120ml) of the cooking water.
- Add the bacon, pasta and reserved cooking water to the tomatoes. Taste and adjust seasoning as required with some salt. Simmer gently, stirring continuously, for a minute or two until the sauce starts to coat the pasta slightly.
- Stir in the olive oil and cheese. Stir well to combine. Serve with extra cheese on the side and plenty of crusty bread!
I confess right here and now that Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are my absolute favorite home baked cookie. Well, maybe not on its own. Chocolate Chip cookies and Molasses cookies are right up there with them.
What can I say? I love home baked cookies and it is the simple ones that I love most of all. Good, old fashioned cookies, simple and without pretense. The types of cookies our grandmothers would have baked.
My grandmother made the best molasses cookies. So did my mother. I have wonderful memories of both of their cookies (they were the same recipe).
I have never shared the recipe on here actually. You can find that original recipe on my Recipes From the Big Blue Binder blog. They are very good.
The original recipe was written down on the back of an envelope in my grandmother's handwriting. No instructions as to how to put them together, just a rough list of measurements. It was very much taken for granted in the old days that a woman would know how to put together a batch of cookies.
That recipe makes a bazillion cookies. I need to figure out how to small batch it. I did promise my father that I would make him some molasses cookies, but neither one of us needs a bazillion cookies!
The recipe I am sharing here today is for Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. I small batched them so that it only makes 18 cookies. If you love your oatmeal cookies soft and chewy, this is the recipe for you.
Soft in the middles, with just enough chew . . . crisp and buttery edged. And stogged full of vanilla and sticky sweet raisins.
I am a gal who likes lots of raisins in her oatmeal cookies. If you don't like raisins, you better look away now because this cookie has plenty of raisins going on!
Full disclosure here, I probably add more than the amount listed in the recipe. I was trying to be a bit more reserved than I usually am when I was writing it out. Basically I just throw them in by the handful until I am happy with the amount.
But I know most people are sticklers for exact amounts of these things. And I am when it comes to important things that are going to affect the integrity of the cookie.
When it comes to additions like raisins, nuts and chocolate chips . . . I admit I add what I like.
You could certainly use another dried fruit if you are not fond of raisins. Dried cranberries are nice as are dried cherries, chopped dried apricots, dried dates, etc.
Pick your own pleasure, or just leave them plain. Or better yet use half raisins and half walnuts.
Two kinds of sugar are used in this cookie. White granulated and soft light brown muscovado sugar.
Muscovado sugar is a brown sugar which has a higher molasses content. You can use ordinary light brown sugar if you wish, or regular dark brown sugar. All three work well.
I just happen to love LOVE the extra hint of smoky molasses flavor in muscovado sugar. When I was in the UK that is all I used. It was much more readily available there.
Here in Nova Scotia, well, especially in the Valley, we don't have as much available in the way of different ingredients. We are simple folk with simple tastes and needs. I always was and then I moved to the UK and stretched my palate a bit more.
Lets talk about oatmeal for a minute. Don't ever be tempted to use quick oats in these cookies. Quick oats does not have the right consistency.
I use only good old fashioned large flake oats. You can get away with regular oatmeal, just not quick oats.
I love the toothy wholesomeness of the large flaked oats. Did you know that you can toast your oats before using them?
I do, and you end up with delicious oats with an incredible nutty texture and flavor. 10 minutes in a 350*F/180*C oven does the trick beautifully. Just spread them out on a baking sheet and toast away. Give 'em a bit of a stir every couple minutes.
To me the toasted oats are a part of the appeal of a good granola! I love my nuts and oats toasted. What can I say!
Guilty as charged!
I add no spice to these, preferring the simple unadulterated taste of toasty oats, butter, raisins and vanilla. You can if you want to though.
Its a matter of choice. Cinnamon, nutmeg or both go very well. Be judicious because you don't want anything to overwhelm the cookie and you are only making a few. For this amount I would try adding 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and maybe 1/4 of nutmeg.
Make sure your butter is at room temperature, not melted. Believe it or not, it does make a difference between a buttery cookie or an oily greasy cookie.
I prefer buttery myself. One sure fire way to bring your butter to room temperature quickly is to cut your fridge cold butter into 1/2 inch slices and place them on a plate.
Place 2 cups of cold water in a beaker and pop it into the microwave and cook on high for four minutes. Remove the water. Pop in your plate of butter and just let it sit in there for five minutes, in the residual heat of the microwave. Easy peasy.
Having your butter too soft also causes them to spread out more, which is okay if you like them that way I suppose.
If you want soft and chewy, crisp edged, then room temperature butter is the only way to go.
Needless to say these go down really well with a nice cold glass of milk. They would actually be really nice crumbled into a bowl and topped with some vanilla ice cream.
Yes, I have a mind that stretches to all sorts of possibilities when it comes to food.
Oh, and (just saying) these make great ice cream sandwiches. Just sandwich pairs of them together with slightly softened vanilla, cinnamon or maple walnut ice cream. Wrap them up really well in plastic wrap and store in the freezer.
Delicious!
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (small batch)
Yield: Makes 18 cookies
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 13 MinTotal time: 23 Min
Moist, chewy and absolutely stogged full of delicious raisins, these are the best oatmeal cookies ever!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (140g) plain all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (120g) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (95g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) light muscovado sugar, firmly packed
- 1 large free range egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 (125g) cups old fashioned rolled oats, not instant
- 1 cup (150g) raisins
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet and set aside.
- Whisk the flour, soda, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
- Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy and well mixed together. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Gently stir in the flour mixture, mixing it together only until no flour is visible in the mix. (Over mixing develops the gluten in the flour and makes cookies tough.) Gently stir in the oats and the raisins.
- Drop the cookie dough onto the baking sheets in heaping tablespoonfuls at least 2 inches apart from each other, leaving room to spread.
- Bake for 11 to 13 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let sit on the baking sheets for several minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store tightly covered.
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