CORNMEAL-BLUEBERRY SCONES

I’ve been wanting to make these scones for some time.  The recipe won second prize in the Better Homes & Gardens Prize Tested Recipe contest for March 2008, “Frozen Fruit to the Rescue” category.  Since blueberries are in season now and are plentiful and cheap, I decided to use fresh instead of frozen berries.
What can I say about these scones?  They have a delightful flavor, are not too sweet, and the berries are the star.  I was disappointed that I didn’t taste the lime and that the cornmeal did not make these as crisp as I would have liked.  That being said, I ate too many of them.  After tasting one with the almonds that are supposed to be sprinkled over the top, I opted to keep the others with just the simple lime-sugar drizzle. 

Will I make these again?  Probably not, but they were nice for a change and I’m glad I tried them.  If you do try them, I'd love for you to leave a comment.

Cornmeal-Blueberry Scones Adapted from BH&G Prize Tested Recipes, March 2008 Rating:  7 out of 10 PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS: 1-1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 2/3 cup yellow cornmeal 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar 1-1/2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar 1/2 tsp. sea salt 1-1/2 tsp. finely grated lime zest 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. baking soda 6 Tbsp. frozen butter, in one solid piece 1/2 cup buttermilk 1 large egg 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, blotted dry with paper towel 1 tsp. cornstarch Heat oven to 450F.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; spray with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugars, salt, lime zest, baking powder and baking soda.  I used whole-grain, stone-ground cornmeal. Grate frozen butter over the flour mixture, using large holes of box grater. With fingers, work butter into flour, but leave some butter pieces the size of small peas.  Work quickly, so the butter doesn’t get too warm.  Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.  In small cup or bowl, whisk the buttermilk and egg till frothy.  Add all at once to the flour mixture and lightly stir with spoon or spatula, just till barely combined.  Toss blueberries with cornstarch and fold in gently to batter.  Drop onto baking sheet, using about 2 Tbsp. for each of 15 scones.  Bake 10-12 minutes, or till just golden.  Test doneness with a toothpick, being careful not to hit a blueberry.  Cool on wire rack.  While still warm, drizzle each scone with some Lime-sugar glaze .  Yield:  about 15 small scones Lime-Sugar Glaze 1 cup powdered sugar 3-4 tsp. lime juice Combine powdered sugar and lime juice.  If more liquid is needed, thin with milk or cream till glaze is of drizzling consistency.

INA GARTEN'S CRANBERRY ORANGE SCONES, ADAPTED LOWER-FAT VERSION

A few weeks ago, I made Ina Garten's Cranberry Orange Scones in all their full-fat glory. They were light and delicate with a richness that can only come from butter and heavy cream. But I wanted to see if they could be as good without so much fat. I used fat-free half and half instead of cream, but still used all the butter, so they still have a lot of fat. The recipe below is 1/4 of the original version, producing seven 3" scones.  Next time, I'll try cutting back on some of the butter to make them even lower in fat.



Ina Garten's Cranberry Orange Scones, Adapted Lower-Fat Version
Rating: 10 out of 10

INGREDIENTS: 1 cup all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp. sugar, divided use
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. orange zest
6 Tbsp. cold or frozen butter (3/4 stick)cut into small cubes
1 large egg
1/4 cup + 3 Tbsp. fat-free half and half, divided use
1 Tbsp. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 cup dried cranberries (or dried mixed berries)
1/4 cup toasted broken pecans
Heat the oven to 400F. In work bowl of food processor, combine flour, 2 Tbsp. sugar, baking powder, salt and orange zest; pulse briefly to distribute ingredients. Add butter and pulse with quick, short motions till butter is size of small peas. Do not overprocess; you should still see bits of butter throughout. In small cup or bowl, whisk egg, 1/4 cup H&H and OJ concentrate. Add to flour mixture with the fruit and nuts and pulse again with quick, short motions, just till combined and dough forms. Scoop out the dough, which may be sticky, and place it on a floured surface. With floured hands, pat the dough into a round, 1" high. Cut with 2-3/8" diameter round cutter. You will have "tail ends" of the dough (see photo).
Just push the "tail ends" in towards the dough and cut again. If you do this with all your cuts, you won't have to reroll the dough.
The less you handle the dough, the more tender and delicate your scones will be.
Place the scones on parchment-lined baking pan. In small cup or bowl, combine remaining 3 Tbsp. H&H and 2 Tbsp. sugar and brush the mixture over the scones. (The sugar will enable the scones to brown nicely while baking and create a crisp crust.) Bake the scones for 12-15 minutes. (You can test them with a toothpick to see if they are done; be sure you don't overbake them.) Transfer to a wire rack to cool. If desired you can drizzle them with a mixture of 1/4 cup 10X sugar and 2-3 Tbsp. orange juice. I left mine plain.
Yield: seven 3" scones

INA GARTEN'S CRANBERRY ORANGE SCONES

In New Bern, there is a local bakery that has the absolute best cranberry orange scones. They're loaded with cranberries and have a nice orange flavor; you can have them with or w/o the orange frosting drizzle; and the scone, itself, is rich, buttery and dense. In short, they taste like a scone and not like a biscuit.

When I saw Ina Garten make scones, I thought, if anyone would come close to that recipe, it would be she. So I decided to try her scones. I used some coconut flour for part of the flour, to add some fiber; a bit of orange juice concentrate for more orange flavor and some toasted pecans. Ina used her KitchenAid mixer; I used my Cuisinart.

These scones are even better than our local bakery's -- they're lighter and richer. But I will never make them again. They are just too good -- and too overloaded with fat. I'm reprinting the adapted recipe, as I made it. Thankfully, I cut the recipe to 1/4, but still managed to do some serious hip damage with these bad boys. If you're feeling like you need some comfort in the morning -- or any time of the day -- this is where you can get it.

Ina Garten's Cranberry Orange Scones, adapted 1/4 recipe
Rating: 10 out of 10
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup all-purpose flour, scooped (I put 2 Tbsp. coconut flour in the bottom of the cup, then added the all-purpose flour.)
2 Tbsp. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. finely grated orange zest
6 Tbsp. (3/4 stick) frozen unsalted butter, diced
1 large egg
1/4 cup heavy cream
1-1/2 tsp. frozen orange juice concentrate
1/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries + 1 Tbsp. AP flour
1/4 cup toasted broken pecans

Preheat oven to 400F. In work bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and orange zest. Pulse to mix. Add the diced butter and pulse with quick, short motions, till butter is the size of small peas. Stir egg, heavy cream and OJ concentrate together in a small dish or bowl and add to the flour/butter mixture with short, quick pulses, till mixture forms a dough. Combine cranberries, 1 Tbsp. flour and pecans and add to work bowl. Pulse briefly to combine into dough.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it lightly into a ball, being sure you work to distribute the nuts and cranberries evenly throughout. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4" thick. You should still see small bits of butter in the dough. Keep moving the dough on the floured board so it doesn't stick. Flour a 2-1/4" round plain or fluted cutter and cut circles of dough. Place the scones on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Collect the scraps neatly, roll them out, and cut more circles. (Instead of re-rolling, as I cut circles, I realigned the pieces by pushing them up and into the dough.)

Brush the tops of the scones with egg wash or cream; sprinkle with sugar, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are fully baked. The scones will be firm to the touch. (I used a toothpick inserted in center to check doneness, as you would for a cake.) Cool scones for 15 minutes on a wire rack. If you want a drizzled frosting, whisk together 2 Tbsp. 10X sugar with 1 tsp. orange juice and drizzle it over the partly cooled scones.

Yield: will vary according to the size of the cutter and the thickness of the dough. I got 8 scones from this recipe.

LEVAIN BAKERY OATMEAL RAISIN SCONES, adapted

We have a bakery very close by that sells outstanding cranberry-orange scones. I've tried scones at other places, and there's just no comparison. My few feeble attempts at scone making have failed to come anywhere near the texture of our neighborhood bakery scones. But with my recent success making the Levain Bakery fabulous scone-like chocolate chip cookies, I started thinking again about trying my hand at scones. Levain Bakery has not kept their scone recipe a secret, so no need to find a copycat recipe. These girls really don't seem to like flavoring, because their recipe has no flavoring at all in it: no vanilla, no citrus zest, nothing. Since I love cranberry-orange, I decided to switch the raisins to cranberries and add some orange zest. I intended to halve the recipe, but goofed and added the sugar for a whole batch, so then I had to go with the the full recipe. I also used white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose. Oh, and I added some nuts. These aren't half bad, especially when you consider they're really a breakfast with the whole wheat flour and the oatmeal. Honestly, you feel full after eating one. They're still not like our neighborhood bakery scones, but they are the closest I've come. Still looking for that perfect scone recipe, but in the meantime, these are worth making.

Levain Bakery Oatmeal Raisin Scones, Adapted
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup Craisins
3 cups King Arthur white whole wheat flour
2-1/2 cups 1-minute quick oats
3/4 cup white sugar (I used 1 Tbsp. Stevia + 1/4 cup sugar)
2 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
3 Tbsp. orange zest
12 oz. sweet butter, cold and diced small (It's easier if you grate the butter)
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans
1-1/4 cups half and half (I used Land O'Lakes fat-free H&H)

DIRECTIONS: In microwaveable 2 cup bowl, heat orange juice on high till very hot, about 45 seconds. Add craisins; cover and let sit about 1/2 hour.
Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Drain craisins, reserving liquid in a 2-cup measuring container. Combine all ingredients except reserved orange liquid and H&H in a large bowl. The key word is combine, do not cream, do not overmix. Add enough H&H to the reserved orange liquid to equal 1-1/4 cups. Quickly pour in all of this liquid while mixing on low speed. If the dough appears at all dry add additional H&H by tablespoonful until just combined. Again, do not overmix.

I took about 1/4 cup of dough and with wet hands, roughly shaped it into a ball, flattened it slightly and put it on the baking pan. I did weigh the dough balls to try to get them uniform, and if I remember, they were roughly 4 oz. each. The Levain instructions follow, and are different from what I did: Turn the dough out onto a very well floured surface. If the dough is very sticky, flour the top of the dough also. Pat the mixture into a layer, 3/4 to 1" thick. Using a 2-inch diameter round cutter, cut out the scones, dipping the cutter into flour each time between cuts. Place each scone, as cut, onto lined baking pan leaving 2-3" between each scone. This should make 12 round scones. (You can also form dough into rectangular shape and cut with a knife into 12 square or triangle scones.)

Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until light golden brown on both the top and bottom of scones. (I used a toothpick inserted in center to test for doneness.) Yield: 12 scones

A simple glaze of orange juice, melted butter and 10X sugar drizzled over the warm scones is a nice addition.