Cinnamon Chip-Eggnog Scones

It's almost Christmas. It's that time of year to enjoy friends, family, and, arguably the most important aspect, food. ;-) The best thing about holiday baking is all the spices that you're expected to use. Aromatic cinnamon and spicy nutmeg...my mouth waters just thinking of it.

What could be better Christmas morning than a freshly baked eggnog scone
and a homemade latte to go with?

When my husband requested eggnog scones this past week, I was more than happy to oblige. Although I enjoy eggnog as a holiday treat, I've never actually baked with it. However, my favorite parts of eggnog are all the spices, so how could I resist? After trolling around on the Internet, I found a recipe (link to original below) that I was willing to adapt for my purposes, and it's been made twice this past week for two separate tasting groups, each of whom loved this recipe. 

Ingredients:
Dough:

2-3/4 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

scant 1/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted, chilled butter, cut into pieces

1 cup cinnamon chips

1 large egg

1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste (or vanilla extract)

3/4 to 1 cup cold eggnog (start with 3/4 cup and add more if needed)

Additionally:

1/4-1/2 cup eggnog for brushing

coarse sugar for sprinkling

The Process:

Measure out the ingredients.
*I doubled the recipe, which is why I have two sticks of butter and two eggs.
You should only need one of each.

Work in the butter. Some larger, pea-sized chunks are okay.

Add the cinnamon chips... as much or as little as wanted.
(I went with one cup and found it to be plenty.)

Mix in with a wooden spoon until it looks even.

Aside, whisk together the eggnog, egg, and vanilla bean paste.

Add the liquid to the dry ingredients.

Mix until it mostly comes together; a few dry bits are okay.

Divide your dough in half.
*I made a double recipe, so I quartered mine.
If you're following the recipe, you should only divide in two.

Flatten into an 8- or 9-inch round and cut into six triangles.

Place the scones in a round close to each other, perhaps an inch apart.
I placed mine a little closer because I was short on baking sheet space.

Bake until deep golden on top.

When you pull the scones apart at the seams, the middle should not be doughy.

Allow to cool for a few minutes, and enjoy!

Instructions:

1. Combine the dry ingredients, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, ground nutmeg, and ground cinnamon and whisk to mix well. 

2. Add the chopped butter and, using a pastry blender, mix until well combined. A few pea-sized chunks are okay.

3. Add the cinnamon chips and stir with a wooden spoon to mix.

4. Measure out 3/4 cup of eggnog and set aside an additional 1/4 cup. In a medium-sized measuring cup or bowl, combine the egg, 3/4 cup eggnog, and vanilla paste/extract. Whisk lightly to mix evenly. 

5. Add the liquid to the mixture. If you need the additional 1/4 cup eggnog, add it a tablespoon at a time until your dough just comes together with a little bit of dry bits okay.

6. Turn out onto a lightly floured countertop and divide dough in half. 

7. Flatten each half into an 8- or 9-inch round and cut into six equal triangles.

8. Transfer scones to a parchment-lined baking sheet and arrange the triangles in rounds with sides about half-inch to an inch apart. 

9. Brush the scones generously with eggnog and sprinkle with sugar. Place in freezer for at least 30 minutes.

10. Preheat the oven to 425˚F.

11. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until deep gold on top. To check if the scones are done, pull them apart at the seams and check the middle.

12. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack. Best served warm. 

*Recipe Adapted from King Arthur's Flour

Results:

Not only do these scones smell divine, they taste great. They are crunchy on top and soft in the middle. Although I prefer my scone flakey, these have a wonderful flavor and delicious crunch, and are to be a sure hit with those who like more cakey scones. 

Gingerbread Scones

I love getting requests for scones from Hubby's work. It takes the pressure off me to come up with a good idea for a recipe, and lets me know what they want! It's wonderful. So when someone requested gingerbread scones, I was certainly up for the challenge! 

I had made them before, but they had turned out dry and I was unimpressed. This, I used a similar recipe, but changed it up some, adding a bit of butter to keep them moister. The result was a great cross between scone and cookie. Once cool, these do harden a bit more than the typical scone, but they were well received by my many taste testers. 

A wonderful holiday treat to enjoy with tea or coffee.

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground clove

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

8 tbsp butter, unsalted, chopped and chilled

1 large egg

3 tbsp molasses

5 tbsp half and half

1.5 tsp vanilla bean paste

The Process:

Measure everything out first.

Combine the dry ingredients and whisk to mix.

Mix in the butter with a pastry blender until it looks like coarse sand.
(A few pebbles are okay.)

Combine the egg, molasses, half and half, and vanilla. Whisk lightly to mix.

Flatten out into a log or rectangle (I chose log because I doubled the recipe),
about 1/3-inch high.

Cut into wedge shapes, then bake until darkened around edges.

Instructions:
1. Combine all dry ingredients: flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk to mix well.

2. Add the chopped butter to the dry ingredients and blend with a pastry blender. 

3. In a medium sized bowl, combine the egg, molasses, half and half, and vanilla bean paste. Whisk to mix.

4. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until the liquid just comes together. (Be sure to scrape out the vanilla bean paste from the bottom of the bowl!)

5. Turn out onto a lightly floured countertop and flatten into a round or rectangle (whichever you prefer). Cut into wedges and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

6. Bake at 375˚F for 20-25 minutes, or until darkened on top around the edges.


Results:
These were another well received scone. I think the added butter kept them a bit more moist, so they were less like cookies and more like the moist scones they should be. 

The flavor of ginger, clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon, as well as the added vanilla, makes this complement a black tea or dark coffee well. 

Vanilla Bean Scones

Wow, sorry about that unexpected hiatus from the blog. November got away with me, what with a family road trip and other stuff that popped up. A lot of folks get busy during this time; I am no exception. Baking has had to take a back seat.

However, I did make up a plain scone recipe the other week that I actually quite enjoyed. It was quite simple, but because I am a vanilla lover, I took this opportunity to use some of the vanilla beans I purchased from Williams & Sonoma a while back. I've been hoarding them because they are expensive, and I don't want to waste them. But I think the vanilla beans were a great addition to these otherwise simple scones.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup vanilla sugar (1/4 cup sugar + 1/2 tsp vanilla beans)

4 tbsp butter

Approx. 750-1000 mL whipping cream

The Process:

First things first: make vanilla sugar. Mix vanilla and sugar together well.

Fresh vanilla sugar!

All ingredients measured out. This is a very simple recipe.

Combine dry ingredients.

Add butter, blend with pastry blender.

Butter blended in.

Add heavy cream and mix with a wooden spoon.

Add enough cream so that the mixture just comes together (a few floury bits are okay).

Flatten out onto a lightly floured surface.
(I made a double recipe, so my rectangle is 2 scones wide.)

Cut into scone shapes--a double recipe makes 16 scones.

Bake until lightly golden. Cool, and enjoy!

Instructions:

1. Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, and vanilla sugar) and whisk to mix.

2. Add the cold, chopped butter and work in with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse sand.

3. Add the whipping cream, starting with half and adding as needed.

4. Bake 15-20 minutes at 400˚F (I baked mine frozen, took about 20 minutes) until lightly golden.

Results:
These are a very simple scone to make. Unbaked, they freeze well. Baking will then take a few minutes longer (just place frozen on a parchment-lined baking sheet and pop into the oven).

Not only were these simple, but they were well received at my hubby's office. Cream scones always go over well, and these were no exception!