Gluten-Free Cinnamon Raisin Scones

A warm gluten-free scone. Hot tea. Breakfast bliss.

Are you sick of the snow yet? My heart goes out to you. So many of you have been hammered this winter. Spring will arrive this year not a moment too soon. My advice? Bake some scones. Scones are easy to throw together. The oven warms up the kitchen and chases off the chill. And in less than half an hour you have a tender gluten-free morsel to share and savor. Gently spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, and studded with sweet bursts of raisins, I predict these cinnamon raisin scones will make you smile.

And speaking of predictions, Punxsutawney Phil better man up and predict an early respite come February 2. My fingers are crossed for all of you shoveling out from under. Not that I'm superstitious, or subscribe to the precognitive powers of double furred rodents, but. I remember the long dreary bouts of cold and gray all too well. I spent almost fifty-five years in the grip of Old Man Winter, praying the illustrious marmot would not see his shadow.

Will we have an early spring?

I hope so, Darlings. I hope so.


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Gluten-Free Butternut Pecan Scones

Get sconed, Babycakes, with these fab gluten-free scones.

I'm having an existential week. The kind of week where gushing about a new gluten-free scone recipe just seems kind of silly. The kind of week where irony reigns supreme on her cold and shiny throne. Yeah, I know. I could shrug it off and stuff it out of sight and soldier on. I could kick it to the back of my closet, behind the pile of ratty sneakers. I could swallow the pill of denial like a good girl and use words like tender and buttery and melt in your mouth scone goodness. Who would know the difference?

But this morning I'm just not interested.

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Easy Peanut Butter-Banana Scones and a Giveaway . . . Works for Me Wednesday

Giveaways work for for me. Baking from pantry items works for me, too.  So today, we have both!  Yay!

First, let's start with the scones.  I love these because I typically have all of the ingredients on hand.  I think they're best at room temperature, so they are perfect to pop in a lunch box or for an afternoon snack. Or, for breaking off a piece as you walk by them in the kitchen. ;)

Peanut Butter-Banana Scones
{adapted from Maureen Cole and Family Fun Magazine}

3 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp coarse salt
3/4 c. peanut butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. evaporated milk, plus more for brushing the tops
1 c. (about 2 ) chopped bananas

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 375.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until thoroughly combined.

In a large bowl, beat together peanut butter, eggs, vanilla, and evaporated milk until evenly blended.

Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined.  Stir in the bananas.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it twice.  Pat it into a 1-inch thick disc.

Using a 2 and 1/2 inch cutter, cut into rounds.  Pat scraps together and re-roll.  (Makes about 12.)  Transfer to prepared baking sheet.

Brush the tops with evaporated milk.  Bake 20 minutes.  Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

 

{Sometimes the mess looks pretty to me...that's weird, right?}

Serve with strawberry jelly for a peanut butter and jelly scone OR marshmallow creme (fluff) for a fluffer nutter scone. (Oh, it's so good!)

{It occurred to me AFTER we ate all of them that these would be really good with a peanut butter glaze. Someone want to try it?}

Now to the giveaway....

You may have noticed Sweet Cuppin Cakes over in the sidebar.  They are a sweet little sweet shop that ships WORLDWIDE!  Worldwide, people!  This is so exciting! They've also been featured in Parent & Kraft magazines.

One thing love about this shop is that the owner has a real heart and heads up Bake up Awareness for Autism.  As a matter of fact, you can help by hosting a bake sale on October 15 2010....all proceeds will go to Bake Up Awareness Autism Foundation to be donated for research in the immune testing of those with Autism.
{If anyone is hosting one in Houston, please let me know.}

Sweet Cuppin Cakes is giving away one of these adorable Cakewich cake pans!!!  How FUN are these?!?  I'm thinking a peanut butter pound cake filled with peanut butter buttercream and strawberry filling.  What about you?

To enter...

• visit Sweet Cuppin Cakes and leave a comment here with what else from the shop you'd love to try,
• for an extra entry, tweet about the giveaway using @bakeat350tweets and leave a separate comment.

Giveaway open until 8pm CST, Sunday (July 25th).  Good luck!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Scones

Gluten-free scones for tea time, brunch or breakfast.

A story to eat scones by. A scone worthy story, in other words. One more glimpse into life on the side with our unreliable narrator.

Chapter 2.

It was ridiculous how nervous she was.  It was only a class. A painting workshop. It wasn't as if she was entering a world unknown. She knew this world.  Art school was only, what, fifteen years ago? Wrong tactic. Fifteen years is a lifetime ago. She shook it off, pushed the door open with her left hip and met the familiar aromatics of turpentine and linseed oil, the clatter of wooden easels and scrape of chipped metal stools as painters staked out their territory.

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Gluten-Free Pumpkin Scones with Maple Nutmeg Icing

Gluten-free pumpkin scones with maple nutmeg icing.

Take a deep breath. Stop. Sit. I understand. I get it. And I know what you're craving. Because I'm craving it, too. After all the pre-Thanksgiving hubbub, after scouring the Internet for gluten-free recipes, after all the planning, the lists, the shopping at six different markets because one store never has everything you need (that would be too simple), the label reading, the patience (dug from somewhere deep and zen and maybe even vaguely transpersonal) to explain (again) why scraping the pumpkin filling off a wheat pie crust does not a gluten-free dessert make, what you crave (besides alone time with a freshly cracked book and your favorite mug filled to the brim with your beverage of choice) is something indulgent.

But not overly indulgent.

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French Toast Scones (!) and a GIVEAWAY!!!

You may have noticed that I enjoy baking...a lot. But, there are times when I'm just too lazy to read a recipe, assemble ingredients and measure out flour. These times are called MORNINGS! No, even though I want to be one, I am not a morning person....just ask my family.

So, I was really excited to try this King Arthur Flour French Toast Scone Mix!

First, let me say that if I could dab the mix behind my ears, I would. It would be my signature fragrance; it smells like I imagine heaven does.

Second, the mix and the instructions are simple. Just add butter, egg and milk. And the batter....I probably could have eaten the entire bowl raw. I settled for licking my fingers...and the spoon...and the bench scraper...

Third, I recognize all of the ingredients in the mix. I like that. And who but King Arthur adds Vietnamese cinnamon to their mixes?!?

Fourth, these are serious scones! They bake up big and fluffy and ,I'll just say it, glorious! If you've only ever had a scone from the coffee shop, these will knock your socks off! You'll want to try them!

Wouldn't a basket of scone mixes be a great gift for a new mom who doesn't have time to bake anymore, but still wants to? I want a stash for my pantry...for lazy mornings...or company...or tea time...

Guess what?!? The nice people at King Arthur Flour are going to send one lucky Bake at 350 reader a French Toast Scone Mix of their very own! Yay! Hop on over to King Arthur and tell me what other scone mix you'd love to try. I'm thinking Lemon-Blueberry...in the meantime, maybe they'll consider a line of women's fragrances? :)

Drawing will be held Sunday at 8pm central. Good Luck!

Still craving more? Click here:

Meyer Lemon-Vanilla Scones

Baker's Banter (the King Arthur blog!)

C'mon. . .EVERYbody's doing it!

If you are addicted to food blogs like I am, you may have noticed these guys cropping up all over the place. Meyer Lemons! Maybe you've seen these beauties from Tartlette, or this tart from 3B's, or this gorgeous lemony post from Cannelle et Vanille.

When I saw Meyer lemons at the store, I wasn't sure what to do with them, but I bought them anyway. :) After looking through all my cookbooks and much debating, I decided on scones!

Meyer lemons smell SO unbelievably good! If you come across them and don't plan to buy, at least pick them up and smell! Heaven!

Here are the scones just out of the oven. I didn't bother with an egg wash on the top since I was going to top them with a glaze.

Oh, man...were they ever good! See those flecks of vanilla bean? I used my vanilla bean paste again. I love that stuff!

The inside was super flaky and flecked with little bits of zest and vanilla bean. One word of advice...eat them while they are warm from the oven. For testing purposes only, I ate 2 warm from the oven, 2 for lunch that day and 2 for breakfast the next morning (my husband was out-of-town...someone had to do it!). Warm from the oven is definitely best, although I'd never turn down a scone in any form!

This recipe is adapted from King Arthur Flour's "Basic Scone" recipe in their Baker's Companion cookbook. If you don't own this book, I highly recommend it! (Also, go check out their blog!)

Meyer Lemon-Vanilla Scones

(adapted from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion)

3 c. all-purpose, unbleached flour

1/3 c. sugar

1/4 c. dry milk

3/4 tsp kosher/coarse salt

1 TBSP baking powder

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla bean paste

1/2 c. combo of milk and Meyer lemon juice

4 TBSP butter

1/4 c. shortening

2 TBSP Meyer lemon zest (heaping)

~~~~~~~~~

Meyer lemon juice

powdered sugar

Place butter and shortening in the freezer.

Preheat the oven to 450. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk together the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla bean paste and the milk/Meyer lemon juice. (I filled my 1/2 c measure about 1/3 full of juice, then topped it off with milk to make 1/2 c.)

Into the flour mixture, grate the cold butter on the large holes of a grater. Break the shortening into pieces and add to the flour mixture. Cut in the fat with a pastry blender or 2 knives, leaving some pea-sized pieces of fat.

Gently stir/fold in the liquid mixture and the zest.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface and gather together until it is cohesive. Divide the dough in half (using your bench scraper) and move to the cookie sheet. Pat each half into a 7-inch circle and then cut each half into eighths. Separate the wedges slightly. (King Arthur says you can freeze the unbaked and cut dough...that's what I did with my other half. Add 2 minutes to the baking time.) 

Bake for 7 minutes, then turn the oven off (don't open the door!) and let them sit in the oven for about 8 minutes more.

While the scones are in the oven, mix a little powdered sugar with Meyer lemon juice. Just eyeball the amounts and mix together with a fork or whisk until you have enough to lightly cover the scones.

Remove the scones from the oven and immediately place on a cooling rack. Place the cooling rack onto the cookies sheet still lined with parchment (this will save more clean up later). Drizzle the lemon glaze of the tops of the scones. Enjoy them warm! :)

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Scones- Gluten-Free Recipe

Easy gluten-free scone deliciousness.

Today was a good day. A strawberry and chocolate laced crusty on the outside tender on the inside kind of day. That's right. I got sconed. And the best part (aside from the fresh organic berry goodness, that is)? These golden biscuity morsels are vegan. That's right. No eggs. No milk. No butter (sorry, moo-cow fans).

On a whim yesterday (I am often prone to whims Dear Reader, especially after a sun dappled picnic on the Santa Fe plaza, perched on a bench beneath a flowering cherry tree across from a red robed Buddhist monk eating Chinese take-out. We devoured pesto slathered smoked turkey rolled in brown rice tortillas and I didn't drip a single green drop of cilantro infused olive oil on my ironed boot cut jeans) I picked up a Gluten-Free Pantry Muffin and Scone Mix at Whole Foods (long time readers know I miss my old favorite Pamela's Ultimate Baking Mix, and I've yet to find an all-purpose replacement mix that's half as good).

I was in such an expansive mood post my double espresso at the nearby Starbucks that I thought I might try baking something fun and slightly indulgent for the weekend. The organic strawberries smelled beyond heavenly in their ripe and ruby lusciousness. Yes, I smell all my fruit and veggies before I buy. Don't you? The woman with the amber handled cane you see standing in the Whole Foods produce aisle sniffing tomatoes and berries and anything else she can get her one free hand on, Darling?

That would be me.

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