Pumpkin Scones

If you love the flavors of pumpkin pie, you will love these pumpkin scones. 

 

After baking, these pumpkin scones are drizzled with a vanilla bean glaze, which balances perfectly with the not-too-sweet scones. 

Orange and Cranberry Scones

These orange and cranberry scones are so light and flaky. They are flavored with orange zest and dried cranberries, and are drizzled with an orange juice glaze.

These orange and cranberry scones are easy to assemble the night before serving them. Just mix the dough, roll it out and cut them with a biscuit cutter, pop them in the refrigerator, and bake them in the morning.

Gruyère Prosciutto Scones

These Gruyère Prosciutto Scones are soft and flaky, and loaded with the nutty flavor of Gruyère cheese and the salty flavor of Italian dry-cured ham.

Fresh from the oven, these ham and cheese scones ooze cheese when you break them apart. I took "just a taste" of one while it was still warm, and didn't stop until I'd polished off an entire scone.

Singing Hinnies {Griddle Scones from Northern England}

Singing Hinnies are a traditional griddle cake from Northumberland in northern England. They are typically made with flour, butter, lard, salt, baking powder, milk, and dried currants.

How did Singing Hinnies get their name? 

Hinnie is supposed to be a term of endearment (like "honey") in the dialect of the region, and "singing" is supposed to represent the sound they make as they are cooking on the griddle.

Cherry Scones

These cherry scones began with a basic scone recipe from King Arthur Flour. I added dried cherries, but you could add raisins, chocolate chips, nuts, or any combination of "add-ins."

If you place the shaped scones in the freezer for 30 minutes prior to baking them, you will get a higher rise. I'm not sure why, but it definitely worked. I guess it has something to do with relaxing gluten. Regardless, these scones rose beautifully.

These are easy to make. They are best served warm fresh out of the oven, but are also good re-warmed in a microwave for 10 seconds. They are wonderful with butter and jam. Keep any leftover scones in a sealed container.

I baked these in a Mini-Scone Pan so I shortened the baking time to about 17 minutes.

Cherry Scones

Ingredients

325 g unbleached all purpose flour

67 g sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 T baking powder

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and placed back into the refrigerator

1 C dried cherries

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

113g to 152g milk or cream (113 g was plenty)

Instructions

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. 
2. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or granny fork until the mixture is crumbly. 
3. Add the cherries and stir.
4. In a different bowl, mix the eggs, vanilla, and milk.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until just mixed.
6. Divide the dough in two and form it into two 6 inch circles on a parchment lined baking sheet. The thickness should be about 3/4 inches. 
7. Cut the circles into 8 wedges and pull the wedges slightly apart. Alternatively, you can use a 
8. Place the baking sheet in the freezer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. 
9. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. 
10. Bake the scones for 17 to 25 minutes, depending on their size. They are done when they golden brown. 
11. Cool for about 5 minutes on the pan, and then serve. 
12. Store leftovers wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature. 

The Avid Bakers of the Avid Bakers Challenge are continuing to bake recipes from the King Arthur Flour website. Check out how other bakers fared with this recipe. 

Mini Pancetta-Cheddar-Chive Scones | Avid Baker's Challenge

These mini pancetta, cheddar, and chive scones are addicting. I am usually pretty good at controlling myself with baked goods, but not today. When these things were cool enough to eat, I promptly ate four. FOUR!

Here's how I justify it. All I had for breakfast was a hard boiled egg and coffee, saving room for two scones. Then, I had two more scones and a salad for lunch. Yeah, yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

(Now about those chocolate covered cherry almond tarts on the cooling rack....  )

The original recipe for these scones calls for bacon. I had some pancetta in the freezer, so I went with that, and fried it with a teaspoon of bacon fat to give it a smoky flavor. The things I will do to avoid going to the store.

These scones are made with a cream based biscuity dough and sort of remind me of twice-baked potatoes. I made mine in a mini-scone pan. Of course I had one.

There's a great step-by-step demo of how to make these scones by +Pj Hamel on the King Arthur Flour blog. I love how she found the chives in the elevator. Serendipity at its finest. It was meant to be.

Strawberry Scones

One of the nice things about living in our part of southern California is that the minute winter turns to spring, strawberry stands pop up on what seems like every corner where there is a vacant lot. These strawberries are huge. They are the kind you might imagine they use to make chocolate dipped strawberries. We usually have at least three or four baskets of strawberries in our house at all times.

Thus these scones. They are made with vanilla, cream, and butter, and brushed with a vanilla glaze. I also added a couple of drops of Fiori di Sicilia, which is a concentrated blend of vanilla and citrus. You could also add a few scrapes of orange zest if you'd prefer.