Irish Scones

Since Saint Patrick's Day is approaching, I figured I would try some Irish dishes. Scones had to be one of the dishes I wanted to make. Why? Only because I love them. They are easy to make. They are a fast breakfast. They go well with tea. Then the main reason is because I love them. Well, I did try to find currants for these scones. I guess currants aren't a popular product to carry so I elected to make half of the scones with raisins. My daughter asked for some without any raisins which was fine. I didn't want to over knead them since my daughter kept telling me that scones are as hard as stones. These scones weren't hard.

Irish Scones
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar plus more for topping
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp butter, cold and cut into pieces
1/4 cup raisins/currants
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 egg, beaten for brushing the top

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
4. Cut in the butter into the flour mixture to form coarse crumbs.
5. Whisk together the milk with 1 egg. 
6. Using a fork, stir just until a moist dough form.
7. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a couple of times until incorporated. (Don't over knead so the scones won't be like stones.)
8. Pat the dough into 1 1/2 inch thickness.
9. Cut the dough into 6 circles. 
10. Place the dough onto the baking sheets. 
11. Brush the tops with the beaten egg and lightly sprinkle the top with sugar.
12. Bake the scones for 7 minutes and rotate the baking sheet.
13. Bake the scones for another 7 minutes or until golden brown.
14. Serve warm with butter and jam. 

Recipe adapted from Kerrygold.

One year ago...........................I made Mint Flourless Brownies.
Two years ago.........................I made PB Nutella Oatmeal.
Three years ago.......................I made Fried Meatball Sandwich.

Did you already know....................
-The average Irish man is 5 feet 9 inches tall.
-The average Irish woman is 5 feet 5 inches tall.
-The majority of the Irish are Catholic.

Blackberry Scones

We talked the kids into picking us some blackberries. My niece gave me a sandwich bag full. Then my daughter made the mistake of handing her bag to me so I combined them. She was not happy with me but I gave her the promise of scones. Now, I know she loved the scones but my son normally isn't a muffin/scone type of guy. He kept hounding me for more. I guess he really likes blackberries. These are really good.

Blackberry Scones
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp sugar for the blackberries and additional for the top
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1¼ cups blackberries
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp heavy cream


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
3. In a small bowl, toss the blackberries and 1 Tbsp of sugar. Set aside.
4. In a food processor, combine lemon zest, flour, ½ cup of sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse about 5 times.
5. Add the butter and pulse about 8-10 times until it looks like course crumbs.
6. Add the egg, egg yolk, and milk to the flour mixture. Pulse about 10 times.
7. Generously flour working surface.
8. Add the dough to the flour working surface and form a ball.
9. Using a 2½ inch round biscuit cutter, scoop some dough into the cutter to form a 1 inch scone.
10. Repeat with the remaining dough about 3 inches apart.
11. Brush the heavy cream on top of the scones and sprinkle with sugar.
12. Bake the scones for about 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown.

Recipe adapted from here.  

One year ago................................I made Green beans with onions.
Two years ago..............................I made Asian Chicken Wrap.

Yes, I eat my scones with jam.

Did you already know..................
-Blackberries are also known as bramble because of the thorny stems.
-The plant of the blackberry is called the cane.
-A red blackberry will have the distinguishing white core and will not be hollow inside like a raspberry.

Peach Scones

I like peaches but I am very particular about them. I like them fresh off the tree. I will occasionally buy the ones in the stores since they look so good but a lot of times they are misleading. They are hard so I've tried a number of tricks to get them ripen. I've tried just being patient. I've tried putting them in the paper bag trick. They always seem bruised when they finally reach the ultimate ripeness. I will admit I have a young son in the house who thinks his profession is to juggle especially fruit. I haven't caught him yet with peaches but one never knows. He is stealthy too especially when he thinks he needs to sharpen his ninja skills. These peaches are freshly picked. My children thought they were great.

Peach Scones about 15 to 18 scones
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar plus more for topping
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
10 Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
1/2 cup milk
1 cup peaches, diced


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. In a food processor, process the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon for 30 seconds. 
4. Add the butter to the food processor. Pulse for about 20 times.
5. Add the peaches. Do not pulse.
6. Slowly, add the milk while pulsing the food processor. Continue to pulse until the dough begins to stick together about 20 pulses.
7. Place about 1/4 cup of dough onto the baking sheet. Leave about 3 inches space between each scone.
8. Sprinkle the top of the scones with a little sugar.
9. Bake the scones for about 14 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Serve warm or eat within a few days. 

Recipe by Jen of Sweet Morris.

One year ago...............................I made Shortbread Cookies.

You are going to share, right?

Did you already know.................
-Peaches originated from China.
-White flesh peaches are lower acidic than the peach flesh peaches.
-There are two main types of peaches. Clingstone peaches have the flesh stick to the stone. Freestone peaches have the stone separate easily from the flesh. 

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Scones

Pumpkin is one of those recipes in which you are a fan or not. I am a huge fan of pumpkin. I'm not picky either I like pumpkin bread or pumpkin pasta. My husband doesn't encourage me to make pumpkin recipes. Maybe he thinks I would go overboard? Unbeknown to him, I have a recipe that recently asked me to make a pumpkin recipe. To please my sister and my love for pumpkin, I decided I would make something for breakfast. Just because it is almost Thanksgiving, the kids expect me to feed them a couple meals before the big feast. Muffins were my first choice but I realized I hadn't made scones lately.

I decided to take one of my favorite pumpkin muffin recipes and adapt it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The dough was sticky but when it came out it tasted really good. So, I tried again the next day and added more flour but I still thought the dough seemed too sticky. However, it still tasted really good. My daughter brought some to school and shared with her classmates. They told my daughter they loved it. I even had a friend sample it and he really liked it. My husband brought three pieces to work for his lunch.

The cream cheese filling spread over the dough

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Scones
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
6 Tbsp butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin
1/4 cup heavy cream

Direction:

1. In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar. 
2. Place in the refrigerator to chill for several hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking liner. 
5. In a food processor, add the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking soda. Pulse 10 times.
6. Add the butter and pulse about 10 to 15 times.
7. Add the egg, pumpkin, and heavy cream. Pulse about 10 times or just combined.
8. Scoop half the batter and add to the middle of the baking sheet.
9. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the dough. (See photo above.)
10. Cover the cream cheese mixture with the remaining dough.
11. Bake the dough for about 20 minutes.
12. Remove from oven and cut into wedges and return to the oven. Bake for another 5 minutes or until the center of the wedge is cooked. (If a toothpick is inserted, the center will be gooey due to the cream cheese mixture.)

Recipe inspired by Annie's Eats.

A year ago................................I made Pancakes. 

Did you already know................
-Pumpkins are native to Central America.
-The colonist cooked pumpkins over hot coals with the inside filled with honey, milk, and spices.
-Pumpkins are grown all over the world beside Antarctica.

Happy Thanksgiving from Sweet Morris! 

I am thankful you took the time to stop by.

Olympics begins

Since the Olympics opening ceremony is tonight, I thought scones would be a fitting way to use up the remaining raspberries I have. Next week, I am going to post some British dishes. This is going to be a culinary journey for my family. Yes, this even includes my oldest daughter since she ate mostly hamburgers when she was in England.

A couple years ago, my husband and I spent the night in England but it was only because we were in transit. We arrived when it was dark outside and we left at dawn. We did not enjoy warm scones but we were able to get our passport stamped. Next time, we will stay longer.

I love scones since they are easy to make and make a quick breakfast for the next day. My youngest daughter likes scones since they are similar to muffins and biscuits. My youngest son just like to say the name scones. Would you like some scones this morning?

Raspberry Cream Cheese Scones
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
7 Tbsp cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup fresh raspberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, gently stir cream cheese, milk, and egg together until combined.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
5. Cut in the butter to the flour mixture using your hands, pastry blender, or two forks until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
6. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the cream cheese mixture with the raspberries.
7. Carefully, mix together the dough.
8. Form the dough into a circle 1 inch thick.
9. Cut 2 inch circles into the dough and place the circles on the parchment paper spacing about 1 inch apart.
10. Carefully gather the remaining scrapes and cut out a few more circles while trying not to rework the dough to much.
11. Bake the scones for 20 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.   

Recipe adapted from Raspberri Cupcakes.

Did you already know...
-Great Britain comprises of England, Scotland, and Wales.
-Scones originate from Scotland.
-The United Kingdom comprises of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Bacon and Cheddar Scones

Yes, I did write bacon and cheddar scones! What a great combination for any time of day. These scones are really good. I served these scones with a salad for supper. The leftovers will probably be gone at breakfast by my oldest daughter. These scones were picked by Emily of Ruflove for this weeks Project Pastry Queen. 

The only difference I made to the original recipe would be I substituted chives for the green onions. I like green onions but I had chives on hand. I also grate my butter for scones in which my youngest son thought it was funny. I will admit I cheated with the bacon. I talked my oldest daughter into cooking it. My oldest daughter tells me she cooks it better than I do anyways. Since I prefer for her to continue to cook bacon for me, I will have to agree that she does an awesome job! (It is like when you want your honey to continue to do laundry so you give a lot of praise. What a great job you are doing! My whites pinks have never looked better.)

Bacon and Cheddar Scones
3 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup unsalted butter, grated and chilled
2 cup Cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup chives, chopped
10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped into 1 inch pieces
3/4 to 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
2 Tbsp water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
2. Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a large bowl on low speed.
3. Gradually add the butter to the mixer. Combine until the pieces are crumbly and the size of small peas.
4. Add the grated cheese and mix until just blended.
5. Stop the mixer and add the chives, bacon, and 3/4 cups of buttermilk.
6. Mix by hand until the ingredients are incorporated. If the dough is still too dry add 1 Tbsp of buttermilk to the dough until the dough forms into a ball but do not over mix.
7. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured flat surface.
8. Pat the dough into a ball.
9. With a floured rolling pin, flatten the dough into about an 8 inch circle that is 1/2 inch thick.
10. Cut the dough into 8 to 10 equal wedges.
11. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water.
12. Brush each wedge of dough with the egg wash.
13. Place the scones onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
14. Bake for about 18 minutes or until golden brown. The scones should no longer be sticky in the middle.
15. Serve warm.

Recipe adapted from Rebecca Rather's cookbook The Pastry Queen.

Did you already know...
-In 1797, the scrub board was invented to improve washing clothes.
-In 1851, James King patented the hand powdered drum washing machine.
-In 1874, William Blackstone built a machine that would wash dirt from clothes and then washed the dirt away. He presented the machine as a gift to his wife for her birthday.

Cranberry Scones

What is your favorite juice? Is it the popular orange juice? My son will pick cranberry juice over orange juice. To tell the truth I would too. Since it is so close to Thanksgiving, it is so easy to find fresh cranberries.

Tea anyone?

Talking about Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my family. After I had my oldest daughter, it was almost ten years before my youngest daughter arrived. I recently asked her why she made me wait ten years before entering my life. She looked at me and smiled. She told me that she was up there (as she glanced upwards) and she was really busy helping people out (in heaven) but once she was done she rushed right to me. Is that not the cutest answer? I can see her helping people out since she is very thoughtful.

If you are having guest arrive for the holidays, this is a great recipe to prepare for breakfast one cold morning. They can be made prior to your guest arriving and be frozen until needed. 

Cranberry Scones 2 Tbsp grated lemon zest
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp sugar for the cranberries and additional for the top
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1¼ cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a small bowl, toss the chopped cranberries and the 3 Tbsp of sugar.
4. In a food processor, combine lemon zest, flour, ½ cup of sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse about 5 times.
5. Add the butter and pulse about 8-10 times until it looks like course crumbs. 
6. Add the egg, egg yolk, and heavy cream to the flour mixture.
7. Pulse about 10 times.
8. Generously flour working surface.
9. Add the dough to the flour working surface and form a ball.
10. Using a 2½ inch round biscuit cutter, scoop some dough into the cutter to form a 1 inch scone.
11. Repeat with the remaining dough about 3 inches apart. ***
12. Sprinkle the top of the scones with sugar.
13. Bake the scones for about 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown.

***Place the baking sheet in freezer about 30 minutes or until frozen. Transfer the frozen scones to a freezer storage bag until ready to use. When ready to use, continue with direction 12 but bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats and originally from Gourmet.

Did you already know.............
-Scones can be found in the 1513 Oxford English Dictionary.
-Scones are usually associated with Scotland, Ireland and England.
-English plain scones are often eaten with jam, preserves, lemon curd or honey, or clotted cream.
-Dried fruit scones and other flavored scones are usually enjoyed without butter or jam.

I enjoy my scones plain or with a little butter and of course tea!

Apple and Cheddar Scones

When we go apple picking, we pick an abundance of apples. My oldest daughter loves apples and she eats at least an apple a day. Maybe the saying is true, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. She is hardly ever sick. Well, I still have plenty of apples left. I knew it was time to get some baking done.

There are so many apple recipes out there. What should I make? Then my favorite friend gave me sharp cheddar for my birthday. I love cheddar. I remembered making a scone with apples and cheddar cheese last year. It is the only recipe I have ever made that combines cheddar with apples. Normally, I like my apple recipes sweet. These are so good. I can't tell you how well they are the second day since there are never any left. 

Apple and Cheddar Scones.

2 tart apples
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar plus a little additional for the top

1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup heavy cream plus 1 Tbsp for the top
2 large eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Peel and chop the apples into chunks. 
4. Place in a single layer on the baking sheet.
5. Bake the apples about 20 minutes.
6. Let the apples cool completely.
7. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to a food processor.
8. Add the butter and pulse about 10 times or until resembles course crumbs.
9. Add 1 egg and heavy cream. Pulse about 3 times. 
10. Add the cheese and the cooled apples. Pulse about 3 more times.
11. Generously, flour the working surface to roll your dough.
12. Pat the dough into a circle.
13. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
14. Use a 2 inch biscuit cutter.
15. Scoop the dough into the biscuit cutter to make 1 inch circle onto the baking sheet. 
16. Repeat but leaving about 3 inches apart between each scone. ***
17. In a small bowl, beat the 2nd egg with heavy cream.
18. Brush each scone with the egg wash and sprinkle sugar on top.
19. Bake about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. 
20. After a minute, transfer scones to a cooling rack.
21. Let cool about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

***If you desire, you can freeze the scones at this point. Place the
cookie sheet in the freezer for about 30-60 minutes. After the scones are frozen, transfer the scones to a freezer storage bag. When ready to use, complete step 17 and bake for additional 5 minutes. I have done this and they still taste great!cookie sheet in the freezer for about 30-60 minutes. After the scones are frozen, transfer the scones to a freezer storage bag. When ready to use, complete step 17 and bake for additional 5 minutes. I have done this and they still taste great!
Recipe adapted from Smitten kitchen and originally from the cookbook The Perfect Finish.

Did you already know................

-The British tend to pronounce scone as rhyming with John.

-The United States tend to pronounce scone as rhyming with cone.

I pronounce scone as rhyming with cone but my children call it muffin top. However you pronounce it, you will call these delicious!