ABC - Scones

A few ABC-ers had asked if we could bake Scones for our June challenge. After browsing through several recipes for scones on the King Arthur Flour website, I settled on a "basic" scone recipe that allowed for choosing your own add-ins. I had it all figured out: coarsely chopped almonds, dried cranberries, and lots of orange zest. Then one day I was grating fresh ginger to cook with and I thought, "what would pair well with ginger in a scone?" Before too long, my mind wondered off to a land of plump raisins, the aroma of freshly grated orange zest, and beautiful specks of finely shredded carrots. Boom! That's how my Gingered Carrot Cake Scones were born :o)

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

ABC - Savory Cheddar Chive Scones

Scones don't always have to be sweet. So when a King Arthur Flour employee recommended the Cheddar Chives Scones to me, I knew I had to give them a try. I knew I'd be pleasantly surprised. I still remember making my first savory muffins (caramelized onions - check, sage - check, cheese - check). They were amazing. No wonder they're in the top 3 of popular blog posts on Hanaa's Kitchen.

Savory scones with goat cheese, chives, garlic, and capers!

I picked this recipe for the month of June because I knew I'd have fresh chives in my garden by then :o) I loved walking over to my garden and snipping a bunch of fresh chives. They smelled so good!

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

ABC - Cranberry Orange Scones

Cranberry Orange Scone with Orange Glaze

This month's ABC project is: scones! As you know, we're baking from The Weekend Baker. The author, Abby Dodge, gave us several flavor options: plain, chocolate chips, dried fruit, etc. I love dried cranberries and when paired with orange zest, any baked good turns into a delicacy, in my opinion. These Cranberry Orange Scones sure fell into that category. They were a big hit!

If you would like to join the ABC baking club, please email me at HanaasKitchen [at] live [dot] com. You can find more info about our baking club on the ABC blog.

SMS - Orange-scented Scones

There's a first time for everything and this is officially my first late SMS post. So many things going on, including being sick, that I was going to pass on the scones. Really glad I didn't because they were great. Definitely worthy of making again and again. A big thanks for such a great pick by Robin of Lady Craddock's Bakery.


These scones were very easy to make, especially if you have a food processor. They are crispy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. Since they're not very sweet, I liked eating them with jam, as suggested in the book. And for that, I made half a batch of Strawberry-kissed Plum Jam. Why strawberry-kissed? I used 2 lbs of plums (4 cups) and added a small handful of strawberries that I needed to use up. The jam was delicious; just the right combination of sweetness and tartness. This recipe was based on the Fruit Preserves recipe in the Sweet Melissa Baking Book.

Ready to go into the oven!

An inside look... I loved the tender crumb of these scones... no hockey pucks here!

Don't you love that color?

Bon appetit!

Final thoughts/tips:

• I used half an orange (whole) and pureed it in the food processor, the way we did a few weeks ago for the Whole Orange Poppy Seed Cake. I wish I had added some sugar to the orange when doing this, as the scones had a tiny bitterness to them. I decreased the amount of cream to 1/2 cup.
• When washing any citrus fruit for zesting, instead of using water alone or water and a sponge, try using some dish detergent to scrub of the wax. It works great. You can feel the difference; the fruit's surface will be much rougher.
  
• Instead of 6 scones, I shaped it into a long rectangle and cut it into 4 squares which I then cut in half, resulting in 8 scones.
• I sprinkled the scones with raw sugar prior to baking as I like that crunchy texture.
  
• Don't forget to check out the other SMS bakers.