Gluten-Free Petite Vanilla Bean Scones ~ #BreadBakers

Just sitting here on the corner of awesome and bombdiggity - that is how I would describe these gluten free scones.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Scones

There is a place quite close to Waikiki Beach that sells the most amazing scones.  Diamond Head Market & Grill is quite well-known to locals and tourists alike. They have a great variety of gourmet foods that are packaged in to-go containers, so it is the perfect place to stop and pick up a picnic lunch. They also have a great selection of baked goods including pies, cakes, cookies, and their famous scones.  Blueberry was the original flavor and is probably their most popular, but they have added a few new flavors over time including banana, apple crumb, and pineapple. Once you have had one of their scones you are hooked for life.

Since they sell hundreds of these scones every day, it is not surprising that the owner is keeping the recipe a secret.  Of course that has not stopped people from trying to copy it, including me.  In my quest to find a recipe for these scones I came across an article that had been written back in 2003 by Betty Shimabukuro (food writer & recipe guru in Hawaii) in the Honolulu Star Bulletin that seemed pretty close.  I decided to give it a try, with a few small tweaks.

Every time I that I have eaten these scones they seemed to have a very soft, pillowy crumb and I would always wonder how they got them so soft. I decided to replace some of the all-purpose flour with cake flour to achieve a softer and finer texture.  One of my favorite things about these scones was the glaze on top, so I omitted sprinkling the berries with sugar and added a glaze that was brushed on liberally with a pastry brush as soon as they came out of the oven. I also decided that I wanted to use fresh blueberries. I found that the easiest way to incorporate the berries and cream cheese pieces was to leave the dough in the bowl, poke a few berries and cream cheese pieces into it and then gently put my hand underneath the dough and fold it in half, repeating this until all were incorporated. Also, the recipe did call for cutting the cream cheese in pieces, which I have left in the recipe below, but I found it easier to just break off pieces by hand as I was incorporating it.

My scones were a little smaller than the ones you will find at Diamond Head Market, but I have to say that the taste was a perfect replica.  Warm from the oven, with a little glaze over the top, they were melt-in-the-mouth good.  I found myself breaking off just a piece here and there throughout the day, until I finally thought to myself this is ridiculous, so I made a cup of my favorite coffee and sat down to relax and enjoy one.  And I am so glad that I did.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Scones
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup butter, cut into small pieces
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cake flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup milk
• 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg, beaten
• ½ cup blueberries
• 2 ounces cream cheese, cut in 1/2-inch pieces (see note above)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• ¼ cup hot water

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400℉.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment.
3. Combine butter, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and cut with a pastry blender or two butter knives until crumbly (I like to use my hands for this).
4. Whisk milk into softened cream cheese (3 oz), add egg and continue to whisk until well-combined. 
5. Stir cream cheese mixture into flour mixture until dough forms a ball - if the dough is a little wet sprinkle some additional flour on top and gently knead).
6. Gently push blueberries and cream cheese pieces (2 oz) into the dough to incorporate evenly. Be careful not to crush the berries or mash the cream cheese pieces.
7. Using a large spoon or (ice cream scoop) drop mounds of dough onto a cookie sheet to make 8 scones. Tuck berries and cream cheese pieces into the dough as much as possible.
8. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden. 
9. While the scones are baking make the glaze; place the powdered sugar in a small bowl, gradually add the hot water, and whisk until smooth. Once the scones are removed from the oven glaze them generously with this mixture.

Recipe adapted from The Honolulu-Star Bulletin by ATLATC.

Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway + Cinnamon Swirl Scones

Have a craving for a cinnamon rolls but not the time to make them?  Then I have the recipe for you - Cinnamon Swirl Scones.  These have all the cinnamon-y goodness of an actual cinnamon roll, and a yummy vanilla glaze, and can be made in a fraction of the time.

The recipe for these scones comes from Tate's Bake Shop Baking for Friend's, which was sent to me last October for review.  I have really been enjoying this book but had not had the chance to make these scones before.  Boy, had I been missing out. Even though there are three components - filling, dough, and icing - they are super quick to make.  I did make the mistake of not rolling the dough quite tight enough, so I put them in the fridge to firm up and all was well.  I also found that when I cut the dough it tended to flatten a little, and I baked the first batch like this.  With the second ones I kind of squished them a little so they were more rounded and found that they baked up much better this way.

Once again I found myself trying very hard not to nibble too much before I could get a decent photo. Warm out of the oven, with a little drizzle of vanilla icing these really hit the spot, perfectly mimicking a cinnamon roll.  They were a little crisp on the outside and then became softer as you got towards the middle of the scone. These did have raisins in them, which I liked, but you could certainly omit these if you wanted.  I made sure that I didn't put the vanilla icing on them all since I plan on warming them a little in the morning for breakfast. I think that they would make the perfect addition to your Mother's Day Celebration.

And speaking of Mother's Day, it is just around the corner and the wonderfully generous people at Tate’s Bake Shop are giving one reader of All That's Left Are The Crumbs a Mother's Day Brunch Basket. The basket includes their sinful sour cream coffee cake, a lemon pound cake loaf, two each of their heavenly raspberry bars and crumb cakes, plus a box of Tate's Bake Shop's famous chocolate chip cookies.  I still dream of their cookies, so I can only imagine how good the rest of the items in the basket are.  One lucky reader won't have to dream about it, they will win it!

Entering the giveaway is easy:


Main Entry
To enter the giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment telling me about your favorite Mother's Day memory.

Additional Entries
Even more chances to win - you can receive up to two additional entries by doing the following:

1. Following All That's Left Are The Crumbs on Facebook - leave an additional comment to let me know that you are following.
2. Follow Tate's Bake Shop on Facebook - leave an additional comment to let me know that you are following.

The Fine Print

• Deadline for entry is May 11, 2013 at 6:00PM HST.
• Sorry, this giveaway is open only to US addresses.
• Please leave a valid email address where I can contact you if you choose to publish anonymously.
• One winner will be chosen at random using Random.org.  I will announce the winner at the top of this post on Mother's Day - May 12, 2013 - and send them an email.  If I do not have a response within 48 hours, another winner will be selected.
• The winner will receive a Tate's Bake Shop Mother's Day Brunch Basket (prize supplied directly to the winner by Tate's Bake Shop).
• The prize for this giveaway to one of my readers is being provided by Tate's Bake Shop.  I was not compensated personally for this post.
  
  Good luck everyone!

Update: Happy Mother's Day and congratulations to Anne @Have a Cookie who is the lucky winner of the Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway.  Anne, please respond to my email with your details so that Tate's can mail you the prize.  Thank you to everyone who visited my blog and entered the giveaway.

Also, if you are still looking for that perfect Mother's Day gift Tate’s Bake Shop is the place to order something amazing for your mom, grandmother, mother-in-law, or that special person who is like a mom to you. There are baskets, towers, squares, and cookies - seriously, you cannot go wrong with anything you order.  They are offering everyone a special 20% off discount code that can be redeemed until Mother's Day.  All you have to do us type in mom13 when you are checking out on their website.

Cinnamon Swirl Scones

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients
Filling

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Dough

• 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon spiced vanilla sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold salted butter, cut into ½ -inch cubes
• 1 cup dark raisins
• 1¾ cups half-and-half

Icing

• ½ cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Preparation
Filling

1. In a small bowl, mix the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon until smooth.

Dough

1. Position the oven racks in the top third and center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375℉. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, spiced vanilla, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, work in the butter until the mixture is crumbly with some pea-sized pieces of butter. Do not overmix. 
3. Gently mix in the raisins, then add the half-and-half and mix stirring just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 17-by-12-inch rectangle about 1/4-inch thick. Spread the cinnamon filling evenly over the top of dough, leaving a 1/2 -inch border on all four sides. 
5. Starting at a long side, tightly roll the dough up into a log. Cut the dough into 2-inch slices and arrange them, cut sides up, 4 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
6. Bake, switching the positions of the baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking, until the rolls are slightly golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool on the pans for 10 minutes.

Icing

1. To make the icing: In a small bowl, mix the confectioners' sugar, vanilla bean paste, and water with a fork until smooth. Drizzle over the buns. Serve warm, or let cool to room temperature. 

Makes 12.
Recipe from Tate's Bake Shop Baking for Friend's

I'm Back from the Land Down Under

Actually I have been back for a few days but jet-lag always hits me on the trip back, so I have been sleeping a lot and getting gradually getting back on track.  I had a wonderful time and got to visit with my eldest daughter who is attending university in Sydney, and catch up with other family members too, including my two wonderful sisters-in-law.

I thought I would share a couple of photos from our trip to the mountains before getting back into the regular recipes.  It is Autumn (Fall) in Australia and the weather is starting to get colder.  Although it can get down to the low 30's in the morning during winter, it does not snow in Sydney.  Growing up I did not have central heating in my house so it was a mad dash in the morning to get into a warm shower and get some winter clothes on.  It was a sad day if someone had beaten you to the shower.

Some of the teapots at Bygone Beautys

On a cold, rainy day there is nothing better to warm you up than to have a Devonshire Tea by a fireplace.  To achieve this my daughter and I headed to the Blue Mountains, which are located about 90 minutes west of Sydney by car, to a wonderful tearoom located in Leura.  Bygone Beautys not only serves a wonderful Devonshire Tea, but also boasts the world’s largest private collection of teapots.  We started with the Soup of the Day, which was a sweet potato-pumpkin soup, and followed it with a Devonshire Tea - home made scones with jam and whipped cream, served with tea or coffee.




As you can see the grounds are beautiful, but the star is the scones, jam, and cream.




The leaves changing color was quite stunning too.  I had forgotten how beautiful they are since I don't see them very often.




We also visited a wonderful old hotel called The Carrington which was opened in 1882.

And a final few photos.  There was a fine rain falling for most of the day and I was amazed at how it delicately clung to the flowers, and even a spider's web.



And the spider's web.

Chunky Scookies

I was at the supermarket a few days ago and I saw some 5-grain cereal in the bulk bins.  I immediately thought about how great it would be as a substitute in an oatmeal cookie.  I quickly grabbed a bag and purchased a few scoops.  I also picked up some golden flax seed and desiccated coconut (the grated, dried, and sweetened - and sometimes unsweetened - fresh meat of a mature coconut).

Next I needed to find a recipe to suit what I had in mind.  I decided to have a quick look in my new favorite cookbook, Flour by Joanne Chang, hoping for a starting point.  Of course I wasn't disappointed and found a recipe called Chunky Lola Cookies (page 110), and this is what I intended to make substituting the 5-grain cereal for the rolled oats, but this is not what I ended up with.  I don't know why but I have trouble sticking with the recipe written in front of me.  My brain tends to go into overdrive and I keep thinking about other ingredients that would make a great addition to the recipe.  The end result is a completely new recipe.

This original Flour recipe had rolled oats, pecans, bittersweet chocolate, and shredded coconut.  The new recipe ended up with 5-grain cereal, banana, macadamia nuts, golden flax seed, desiccated coconut, and white chocolate chips.  Completely different but still delicious.  I did put the dough in the refrigerator for three hours to firm up a bit. I think it would have been even better had I left it there a little longer (or even overnight as the original recipes recommends) because as you are scooping the cookies the dough quickly becomes quite soft and sticks to your hands as you slightly flatten them.

When family and friends tried them there was some debate over whether they tasted more like a cake, a scone, or a cookie.  My daughter said that they tasted like a scookie - a cross between a scone and a cookie - so that is what I called them.  They are delicious on their own, but become decadent when you dip them in ganache.

Chunky Scookies©

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• ½ cup plus 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• ⅔ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 bananas, cut into chunks
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup 5-grain cereal
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 1½ tablespoons golden flax seeds

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Line sheet pans with parchment paper or Silpats.
3. Using a stand or hand-held mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
4. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix an additional 2 to 3 minutes until well combined.
5. Add banana and mix until roughly broken up.
6. In a separate bowl combine the flour, 5-grain cereal, baking soda, salt, white chocolate, macadamias, coconut, and flax seed.
7. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated and the dough is evenly mixed. 
8. Place the dough in the refrigerator overnight, or at least 3 to 4 hours before baking.
9. Using an medium cookie scoop drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
10. Slightly flatten each cookie with the palm of your hand.
11. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden around the edges and slightly soft in the center.
12. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for about 20 minutes, before transferring them to a wire wrack to cool completely.
13. Once cooled dip half of each cookie in ganache, if desired.

Makes about 36 cookies. 

To Try Tuesday - Calamansi-Ginger Scones

 

It is that time of the week again where I need to glance through my To Try recipes and choose something to make.  The problem is the list just keeps growing and I don't think there are enough days in the week to try them all.  This week I chose a scone recipe that I had printed out from Epicurious.  It is funny though how the recipe I printed out isn't exactly what I ended up making.  Originally this recipe was a Meyer Lemon and Dried Blueberry Scone, which I will be making and blogging about this weekend.  However, I had signed up to do a baking class last weekend at KCC, and I had about 30 minutes to spare before class, so I wandered around the Farmers' Market.  I saw some wonderful little calamansi and they were calling my name.


Calamansi (also known as calamondin) is a small citrus fruit that resembles a lime, but it is orange inside. I always thought they were a fruit from the Philippines, but according to Wikipedia they are actually a hybrid, possibly being a cross between a mandarin orange or tangerine and a kumquat. I was surprised that something so small could have such large seeds.  Mine had four seeds in each (and a few smaller pieces that looked somewhat like a seed) and they were as large as a lemon seed.  Also be warned to watch out for your knuckles when you are zesting them - there isn't much to grab on to when you are running that microplane across the peel.  To me they taste like a lime that has a hint of mandarin orange.

I was very pleased with the end result.  I barely let them cool before I glazed one so I could bite into the yumminess.  They are so tender, with just a hint of spice from the ginger and tartness from the calamansi juice, and I just loved the sweet-tart glaze on top.  Buttermilk helps to produce a softer texture in baked goods, and it definitely worked its' magic here.  I doubt these are going to last long around here.

Calamansi-Ginger Scones

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• 3 cups self-rising flour 
• ½ cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar   
• ¾ cup (11/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes 
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk 
• 1 ½ tablespoons calamansi zest
• 2 tablespoon crystallized ginger, finely minced
• 3 tablespoon calamansi juice, divided
• ½ cup of powdered sugar, sifted.

Preparation

1. Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 425°F. 
2. Line large baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.
3. Whisk self-rising flour and 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl. 
4. Using fingertips, rub in chilled butter until pieces are size of small peas. 
5. Mix 1 cup buttermilk,  1 tablespoon calamansi juice, and calamansi zest in glass measuring cup.
6. Pour buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients and stir until dough begins to form (some of flour will not be incorporated).
7. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and gather together. 
8. Knead dough briefly, about 5 turns. 
9. Divide dough in half. Form each dough half into ball and flatten into 1-inch-thick disk. Cut each disk into 6 wedges.
10. Transfer scones to prepared baking sheet, spacing 1 inch apart. 
11. Brush tops with remaining 1 tablespoon buttermilk and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar. 
12. Bake until scones are golden brown on top and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes (watch them because mine were done in about 18 minutes).
13. Allow to cool.
14. While scones are cooling make glaze by combing powdered sugar and remaining 2 tablespoons of calamansi juice. Brush over scones with a pastry brush.

Makes 12 scones.

Recipes adapted from this recipe at Epicurious.com