Scones: Summer Meets Fall

I am in love with scones. Yes. I. Am.

They are officially my new favorite baked good. They are ridiculously easy to whip up and bake, and they go so well with steamy hot beverages.

I tried two different recipes this weekend, from two different bloggers and that represented two different seasons. Blackberries are a summer fruit and we all know pumpkins are like the fruit mascot for fall. I loved both of these recipes, but I'm partial to the pumpkin.

I had a little trouble with my blackberry scone dough. For some reason, it was very very sticky and I followed the recipe to a "T. Not sure what happened with that-but even though they look lumpy and not so pretty, they were tasty. A bit on the tart side-thanks to my extra tart wild blackberries (they are the ones I picked earlier in the summer and froze); I tend to like things that are tart though.

My favorite of the two recipes was the Pumpkin Scones...I mean I love all things pumpkin and these did not disappoint. I made up a small cup of pumpkin butter to double the pumpkin ecstasy and that sent these over the top. Imagine warm pumpkin scones fresh out of the oven with creamy pumpkiny butter spread over the top and a steaming pumpkin spice latte-ahhh that's pumpkin nirvana right there!

The pumpkin scones got the big thumbs up from both of the boys too and Red is now practicing saying the word "SCONE".

So anyway here are the recipes-make these now! Your tummy will be happy you did.

Blackberry Scones by Everybody Likes Sandwiches

1/2 c milk

1 egg

2 c flour

2 t baking powder

½ t salt

1/4 c cold butter, cubed

3 T white sugar

2 large handfuls of frozen blackberries

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Whisk the milk and the egg together until frothy and then set aside.

In a large bowl, blend the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and blend the mixture with your hands until you have no lumps larger than a pea.

Add the sugar and the blackberries and toss about until the blackberries are coated with the flour mixture.

Add the egg mixture slowly until the dough comes together.

Leave any remaining egg mixture to brush on as glaze.

Turn dough out onto a clean counter and knead it no more than 12 times. Pat dough into a round approximately 1/2 an inch thick, and cut into 8 wedges.

Place on an ungreased baking sheet or a Silpat.

Using a pastry brush, glaze wedges with remaining egg mixture.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Pumpkin Scones by Pinch My Salt

1 C. all purpose flour
1 C. cake flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. ground allspice
1/4 t. ground ginger
6 T. unsalted butter
1/2 C. raisins (optional)
1/3 C. pumpkin puree
1/3 C. heavy cream
6 T. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Get out a baking sheet and line with parchment paper (not required but makes cleanup easy!). Cut the butter into small pieces, put it in a small bowl and put it back in the refrigerator. In a medium bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, salt, and all spices. Whisk together well. Place bowl in freezer (refrigerator is fine if you have no room in freezer).

2. In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin, heavy cream, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk together well. Put this bowl in freezer (or refrigerator) and take the other bowl back out. Get the butter pieces out of the fridge and dump them into the bowl with the flour mixture. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender or rub it in with your fingertips until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the raisins if you are using them.

3. Get the liquid mixture out of the freezer and pour into the flour mixture all at once. Stir with a wooden spoon until everything is just moistened. The dough will be very crumbly, this is the way it should be. Turn the mixture out onto the counter and push the pile together with your hands. It should stick together fairly well. Knead it just a couple of times until everything is together. Don’t knead it too much or the dough will get too sticky.

4. Pat the dough out into a rough circle, 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Cut it like a pie into 8 pieces. Place pieces on the baking sheet so that they are not touching. Bake scones for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees. They should be light brown on the bottom, the tops will darken as they cool.

**the only thing I did differently was use half and half instead of heavy cream.