Eight days. Eight new scone recipes. You'd think I'd be tired of scones by now. Ready to take a break. But no. I'm becoming obsessed. My list of scone recipes to try is getting longer, not shorter!
Okay, here's the rundown. You've seen the first two already, but I figured I ought to start at the top. I used half white whole wheat flour for all of the recipes (as I do for most of my baking) and sprinkled sugar on top of most even when it wasn't called for. I'll note any other adjustments I made below.
Day 1: Bittersweet Chocolate Scones by Seven Spoons
These were delicious! Dry, as I like them, and chocolaty, but not too rich. I would absolutely make them again. To me, they are an afternoon treat rather than a breakfast scone because of the chocolate.
Day 2: Oatmeal Currant Scones from epicurious
These scones had the perfect combination of great flavor and light texture. Delicious! I will definitely make this one again (and again).
Day 3: Oatmeal Raspberry Scones from Annie's Eats
Another winner! At least for me. I'm a sucker for the dry, crusty bits and a drop scone like this, especially one with oats, has lots of crumbly texture on the outside. And I loved the raspberries!
Day 4: Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Scones from Angry Chicken
Sadly, I messed this one up. I flouted rule #1 of scone making, which is make sure your butter is C.O.L.D. Some people even say to put your bowl and other scone-making equipment in the freezer before mixing up your scones. I don't go that far. But I do stick with cold butter. Except when I toast the hazelnuts at the very last minute and, without thinking, toss the hot hazelnuts into the batter because I'm in a rush. Oh, sad moment when I realized that I was melting the butter!
They still tasted delicious. How can you go wrong with a chocolate and hazelnut combo? But the texture was off and they were flat and a bit greasy -- all my fault. I'll have to try this one again soon.
Day 5: Cranberry Scones (Sarah N's raisin scones, recipe in comments of last scone post)
I used dried cranberries instead of the raisins and substituted orange zest for the lemon zest. Also added walnuts.
With this recipe, the scones were scored but not separated before baking, which meant they stayed soft and moist. This made them Maia's favorite (she said as she picked out the walnuts), but not mine.
Day 6: Foster's Blueberry Scones by Foster's Market
Okay, here's where I say that everyone has different preferences. Some people like their cookies crisp, some like them soft. Some like cream in their coffee, some like it black. I know a lot of people really like the Foster's Market scones. I don't. Or at least not the one I cooked. It was very heavy and dense. Although possibly my fault. I won't rule that out.
The crazy thing is I used to work a couple of blocks from Foster's Market in Chapel Hill (NC) and eat there regularly, but can't for the life of me remember eating their scones. I must've tried them (being the scone freak I am) and then decided to focus on other food there.
Here's what I don't get. They say they use buttermilk instead of cream because it's lower in fat, but then they use three sticks of butter! Three!
Day 7: Dreamy Cream Scones from smitten kitchen
I couldn't resist making this one, even though it's another cranberry scone. The recipe is from the Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen folks. It calls for a cup of cream, which I thought I had, but didn't, so ended up using 1/2 cup cream, a tad buttermilk, and almost half a cup of yogurt. They turned out great, but I'm sure America's Test Kitchen would raise their eyebrows at my unscientific approach. This'll be my new go-to cranberry scone recipe.
Day 8: Oatmeal Date Drop Scones from epicurious
I was just going to do this for a week, remember? But I can't stop! I have so many more I want to try. This one looked like my kind of scone (crunchy, as most drop scones are, and not too sweet) and I had dates in the cupboard. I doubled the dates and added orange zest as recommended in the reviews. It still didn't have a ton of flavor and I'm on the fence on this one. Maybe next time I'd try adding nuts but am not sure which would go well.
Onward and upward...
I really want to find the perfect blueberry scone so might try some more recipes. And I swear I saw a recipe for a scone with fresh pineapple and coconut that sounded yummy but when I went back to look I couldn't find it. And there's a strawberry yogurt scone I want to try. And I like all kinds of combos of nuts and dried fruit. Oh, and candied ginger! So the scone making may continue (keep sending me links and recipes!).
I froze half of each batch so now have a freezer full of ready-to-bake scones. Scone party, anyone?
