cinnamon vanilla protein scones

I love scones.  You can make them in pretty much any flavor you like, they have a great consistency, and although you can make them any size you want, I LOVE my cast iron scone pan.  It makes 16 scones to a batch (the perfect size for a toddler to grab, fyi).  I have a basic recipe that I love and this is a variation on it.

If you're not a robot I know you've gotta have had a morning where you just need some form of baked good.  I know I have!  Scones are great for that.  At least little ones like these.  They aren't fried like donuts, and they don't come in a huge stack like pancakes or waffles.  You really only need one scone to curb that craving.

More bonuses: they are easy to stick into a sandwich bag and take to work, and they are the perfect size for toddlers (plus they don't crumble all over the place).  Sounds good to me!

Even if you are the worst baker on the planet you cannot mess up this recipe.  It only needs a few ingredients, a wooden spoon,and a medium sized bowl.  This is the only recipe I know of that comes out better WITHOUT using a stand mixer.  It makes them too light and fluffy, and you really need a bit more density in a proper scone.

Note: this is a difficult post to write as I have to do it one handed while cradling Luna (our cat) in the other arm while she hugs me, glaring and purring like a lawnmower.  Life is weird).

These scones are good enough to eat plain,and the vanilla protein powder is tasty and filling, but if you really want a spread,may I recommend some caramel apple butter?  Imagine what Heaven tastes like and you're getting closer.  I got my batch at a farmer's market, but I'm working on my own recipe, so that post will hopefully come soon.

If you don't know what apple butter is then I am sorry.  You poor sad person.  It is like a eggless lovechild of applesauce and an apple version of lemon curd.  And this version contains caramel. *Insert my drool here*.

 Cinnamon Vanilla Protein Scones
makes 16 scones (if you make them larger up the bake time by 1-2 minutes)
20 minutes total time

Ingredients:

• 2 cups AP flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Add all ingredients into a medium sized bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until just incorporated.
3. Spray a scone pan or baking sheet and scoop out batter in 1-3 tbsp sized bowls, according to your size preference.
4. Bake 12-15 minutes, until tops are golden.  Remove from oven and let cool before removing.

Store scones in an airtight container and they will last a week.

fig scones

Fig scones are the outcome of my scone loving family combined with figs I forgot I had stating to get a bit soft.  Use them or lose them.  These turned out pretty well I guess, Jack ate two of them for breakfast!

These are so easy to make.  Seriously.

Cut the tops off the figs and place them in the food processor.  Pulse them briefly until they are almost fully pureed.  

I prefer them with a little chunkiness.

Dump the fig into the mixing bowl with all the other ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon.

Don't over-stir.  It will make the scones firm and stiff.  Stop mixing them when everything has just come together.  Prep a scone pan or baking sheet with baking spray or cake release and scoop the batter out 2 tbsp at a time, leaving 2-3" between each lump.

My scone pan gives me pretty little triangles.  If you use a cookie sheet your scones will more closely resemble muffin tops.

Jeff likes them best as-is, but a maple based icing would not go amiss on these... Maybe for next time.

Store in a dry cool area in an airtight container and these should last a week, if you haven't eaten them by then!

print recipe

fig scones

by Liesl August-21-2014

soft, sweet, and so very easy to make!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup almost pureed figs
• 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees F. Almost puree the figs in a food processor. They should be slightly chunky. Add them into a large bowl with the other ingredients. Mix until just incorporated. This will look ugly and lumpy. That's ok.
2. Prep a scone pan or a baking sheet with spray or cake release. Scoop the batter out with a medium cookie scoop, or use about 2 tablespoons of batter each scone. Keep them at least 2-3" apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Let cool for ten minutes, then place on a baking rack to cool completely.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins 
Cook time: 12 mins 
Total time: 17 mins 

Yield: 20 scones

scones

I love scones.  They taste amazing.  Especially with chocolate chips (like these) or fruit in them.  The whole family loves them.  If I make them with whole wheat flour I can lie to myself that they are healthy.  Plus, they are sooo easy to make.  I really don't think it is humanly possible to screw these up.  I mean, unless you are a total spaz and switched the sugar out with salt by accident or something...

This is my all time favorite scone recipe.  It is fool proof and always gets compliments.  All you need is milk, salt, baking powder, flour, vanilla, butter, sugar, and eggs.

Mix all your ingredients together at once.  This is one of the only recipes I mix by hand instead of using my beloved stand mixer.  The stand mixer makes the scones light and fluffy, and mixing by hand makes them denser and, well, more scone like.

You can leave them plain as vanilla scones, or mix in chocolate chips once the other ingredients are fully incorporated.  Yum!

I looove my cast iron scone pan, but it isn't necessary.  You can always use a cookie scoop on a prepped cookie pan.

Bake 8-12 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden.  The smell delicious!

ingredients:

2 C AP flour (or whole wheat, or half AP-whole wheat)

1/4 C granulated sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/2 C chocolate chips (or fruit), optional

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 milk

2 eggs

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2.  Seriously just dump everything but the chocolate chips together in a medium sized bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until just mixed.  Then stir in chocolate chips.  You don't want to over mix this.  This is pretty much the only recipe I have requiring stirring that I do in a standard bowl instead of my kitchenaid.  They just turn out better this way.

3.  There are a few options for baking the scones.  You can use a prepared scone pan like me (yeah, I'm probably one of the only people on the planet who use one, but I loove mine!), use a cookie scoop to place individual scones on a prepared cookie sheet, or place the dough in an 8" circle on a prepared cookie sheet and cut into 8 wedges and separate. Makes 8-16 scones depending on which method you bake them.

4. Bake 8-12 minutes, or until tops are lightly golden.

These are great to eat warm or cold.  

Any recipes that says to use vanilla I use this vanilla paste.  Seriously, its so fantastic you could eat it with a spoon.  It isn't actually so much a paste as a syrup, and it gives your food those little french vanilla black specks.  Also, this doesn't have that nasty alcoholic scent that some cheap vanilla extracts have.  If you try this, you will never want to go back to using extract (you use the same amount of each, tsp for tsp).  The only downside is that this costs a bit more.  I personally think it is worth it.  I buy most of my dry baking supplies in WinCos bulk section, so I figure the cost evens out anyway.  

If you do want to use this paste, you can usually find it at fancy kitchen stores like Williams-Sonoma, or even on amazon.com.