Saturday, October 1, 2011

Weekend Cooking; Oatmeal Apple Scones for our guest

It's not a happy thing to look back on my week, blog-wise and know that my last post was my cooking post from last weekend-especially when I have many finished books waiting for review.  We did have a busy week plus we had a guest this week-my husband's cousin came from Colorado via the train and we had a great time catching up.  My husband drove the two-hours to pick him up from the train station and I got inspired and made scones for the next morning.  This recipe was incredible easy, fairly healthy and they tasted good.  I can't find my camera or I would share a photo of the finished scones.

Oatmeal Apple Scone Drops
(makes 12 scones)

1 cup uncooked old-fashioned cooking oats
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into chunks
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 medium, organic tart apple, unpeeled, cored, finely chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 egg, slightly beaten

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine oats, flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl; stir until well mixed.  Cut in butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture looks like coarse crumbs.  Stir in remaining ingredients until well mixed.
Drop batter by 1/2 cupfulls, 2 inches apart, onto lightly greased baking sheets.  Slightly flatten each mound.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until toothpick trick comes out clean.  Remove to wire cooling rack.
Can add drizzle of powdered sugar (3/4 cup with 2-3 T of water) if desired over warm scones. Serve warm.

 Drizzle would make them pretty but I chose not to add it and they were wonderful.  I would add it though if I were to make them for a party or brunch.  I did not have golden raisins in my pantry so I substituted dried cranberries, which totally worked.  I would try other substitutions next time like slivered almonds with the apples sounds good.  I always use milk mixed with a little vinegar to make my buttermilk.  I just cook so infrequently with buttermilk that this easy substitution works great for me.

They turned out like a breakfast cookie, with a more casual free form shape, compared to another scone recipe I make that requires rolling the dough and cutting into neat large triangles.  Everyone liked them and even though our cousin is health-conscience and is trying to stay away from sugar, he had one because, as he put it...he knew I baked them with love in honor of his visit.  I didn't have the same willpower; I ate three the first day.

Happy cooking!

Weekend Cooking is sponsored by Beth Fish Reads.  Click on her link to see my cooking related posts.

9 comments:

Beth F said...

I buy powdered buttermilk and keep it my freezer so I have it whenever I need it. Although I have used the vinegar in milk trick many times in my life.

I am excited that I have all the ingredients to make this. I think they'd make a super Sunday morning treat. If I get my act together tomorrow, I'm giving these a try.

Nan said...

Sounds great! I'm going to save it to make, hopefully soon. Thank you.

Vicki said...

Anything with apples and cinnamon is right up my alley!

Carol @ There's Always Thyme to Cook said...

LOL at your willpower :) These sound so good! I love that they are easy.

TheBookGirl said...

Scones are a favorite of mine -- I prefer them to muffins for breakfast. Like BethF, I use the powdered buttermilk, except at those times when I am baking alot of bread; then I buy regular buttermilk because I know I will use it up before it goes bad.

Margot said...

Scones are new to me this year. They are such a treat for breakfast or afternoon tea. I like the idea of a scone with oatmeal in it. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I'll give it a try.

bermudaonion said...

These do sound wonderful and it's the perfect time of the year for them.

Belle Wong said...

These sound wonderful - I have a soft spot in my heart for scones, and I love all baked goods that have apple! I've done that too, by the way - went to write up a weekend cooking blog post only to realize the last post I wrote was the previous week's cooking post!

Anonymous said...

I love scones and I bet these smell fabulous baking! I use the powdered buttermilk too!