Cranberry Scones
It's breakfast once again and you open the fridge uninspired. Then you head to the pantry to pull out that same old box of cereal or oatmeal that you start every day off with. Do you ever feel like you wish you had other options? Of course we all do, but who has the time to make a fresh batch of waffles before running out the door in the mornings?!
That's where your freezer comes in handy! I tend to over-make everything and "left-overs" is the norm in our household. Whatever is made for dinner could always be your co-worker's envy at the lunch table the next day. But what about breakfast? I haven't quite figured out the trick to making pancakes freeze and then thaw tasting good, but it always seems to work out well for waffles. So what other breakfast treats can be frozen well?
Today I was inspired to make scones. We've been having some crisp mornings lately with autumn blowing in and what's better than a cup of hot tea, some fresh fruit and scones - yum! But no one has an extra 30 minutes lying around to whip up a batch on busy mornings... and if you are like me, that 30 minutes can easily turn into an hour! So I wanted to share the tip on how to prepare scones ahead of time in the freezer. All you need is 12 minutes baking time and presto! Fresh baked goods on a busy morning.
Yes, you figured it out: The trick to freezing scones is to NOT bake them ahead of time. Prepare them ahead of time, place in a freezer bag and then take one out whenever you'd like a fresh baked-good. Scones are ideal to freeze because of their low moisture content. The dough is similar to cookie dough and will freeze without too many funck changes.Oh, and how many times do you find recipes where it asks you to use a mixer or break your wrists/arms with cutting cold butter into a recipe? I have a tip on how to get around that too! Here's how I made mine:
INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup cranberries (or your addition of choice: raisins, nuts, chocolate chips)
DIRECTIONS
1. Put flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl; stir mix well
2. Place stick of butter in a microwave safe glass bowl and melt for 1 minute. Stir to melt the rest of clumped butter (you don't want the butter too hot)
3. Add flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time stirring until the mixture looks like fine granuls
4. Mix in sugar
5. Add milk and stir with a fork until dough forms
6. Fold in cranberries
7. Realistically, this dough will make about 10 scones. Roll a small handful of dough into a ball, pat flat (about 1/2 inch thick) and shape into a triangle.
8. Place on parchment paper on a flat surface (like a pan) and put into freezer for 1 hour.
9. Dough will be frozen enough then toss off the scones into a freezer bag for use at a later time.
That's it! Now you have scones ready-made for when you want them! I like to pat mine into triangles, but you can make whatever shape you'd like, triangles, biscuit shaped, whatever you like, as long as they are frozen individualized. If you freeze the whole dough together, it'll take a long while to thaw and individualize.
TO BAKE
1. When you are ready to make, take out one scone per serving. I know they look small, but they will puff up and will be very filling
2. Place on baking sheet. have sides touching if you want soft sides, but I recommend placing about 1-2 inches apart for crisper sides
3. Heat oven to 425°F (allowing scones to thaw slightly as oven heats up )
4. Bake about 12 minutes (this is a good time to make your coffee, cut up some fruit, or even just get dressed for the day!)
5. Serve with your favorite jam, side of fruit, juice/coffee or tea
