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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Pumpkin Scones


I tend to get antsy if I'm away from my kitchen for too long. Don't get me wrong, I love and appreciate a cooking break from time to time (which is why I love to go on vacation), but I always find myself eager to return and get busy whipping up healthy dinners and deadly desserts. Cooking nerd? I think so!


A few weekends ago, Ryan and I found ourselves in Wisconsin for a wedding. We stayed at my grandparents where we were spoiled with fabulous meals, incredible wine, and an all-around relaxing time. Come Sunday, after spending more than six hours in the car, I was itching to make something. Our fridge was nearly empty, but I spotted pumpkin left over from the pumpkin nutella bread and inspiration struck.

Normally, I closely adhere to recipes when baking and if I want to get creative, I experiment more with cooking. Begin tangent: One of those cooking experiments paid off...Foodbuzz and Electrolux selected my cranberry bruschetta as a winner of the contest I entered and I'll now be headed to the Foodbuzz Food Bloggers Festival in San Francisco in a few weeks to present my recipe! I'm still in shock I was selected. Anyone out there reading who will also be attending the festival? Leave me a comment, I'm nervous about going and would love to know some friendly faces beforehand! End tangent, back to the scones..

 For whatever reason, I decided to make these scones on a whim, relying on my previous scone knowledge. Chalk it up to pure luck or pure stroke of genius, either way these turned out pretty near perfect! Lightly spiced and wonderfully moist, these scones were best warm out of the oven. If you aren't going to serve the whole batch at once, you may want to freeze the leftovers until you're ready to serve. Or, you can store them in an air-tight container for a few days, their texture just gets a little funky. We enjoyed them plain, but I think they also would've been delicious with a smear of the cranberry sauce I used in the bruschetta!

One Year Ago: Cranberry Apple Scones


Pumpkin Scones


Ingredients:
-1 cup whole wheat flour
-1 cup all purpose flour
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-1 tsp baking powder
-1/4 tsp baking soda
-heaping 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-1/2 tsp vanilla
-1 stick butter, cut into 8-10 pieces
-1/4 cup half and half
-3/4 cup pumpkin

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F. In the bowl of a food processor, add flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. Pulse to combine.
2. Add half and half, butter pieces, pumpkin, and vanilla. Pulse until coarse crumbs are formed.
3. Remove dough from food processor and place on a lightly floured surface. Shape into a disc about 1 inch high. Cut disc into 8 equal-sized triangles.
4. Bake scones for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned. Best when served fresh out of the oven!


This is linked to Eat at Home.