Honey Glazed Cream Scones

recently kfc came up with a new breakfast menu and mama was telling me how much she enjoyed the honey biscuits, which otherwise is better known as scones too.

so last sunday morning she bought the breakfast set which we all shared and indeed it was yummy :) i liked the scones especially - buttery and honey-sweet. there were also waffles and scrambled eggs, and some chicken wrap which weren't very fantastic.


it wasn't cheap by the way, so i thought why not make my own? the ingredients for scones are simple, nothing elaborate. and so that evening, jessie, kang and i had fun baking scones together :) notice the cute cookie cutter designs, the bunny one is the cutest!


and the verdict by mama: awesome! she liked it and gave thumbs-up for it ;p crispy on the outside but soft inside!

it's best eaten warm, served with some maple syrup. according to her it's almost similar to kfc's!

one advice here: do not over-knead the dough else it is likely you will end up with a rock-hard scone. and i added more flour than the recipe stated cos my dough was way too sticky and wet.



oh yes, these scones aren't really cream scones cos i replaced the whipping cream with low fat fresh milk :) healthier yea but still as delicious!

Honey Glazed Cream Scones
Adapted from Stephanie Jaworski's Cream Scones. Taken from Joyofbaking.com

Ingredients:

280g all-purpose flour (add more accordingly if your dough is too wet)
40g castor sugar
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
90 g salted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (120ml) fresh milk
Additional flour for dusting
Honey for glazing (dissolve in water if too thick)

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C and place the rack in the middle of the oven. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with your finger tips. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. In a small measuring cup combine the milk and beaten egg. Add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Do not over mix.

Knead dough gently on a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round. Then, using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into desired shapes. Place the rounds on the prepared cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart. Brush the tops of the scones with a little honey. This helps to brown the tops of the scones during baking.

Bake for about 15 - 18 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Wholemeal Honey Oats Melon Seeds Cookie

for a start, i would like to say that these cookies are really good ;p especially with the addition of melon seeds. the end result was very fragrant cookies with a nutty crunch.

i adapted this recipe from florence's wholemeal honey oats sesame biscuits, replacing the sesame with a big handful of melon seeds and also cutting down on the sweetness. and yes they turned out awesome :)


and to those of you who have left-over melon seeds from mooncake making, do give this recipe a try.


and did i mention that these cookies are packed with wholesome fibre? they are made with oats and wholemeal flour, so they are healthier in a sense and more of a gulit-free treat ;p

Wholemeal Honey Oats Melon Seeds Cookie
Adapted from Florence's Wholemeal Honey Oats Sesame Biscuits

Ingredients:
(A)
60g Quaker Instant Oats (blender it)
40g Quaker Instant Oats
60g of melon seeds
150g Wholemeal Flour
1 tsp baking powder

(B) 100g butter, 45g brown sugar, 50g honey

Method:
1. Mix everything in (A) together in a big mixing bowl.
2. Put (B) in a small saucepan and on medium-low heat cook till brown sugar nearly dissolve. Keep stirring otherwise you might burn the mixture.
3. Pour everything from (2) into (1) and mix well with a fork or your hands if the mixture is not too hot.
4. Clench the dough in your hand till it becomes a ball. Flatten this ball on a lined tray.
5. Bake at 170C – 175C for 15 – 20 minutes.

Madeleines

i finally put my madeleine pans to good use. it has been kept in the store ever since i brought it back from the US. i was really happy to have found these made in italy pans as i got them at a very good deal - just 2.99 USD!!!


over here in singapore, a pan like this is probably selling at S$20? btw, i bought this pan from a shop called ross; the things they sell are cheaper than the retail prices by quite a fair bit.

for the first attempt, i would say i wasn't really satisfied with the results. the madeleines didn't turn out looking good (i think there were air bubbles?) and mama commented that they were a tad too hard. so well, i've gotta try baking them another time. i'll prob pay more attention to the oven temperature the next time round.

i made them into little cupcakes as well haha cos i was too impatient to have to wait for the 1st batch of madeleines to bake before i can re-use the pan. surprisingly, they turned out beautiful :)



Madeleines
Taken from Bon Appétit, Jan 2000 issue. Available from www.epicurious.com

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
Pinch of salt
1 cup all purpose flour
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
Powdered sugar (i omitted this)

Method:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter and flour pan for large madeleines (about 3x1 1/4 inches).* Using electric mixer, beat eggs and 2/3 cup sugar in large bowl just to blend. Beat in vanilla, lemon peel and salt. Add flour; beat just until blended. Gradually add cooled melted butter in steady stream, beating just until blended.

Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each indentation in pan. Bake until puffed and brown, about 16 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Gently remove from pan. Repeat process, buttering and flouring pan before each batch. (Can be made 1 day ahead.)

Dust cookies with powdered sugar.(i omitted this)

*A metal mold with scallop-shaped indentations, sold at cookware stores.

Blueberry Tart

this blueberry tart was made for jason's birthday which we celebrated few weeks ago. i chanced upon this linzer tart recipe in alex goh's irresistible pastry cookbook and decided to tweak it a little by replacing the raspberry jam with blueberry pie filling :)


i'm pretty satisfied with the results. the pastry turned out great - very fragrant and yummy :)
and i added some pine nuts into the pastry dough haha. something interesting as well!


Blueberry Tart
Adapted from Alex Goh's Linzer Tart

Ingredients:
Pastry:
150g butter
75g icing sugar
1 egg
250g flour
70g ground almonds
30g pine nuts
pinch of ground cinnamon

Filling:
Blueberry Pie filling

Method:
1. Mix butter and sugar until well blended. Add in egg and cream until smooth.
2. Add in flour, ground almonds, pine nuts and ground cinnamon and mix till well incorporated. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes until firm.
3. Take the pastry out from the fridge and knead it lightly until smooth.
4. Roll it between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to 3-mm thickness. Line a greased 9-in pie mould with the rolled pastry.
5. Pour the blueberry pie filling onto the pastry dough.
6. Roll the trimming pastry between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to 2-mm thickness. Cut the strips into about 1-cm wide. Place them on top of the blueberry filling to form a lattice pattern.
7. Egg wash the pastry and bake at 190 deg C for 30 mins or until golden brown.