Monthly Archives: January 2015

Blueberry Almond Oatmeal Scones with Blueberry Mascarpone

Breakfast, Desserts, Muffins, Scones & Quick Breads, Recipes January 30, 2015 Leave a comment
Blueberry Almond Scones topped with Blueberry Mascarpone

Blueberry Almond Scones topped with Blueberry Mascarpone

It occurs to me that maybe I should have named this blog Lemon & Oats or Oatmeal & Zest, considering how many of my recipes here include both oats and lemon. So, here’s one more for you… Blueberry Almond Oatmeal Scones, and yes they even have lemon zest!  I really do love scones, probably even more than muffins or cookies, they make a tasty little breakfast treat or afternoon snack.  They are delicious on their own or even better topped with a little cream cheese and jam, like the mascarpone cream cheese jam I used here.  blueberry almond oatmeal sconesFor a more substantial breakfast, serve with a side of yogurt and berries OR as a “breakfast dessert” with your eggs.  Some people in my home have even been known to top theirs with a smear of peanut or almond butter, also quite tasty.  If you’re a traditionalist or hail from the British Isles, you may question my use of the term scone here, but to me these are my perfect Americanized interpretation with a nice crumby texture, not too moist and not too dry.  I use a lot less butter than many versions, but the yogurt adds extra moisture and a little tang, plus some protein to boot.  I love scones with all kinds of mix ins and though the rest of my family will almost always opt for chocolate, I prefer a mix of fruit and nuts, which often leads to multiple versions being made all on the same morning! Blueberries and almonds are one of my favorite combinations, they just work well together and lemon zest adds a little bit of extra flair to the flavor.  I use a combo of vanilla and almond extracts here, but you could easily go with all of one or the other if you prefer.  A quick and easy recipe perfect for any lazy weekend morning.  blueberry almond oatmeal scones

Blueberry Almond Oatmeal Scones

Author: Sweet Green Kitchen’s Jen Jones

Makes 16 scones

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

½ cup all purpose unbleached flour

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 Tablespoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ cup natural cane sugar

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

Zest of ½ lemon

 

3 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter – cut into small cubes

 

1 extra large egg

½ cup plain yogurt (Greek or regular is fine, vanilla would be ok too, just a little sweeter)

¼ cup milk of your choice (I use plain soy milk, but cow, almond, etc should work just fine)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

 

¼ cup slivered almonds

1 cup blueberries – fresh or frozen

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White Beans & Cabbage with Leeks and Crispy Potatoes

Beans, Entrees, Main Dish, Recipes, Veggies January 19, 2015 1 Comment

 

Cabbage & White Beans with Leeks and Crispy Potatoes

Cabbage & White Beans with Leeks and Crispy Potatoes

For most of my life the extent of my cabbage eating came in the form of Chinese egg rolls and deli style mayo drenched cole slaw, oh man was I missing out!  Several years back I started experimenting with Asian style cabbage slaws and even cabbage filled pot stickers, but still it took me a while longer before I discovered a comforting, mildly sweet and delicious bowl of cooked cabbage and I haven’t looked back since.  I actually owned my copy of Heidi Swanson’s fantastic (the name alone is cool enough!) “Super Natural Every Day” for about a year before I finally tried her recipe for White Beans & Cabbage with parmesan, potatoes and cabbage.  The crazy thing is, the cover photo for the book is exactly that and it looks unbelievably delicious, I stared at that cover for a year thinking “yum” “must try”, but every time I decided this would be the day something got in the way, sometimes I had cabbage but no potatoes on hand, other days I had all the ingredients but got lazy and opted for a more familiar option to cook for dinner.  But finally one day, the planets aligned and I finally made it and oh was it gooood.  The cabbage cooks up soft and mildly sweet, but still maintains a little texture, the beans are creamy and the potatoes nice and crisp, top with some melty mozzarella and served with a hunk of crispy toasted baguette drizzled with a little olive oil and you have a perfect bowl of comfort food, yum.

 Cabbage and White Beans with Olive Oil Soaked Bread

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Maple Drizzled Gingerbread Scones

Breakfast, Muffins, Scones & Quick Breads, Recipes January 6, 2015 Comments: 2

 Maple Drizzled Gingerbread Scones

maple gingerbread scones with maple drizzle

maple gingerbread scones with maple drizzle

Happy 2015 to you all, and to start off the New Year, here’s another taste of the holiday season with these maple gingerbread scones. maple gingerbread scones

I love making gingerbread cookies this time of year, something I was introduced to when I spent my first Christmas Eve with Colin’s family way back when we met in college.  A few years later, my mother in-law “faxed” (that gives you an idea of how very long ago this was…) me a recipe she found for a very traditional Scandanavian gingerbread complete with cardamom and then she gifted me my first jar of the very same spice, a rare and expensive find at the time.  I’ve seen so many recipes for various gingerbread cookies, cakes, etc that do not include cardamom, but to me gingerbread just isn’t the same without.  It is an intense spice, a very small amount is all you need and if it’s not to your taste or you have trouble finding it, you could certainly skip it.  If you like Indian food, cardamom pods are those strange looking green things found in many restaurant’s “fragrant basmati rice”.

When I saw Pinch of Yum’s recipe for maple glazed gingerbread scones, I knew I just had to try them, since I both love gingerbread and scones!  Of course I changed up the recipe a bit, adding oats as I seem to do with almost every baked good and of course adding in cardamom as I do with my gingerbread cookies (you’ll have to wait until next Christmas for that recipe!).  I also cut back a bit on the butter and sugar and swapped out the milk for buttermilk.  What you end up with is a dense, cakey textured scone (which is just perfect to me) with a good hit of spice.  The scones themselves are just lightly sweet, so the maple drizzle adds a nice extra bit of moist sweetness without making them cloyingly so.

heart shaped cookie cutterThese maple gingerbread scones make a nice breakfast treat with a little side of yogurt if you like.  Also perfect for an afternoon snack.  I like to make mine with a heart shaped cookie cutter, but you could use a square or round cutter if you prefer or even just cut them by hand into squares or triangles. 

maple gingerbread scones

Maple Drizzled Gingerbread Scones

Author: Sweet Green Kitchen’s Jen Jones

Adapted from “Pinch of Yum” Maple Glazed Gingerbread Scones

Makes about 11-12 scones

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup all purpose unbleached flour

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 Tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

¾ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)

4 Tablespoons frozen unsalted butter – grated

1 extra large egg

¼ cup real maple syrup

¼ cup molasses

½ cup buttermilk (I use lowfat)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

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