From a distance I could hear the thunder. A sound which nudged me to smile in relief. I am not fond of the heat. The sun has been blazing to its full glory lately. We were hoping for some rain. Soon enough, the clouds brought with it some raindrops. The polluted air was instantly washed away by the sweet pearls from the sky. What a joy it was to watch the trees sway to the rhythm of the wind and the glorious droplets falling from high above. My mood was instantly elevated. And the first thing I felt like doing was bake!
The memory of how wonderful scones smell enticed me. I reached for my baking supplies. I wanted to try for something new. But I didn’t have any new recipes of scones on hand. I decided that I will use whatever ingredients I have in hand and concoct my own recipe. A little bit of this and a little bit of that and soon enough I was rolling the dough, shaping it and off it went into the oven. I waited in trepidation of how the end result will be. Will it just disintegrate and sink or will it taste as good as it was when it was still in the dough-form? The thought of wasting all the ingredients that went into making the scones disturbed me.
Soon the little beauties came out from the oven, looking plump and radiant. I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into it. Boy, oh boy, I was so delighted at the outcome! The scones were absolutely delicious. The ground hazelnut and ground almond give the scones a buttery and rich flavor. A winner!
Yields: 18 scones
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup wholemeal flour
- 1/2 cup ground hazelnut
- 1/2 cup ground almond
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ½ cup cold salted butter, cut in cubes
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp cold milk
- Cranberries
- Pumpkin seeds
- Almond nibs
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 205 degrees C. Line two baking sheets with greased parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.
- Stir in oats.
- Working quickly with your fingers, press the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
- In another small bowl, combine milk and egg; beat with a fork to blend.
- Pour milk mixture over dry ingredients and stir with light strokes until dough starts to come together.
- Stir in cranberries, pumpkin seeds and almond nibs.
- Turn dough onto a lightly floured clean counter and gently press together until dough is cohesive.
- Pat dough and using a round cookie cutter cut into a circle of about 1 1/2″ thick.
- Transfer scones to prepared baking sheets and bake about 22 minutes, or until golden brown, rotating pan once during baking.
- Transfer to wire racks to cool. Serve warm or room temperature.
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