Bake! scones

Saturdays are my days to get up with the kiddos. They got up especially early today (we were downstairs by 5:30), and while I can usually get an hour or so of quiet cuddle time, today, they were up and at 'em, ready to turn on the lights, eat breakfast, and play. What's a tired mommy to do? Bake some scones, of course!

Our Bake! pick for this weekend was cream cheese scones, chosen by Glennis. (Don't worry, I'm still planning to make Andrea's pick from last week: Danish apricot pinwheels...but our grocer said their grower had a slow start and we won't have fresh apricots until the very end of May.) I really love scones, so the cream cheese scones were one of the first recipes I tried when I got this book for Christmas.

Unfortunately, I was the only one who liked them, and they weren't among my favorite NM scones. (The kiddos hear "scones" and instantly think I mean their favorite "butternut chocolate chip scones"...they get upset if I say "scones" and that's not what I make. And yes, they really say "butternut" instead of "butterscotch" and I think it's so cute that I just can't correct them.)

So I decided to do a flashback instead and bake the first recipe that Kayte and Phyl baked from Bake!, back before I'd gotten my book: orange and almond scones. Figuring that the kids still wouldn't like them (the lack of chocolate chips factor), I made a half batch. They were easy to throw together: flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, pulsed in the food processor. Add some almond paste, then some butter, and finally the liquids (milk, egg, and orange zest).

The scones are patted into a circle, cut partially apart, brushed with an egg wash, sprinkled with almonds (all except two for the kiddos), and then we gave them a small dusting of turbinado sugar (great task for the little ones).

As instructed, I cooked them for 15 minutes and then cooled them for a few minutes more on the tray. And then I went to separate them into individual scones...and they were still raw inside!!!! Argh!! I quickly turned the oven back on, separated them all, and put them back in for another five minutes with fingers-crossed.

It worked! Five minutes later, they were much darker and cooked through. I really liked these...I loved the hints of almond and orange, and the slight sweetness. The kids gobbled up their almond-free ones...even without chocolate chips! Now I'm just sad that I only made a half-batch...thankfully it will be easy enough to whip up some more. =)