Blackberry Oat Scones

I think when I finally start writing my cookbooks (hey, a girl can dream!), I would just have to start with an entire book on muffins and scones. They have to be my favorite baked goods. I think that this is pretty obvious from my blog. I have so many muffin recipes, and the scones are catching up!

I adapted this recipe (ever so slightly) from this recipe found on orangette.com. These scones were easy to mix up, kinda messy to form, not so pretty to look at, but oh so good to eat! 

I had almost 1 cup of frozen blackberries, and I couldn't bear to not have a whole cup of berries in there. So I ended up adding a handful of frozen blueberries. This stained some of my scones blue, while the others were stained a beautiful purple. Not complaining!

Try this recipe. You will love it! Even without the berries, I think the oat scone recipe is just fantastic as it is! You could always add something else instead of the berries. Chocolate perhaps? Mmmmm...

Blackberry Oat Scones
Adapted from this recipe on orangette.com

Ingredients 

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup soft brown sugar

1 tbsp plus 1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda 

3/4 tsp salt 

155g unsalted butter, cold, chopped

1 cup heavy cream 

3/4 cup whole milk 

1 tsp vanilla 

1 cup rolled oats 

1 cup frozen or fresh blackberries 

(If using frozen berries, DO NOT thaw. Use frozen.)

For topping: 

3 tbsp rolled oats

1 tbsp granulated sugar 

Method 

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and the salt. Mix well until combined. 

2. Add in the chopped butter and work with your fingertips until you have a coarse mixture that looks like breadcrumbs. 

3. Mix in the oats. 

4. In a small bowl, combine the cream, milk and vanilla. Stir well to combine. 

5. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the cream mixture. 

6. Using a spatula or flat metal spoon, lightly fold and mix until the two mixtures are combined. Do not over-mix. 

7. Add the frozen berries and lightly fold. 

8. Form into discs handling the sticky dough as little as possible. If you find it too hard to handle, chill the dough for 10-15 minutes before forming the scones. Place the scones on a parchment or Silpat lined baking tray. I divided the mixture into 15 scones. 

9. At this point you can bake it straight away. I made one batch straight away and froze the rest of them to bake later. And I must mention that there was a remarkable difference in texture! If you have the time, freeze them. You don't need to thaw them, just pop them on the tray frozen and straight into the oven they go!

10. Bake in an oven preheated to 180C/350F for about 25-30 minutes. 

Note: Steps 1 & 2 can be done in a food processor. This is preferable as it reduces the handling of the butter and keeps it cold. After pulsing in the food processor, transfer to a large bowl and continue from step 3. 

Serve warm with butter, fruit curd, preserves or whipped cream. The next morning, I popped the leftover scones into scones back into the oven until the outside crisped up and it was warmed through.

I love love love love the wholesome taste of these scones. Next time, I am going to replace some of that all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour to amp up that wholesome taste. The buttery, flaky, slightly cakey scones with bursts of almost jammy, tart berry are just too yummy for words!

Triple Chocolate Muffins

This last month has been so insanely busy for us. More work than I could handle, sick baby and then a sick momma and so much more! I hardly cooked, baked even less and didn't even think about blogging. We survived on the simplest, quick fix meals, and one-pot dishes, generously sent food from my Mom's home and of course, take-out. 

In celebration of things slowing down, for our first lazy morning breakfast together, I decided to make something decadent for breakfast. It's not often that our family eats chocolate for breakfast, but today we went all out! Not just chocolate muffins, but TRIPLE chocolate muffins. 

These are really soft, moist and chocolatey and are studded with oozy chunks of chocolate. And easy to throw together too! Give this recipe a try. You won't regret it!

Triple Chocolate Muffins
Adapted from a recipe found in this book

Makes 6-8 muffins

Ingredients 

3 tablespoons butter

60gm dark chocolate, chopped 

1 cup all purpose flour 

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp baking powder 

1/4 tsp baking soda 

1 egg, beaten 

3/4 cup natural yoghurt

1 tsp vanilla extract 

60gm dark chocolate chips or chunks 

Method

1. In a microwave or in saucepan, melt the butter and the chocolate together. Set aside to cool. 

2. In large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Mix until well combined. 

3. In a small bowl, stir together the egg, yoghurt and vanilla. Add in the cooled chocolate-butter mixture and stir well. 

4. Add the yoghurt mixture into the flour mixture and mix just until the two mixtures are completely combined. Do not over-mix. 

5. Fold in the chocolate chips/chunks evenly. 

6. Spoon into your muffin tray, filling more than 3/4 of the cup. I used a smallish tray and got 8 muffins. 

7. Bake for 15-20 minutes in an oven preheated to 180C/350F or until the top of the muffins spring back when touched gently. 

8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before unmolding. 

The triple dose of melted chocolate, dark cocoa powder and chocolate chunks makes these muffins seriously, seriously good. They aren't too sweet and are amazingly moist!

My husband, who loves peanut butter on just about anything, ate them generously 'frosted' with crunchy peanut butter. A fabulous muffin to bake for a special occasion or a lazy day!

Until next time :)

Berry Apple Crumble Pie

Pie has always been my first choice when it comes to dessert! There's something about decadent and delicious fillings encased in buttery pastry that appeals to me like nothing else. And when I make pie, I always overeat. Which is why I don't make them often. 

This pie was born of nagging. My four year-old was fixated on making this pie ever since she heard me mention to my husband that 'these blueberries would make an awesome pie'. And since that day, I heard the words 'strawberry blueberry pie' at least 10 times a day. Well, it worked! The pie got made. And it got eaten. The pie lasted only a few hours. That's how much we loved it.

This is kinda a long recipe, but the process isn't long. The crust takes the longest to make, but of course, if you wanted to skip that, you could just use a ready-made pie crust, if available. I prefer to make mine at home because I want it to be all-butter. 

Berry Apple Crumble Pie
Recipe Source: Crust & Crumble: Allrecipes.come, Filling: The voices in my head

Ingredients
Pie Crust 
250g (2 cups) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp granulated sugar
180g (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes 
1 Egg yolk (optional)
Iced water, as needed

Pie Filling

5 cups mixed berries (I used 2 cups each of frozen blueberries and fresh strawberries, and 1 cup of frozen raspberries)
1 Granny Smith Apple, peeled, cored and chopped 
Zest of 1 orange 
1 tbsp orange juice
4 tbsp cornstarch 
1/2 - 3/4 cup granulated sugar, depending on how sweet your berries are (I used 3/4 cup)
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter

Crumble topping
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional) 1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method
For the pie crust  
1. If making in a food processor, add all the ingredients except the water into the processor and pulse until you achieve breadcrumb-like texture.
2. Transfer to a bowl or your counter and add a couple of tablespoons of ice cold water and form the dough.
3. If making the crust by hand, mix the flour, salt and sugar together in a large bowl.
4. Add the pieces of butter and mix into the flour using only your fingertips, until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
5. Add the egg yolk and 2 tablespoon of water and mix lightly until incorporated.
6. Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough just starts to come together. (I needed only 3-4 tbsp of water in all.) Do not over-work the dough.
6. Shape into a thick disc and wrap in clingfilm.
7. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling out and lining your pie tin. Once the crust is in the tin, prick all over with a fork.
8. Preheat the oven to 200.
9. Line the pie crust with baking parchment or aluminum foil, fill with baking beans or uncooked rice, and bake for about 10 minutes until set.
10. Take the crust out of the oven, remove the beans and foil, and brush the inside of the crust - bottom and sides - with the egg white.
11. Bake for 2-3 more minutes.

For the pie filling 

1) Combine the berries, chopped apple, orange zest, orange juice, cornstarch and sugar in a large bowl. Mix gently until well combined.  Do this when you're almost ready to bake.

For the crumble topping 

1) Combine all the ingredients and mix using just your finger tips until you have a crumbly mixture. You don't want to knead it. Chill until you're ready to use.

Assembly

1) Roll out the dough for the pie crust on a well floured surface using a floured rolling pin, and line your 9 inch pastry tin. Chill until you're ready to bake. Reserve the remaining dough for decorating the pie.

2) Pour the filling into the prepared pie tin. Spread evenly in the pie tin.  

3) Break up the chilled butter with your fingers and dot around the pie.

4) Sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly over the surface of the pie. 

5) Decorate the surface of the pie with the remaining pie dough.

6) Bake in an oven preheated to 180C/350F until your pastry is golden and your filling is bubbling and thick - almost 'jam-like'. This takes about 45-60 minutes.

7) Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 1-3 hours. This allows the filling to set properly.

8) Serve at room temperature with whipped cream or with your favorite vanilla bean ice cream. I like eating it as is!

I personally like to use the egg yolk in my pie crust. I feel it adds a lovely rich flavor to the crust. But I have made it without the egg yolk and it is still awesome. If you want to save time, the blind baking of the pie crust could be avoided, but this step ensures your crust doesn't get soggy from the filling juices. 

This pie was such a hit! Everyone loved it - even my super fussy one year old. But with such amazing berries and real butter every step of the way, how could it not be absolutely delicious?! :)

Until next time... <3