Snickerdoodle Scones

I love Snickerdoodles.  They're probably my favorite type of cookie.  I know most people choose chocolate chip as their favorite.  And don't get me wrong, I love me a good chocolate chip cookie.  But Snickerdoodles are just perfect for me.  Maybe because my favorite food EVER is a cinnamon roll?  Maybe because my Granny made them for me whenever I went to visit her as a little girl?  I have no idea, but the cinnamon sugar combo gets me every time. 


I've been seeing a LOT of recipes lately for Snickerdoodle-inspired recipes.  Snickerdoodle cupcakes, for example.  Which I need to make ASAP. 


Then I saw this recipe for Snickerdoodle Scones on Annie's Eats and almost died.  I've only recently gotten into scones.  I've made them a few times over the past few months, and I realized how easy they are to make.  They make a great snack or breakfast.  Plus, you can freeze the dough, then pull it out of the freezer and pop into the oven whenever you want!  Perfect! 


Instead of making full-sized scones, I split the dough into two rounds and made mini scones.  I froze one round of dough for when I am craving these again.  I'm trying to watch portions and not eat an entire recipe of a baked good in one sitting, so this was a good idea.  The mini scones were just enough for a few bites of something sweet.  :)  My only comment on these is that I needed to bake these a little bit longer than called for, but all ovens are different, so just make sure they're not still doughy in the middle when you pull them out of the oven! 

Like my Chinese takeout tupperware?  Heh heh heh. 

*********************************************************************************

Snickerdoodle Scones

from Annie's Eats

makes 8 regular-sized scones (or 16 mini-scones)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

6 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp salt

6 Tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup milk or heavy cream

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the topping:

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1.  Preheat oven to 400 F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

2.  In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.  Stir together with a fork.  Add the cold butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly and the largest butter pieces are the size of peas.

3.  Combine the milk and vanilla in a measuring cup.  Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and stir together with a fork just until the mixture forms a cohesive dough.  IF necessary, knead the dough a few times by hand to bring the dough together. 

4.  Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet and form into a large round (or two) disc about 8-9 inches in diameter.  In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon for the topping.  Sprinkle generously over the top of the dough round.

5.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool on the pan, then slice into 8 (or 16) wedges for serving.

****Note:  If you want to freeze some of the dough, divide the dough in two.  Bake one round as instructed above.  Sprinkle the other round with the cinnamon sugar mixture, wrap in plastic wrap, then foil, and then freeze in a Ziploc bag.  When ready to bake, remove from bag and wrappings, place on cookie sheet and bake frozen.  Just add a few minutes to the baking time.****

I'm ashamed of myself. But I'm baking again.

I truly am ashamed of myself.  I hate the part of me that starts projects, does them for 2 or 3 days, and then quits or forgets about the project all together.  The past week or so I have been OBSESSED with reading baking/cooking/crafting/DIY blogs and feeling the urge to make a blog.  And then I thought "Um..Jill?  You DID do a baking blog.  For 3 days." 

I found that baking my way through the Baking & Pastry book was quite a lofty goal. And as much as I believe in setting big goals, I think I need to just do what makes me happy right now. And not let a goal become a stressor. So I'm going to not only write about baking on here, but other things that make me happy. Who knows what that will be? We'll just have to find out.  But I do know, I'm not quitting this time.

So, let's recap for the past 20 months or so.  In a nutshell.  I hated my job.  I found another job (which I LOVE) about a year ago.  I moved to Tampa 7 months ago.  I've been barely making ends meet, what with living in the "big city" and taking a pay cut with my new job.  But it's all been worth it.  I'm happy.  But lately, I've found that something is missing.  And that's baking.  See, with all of this relocating (and working lots of overtime to be able to afford to live here!) I've been pretty broke.  And I'm so tired on my days off that I don't feel like doing anything.  But maybe that's because I'm just not doing something I love.  Baking relaxes me.  It puts a smile on my face (and inches on my waist...).  So I've been reading baking blogs.  And I've had the urge to bake again.  And write about it (besides baking, another thing I love to do is write; I just haven't found my niche). 

A few nights ago, I decided that I was going to bake.  And I started with...No-Bake Cookies.  Riiight.  Well, I was just hemming and hawing around in my kitchen and saw that I had all the ingredients for No-Bake Cookies.  Just about.  Instant oats, peanut butter, cocoa powder...now all I needed was a recipe.  I found what looked like a pretty good recipe on Brown Eyed Baker  (one of my current blog obsessions).  However, I had to make a few substitutions- and this just goes to show you how I've lapsed in my baking.  I used to keep REAL butter on hand at all times, just in case the baking mood struck.  No more.  I had margarine in a tub.  The recipe calls for a stick of butter, so I figured I would just use 1/2 cup of margarine in a tub.  I had all of the other ingredients except milk.  I don't drink it and just use a little bit in cereal (and I had just come home from a 2 week trip) so I didn't have any on hand.  Keeping in mind I had NO money to go to the store, I improvised.  I had a little bit of sour cream in the fridge.  So, I just mixed that with some water until I had some milk-like substance.  Seemed to work out fine.  So I followed the recipe with a few alterations and the no-bake cookie batter looked and smelled DELICIOUS.  I heaped tablespoons of batter onto cookie sheets and put them in the freezer to set (I was in a hurry to eat them!).  I popped in a movie and watched for about 30 minutes, then went to check on my cookies.  Still sticky.  Went back to my movie for another 10 minutes, then checked again.  Still sticky.  At this point, I couldn't wait and put a couple on a plate to eat with a fork anyway.  They tasted quite yummy (and just what I was craving). 

Maybe it was my weird milk substitution, or the fact that I used margarine instead of butter- I don't know, but those cookies never set.  I left them in the fridge overnight and the next day, I plopped them in a plastic container, spread them out, and made a fudge-like treat.  Still tasted great, but just not in cookie form.  Anyway, here is the REAL recipe- maybe I will try again with the CORRECT ingredients and let you know how it turns out. 

************************************************************************

No-Bake Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Oatmeal Cookies

Courtesy of Brown Eyed Baker

Yield: 2 to 3 dozen cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooling Time: 30 minutes

½ cup (1 stick) butter

2 cups granulated sugar

½ cup milk

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

½ cup peanut butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups quick-cooking oats

1. Add the first four ingredients (through the cocoa powder) to a 4-quart saucepan.

2. Bring to a rolling boil and let boil for 1 minute.

3. Remove from heat.

4. Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth, then stir in the oats.

5. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto wax paper-lined baking sheets.

6. Let cool until set.

***Hopefully yours turn out to be more cookie-like than mine!!***

*******************************************************************

Sorry I didn't take any photos.  I truly didn't get the chutzpah to re-start my blog until tonight, so photos weren't in my mind at the time. 

Well, tonight the baking bug hit me again.  A few days ago I came across a recipe on another new blog obsession of mine, 17 and Baking.  (TANGENT ALERT!) First, let me just say that I started at the beginning of this blog and am reading it the whole way through.  This girl is amazing.  Elissa started her blog when she was 16 years old and she's 19 now.  To read the passion she has for baking truly inspires me.  Her blog almost reads like a biography- I can't wait to find out what keeps happening in her life! 

Back to my story.  I was kind of keeping an eye out for recipes that I had all the ingredients for, since again, I'm pretty broke until the next pay day.  I found a recipe for Yam Biscuits and drooled.  I had all the ingredients (with the substitution of a sweet potato for a yam...close enough) and they seemed pretty simple to make. 

***********************************************************************

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Adapted from 17 and Baking

Here's a link to the original recipe for Yam Biscuits
Makes 8 wedges

1 tbsp butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 large egg

1 cup mashed sweet potato (about one large sweet potato)

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

2.  In a large bowl beat together butter, sugar, and salt, then egg and sweet potato (make sure your sweet potato isn't too hot- if you just cooked it). Stir until smooth.

3.  Sift together flour and baking powder. Stir into sweet potato mixture until flour is completely mixed in. Dough will be sticky, but it shouldn’t be wet – add a couple tablespoons more of flour if that’s the case.

4.  On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough a few times before shaping it into a circle about 3/4″ thick. Cut the circle into 8 equal triangle shaped wedges and separate. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden.

************************************************************************

I did actually take some pictures of these, and they turned out very pretty! 

And they taste wonderful!  First, let me tell you I will eat anything with a sweet potato in it.  These totally got me in the mood for fall.  They're a pretty golden-orange color with a crispy outside and a cornbread-like texture inside.  They're dense and just sweet enough.  Almost like a scone, but not quite as crumbly.  These will be perfect for breakfast when the weather gets cooler (which won't be until December for us folks here in Florida, but I like to make fall come early).  Overall I'm very pleased with them.  Although next time, I may add some cinnamon and replace some of the white sugar with brown and see what happens. 

I know I wrote a lot.  I guess all of this has been waiting to get out for awhile.  And I have to say, I have a lovely sense of calm from baking and writing.  And a smile on my face.  Almost as effective as a great yoga class.  Almost.