LOADED Pumpkin Scones

Last week was my sweet Seestors birthday. She had the day off. She said she was going to go shopping. I told her to get her rump over to my house, "you don't need to shop! You need to bake." She's my baby sister, I like to boss her around. She said she really needed some new jeans. I said, "whatever, when your done being depressed from trying on jeans come bake with me".

Did I ever tell you I'm eight years older than my sister? And that her name is really Carla, and that I prayed night and day when I was a little whipper snapper that the the good Lord would bring me a baby sister. My prayers were answered.

She mentioned that she wanted a Red Velvet Cake for her birthday. I am not a big fan of Red Velvet Cake. It's usually dry, and I prefer things of a moist nature, over dry. I put a shout out on Twitter for a moist Red Velvet Cake. Rebecca at Ezra Pound Cake came to my rescue. She pointed me to this recipe that Smitten Kitchen had posted. It was pretty darn good. I would double up on the frosting next time and maybe take it out of the oven 5 minutes earlier....and Oh did I say we only used a third of the food coloring that it called for? I didn't think my kidneys could handle all that artificialness. Ack! If you are a Red Velvet Cake lover I would definitely give this cake a two thumbs up. (With the recommended modifications, of course.)

While my sister was doing her thang with the Red Velvet, I decided I needed to make something too, just in case the cake was a bomb. Plus Big D had been whining about these scones I made and had her taste test. She said that she wanted to marry them. So I thought I'd better try to duplicate my first try, and take pictures this time. Well....I was able to duplicate, but the picture thing, kinda was hit or miss. I was too busy "yacking" with my Seestor, and kinda forgot some steps. But I trust that you will be able to figure it all out. Scones really easy.

If you live near a Trader Joe's well then you are in luck because you can get yourself some of this stuff pretty darn easy and inexpensive too. I just so happen to live a mere 2 1/2 hours from the nearest. Not complaining just sayin'. You can find candied ginger in most grocery stores, if you are unable to find it, then no worries just leave it out. It will be fine....I promise.

Measure out a 1/2 cup and give it a rough chop. Ahhhhh the aroma, is heavenly. I heart ginger. I do realize you need to be careful not to overdo it in recipes, you don't want your scones tasting like Pine-sol.

In a large mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients.

Cut cold butter into cubes like so and with a pastry cutter cut the butter into the dry ingredients. This is where my visiting with my Seestor got in the way of my photography. But like i said, I trust you can handle this step with out a visual.

In a smaller bowl, combine wet ingredients. Pumpkin, egg, and buttermilk. Whisk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.

Pour wet mixture into the well in the dry ingredients. Gently mix until just combined. Fold in pecans, cinnamon chips, and ginger. Yup, you guessed it, forgot yet another picture.....or two. Hey it was my sisters birthday I was trying to give her my undivided attention.

At this point you will need to line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and dust lightly with flour. Divide dough in two. Place each half on baking sheet. Brush with milk and sprinkle with raw sugar. Take a knife and cut dough into 6 wedges, like a pie. Pull sections gently apart, leaving a small space between wedges. Put baking sheets in freezer uncovered for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove dough from freezer and bake for 20-25 minutes. When scones are golden brown and a tooth pick comes out clean they are done.

Pumpkin Scones

printable recipe~found at Tasty Kitchen

• 2-¾ cups All-purpose Flour
• ⅓ cups Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoons Nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Ginger
• ¼ teaspoons Allspice
• 10 Tablespoons Cold Butter, Cut Into Cubes
• 1 cup Canned Pumpkin
• 1 whole Egg
• ¾ cups Buttermilk
• ½ cups Chopped Pecans
• ½ cups Chopped Candied Ginger
• ½ cups Cinnamon Chips
• ¼ cups Milk, For Brushing
• ½ cups Raw Sugar, For Sprinkling
• 
  

• • 1. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice.

  2. Add cubes of cold butter in to dry ingredients, cut in with a pastry cutter. Cut until mixture is mostly combined and crumbly. It’s OK to have some visible chunks of butter.

  3. In a small mixing bowl combine wet ingredients: pumpkin, egg, and buttermilk. Whisk to combine.

  4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour wet mixture into the well. With a large spatula stir together until everything holds together. Be careful not to over mix.

  5. Now fold in pecans, candied ginger, and cinnamon chips.

  6. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, lightly dusted with flour. Split dough in two. Shape and pat each section of dough in to a 6-8 inch circle, each circle should be about 3/4 inch thick. Brush each circle with milk and sprinkle with raw sugar.

  7. Using a serrated knife cut each circle into 6 pieces, like a pie. Carefully pull the wedges away from the center to separate them just a little bit.

  8. Place the pans in freezer for 30 minutes uncovered. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

  9. Remove from freezer and place in oven for 20-25 minutes. They should be golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center of scone should come out clean, no wet crumbs. Edges of scone should look baked through not doughy at all.

  **10. If you like you can serve scones plain or iced. Maple Glaze Icing= 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 2-3 tablespoons milk. Whisk together and pour over partially cooled scones.

  
  

These Scones have won over the hearts of non-Scone lovers far and wide. Heavens to Betsy these Babies are loaded with goodness! They are moist but not cakey. Perfectly loaded with just the right amount of flavor and spice and everything nice!

I heart Pumpkin! What's your favorite Scone?

NOTE: Help me Rhonda! I have no clue as to why the last text in this post is underlined. It wanted to be blue too, but I was able to change the text color to black, but could not get rid of the lines. CWazy!

Pie WEEK

Same old story different week. I am always missin out on something and then scrambling to catch up. I did not know about pie week.....it wasn't on my radar. Maybe it was because I was too busy taking orders for pies, for a fundraiser, and planning out the strategy of baking fifty some pies in my home next Tuesday and Wednesday. Or maybe it was the skads of laundry, the shower caulking, and oh yeh and I've been makin' all those homemade gifts...phew it's been a crazy week. I started baking today. I had a few people that were in desperate need of some pies this weekend. But I did not want pie week to pass me by...so true to form I am cramming it in. I am a crammer. Crammed in High School, College, and now I just cram pie.... in my pie hole.

This is my kitchen in full pie baking mode this morning. Pumpkin, Pecan, Dutch Apple and Traditional Apple Pie.... I'm not veering from the traditional Thanksgiving Pies.

Lots of eggs...I'm going to need about 60, them chickens out in the barn won't be able to keep up. Looks like I'm going to have to buy eggs this week.

I come from a history of pie bakers. It's in my blood. It's soothing for me to bake pies. I could do it all day long. Need a good pie crust recipe, and tutorial? Here you go....Easy Pie Crust.

Whippin' up some Pee-CAN pie...it's my favorite.

Crumble topping for the Dutch Apple.

And pecans for the pecan pie. I had a few things going on all at once, I could have used a few more hands, which I will have next week when we bake the mother lode of pies.

Do you hear the angels singing? I think Heaven is gonna smell like Pecan Pie.

Now on to the apples. I add the sugar, flour and spices in my largest bowl......

then with both hands on either side of the bowl I just give it all a toss, to get it mixed around real good. Toss, toss ,toss....whoo-hoo, up-sa-daisy with the apples.

Butter is the key to distinguishing a really good Apple Pie from a mediocre Apple Pie. A slab or two of butter make everything better. Agreed?

Add your top crust. I give my pies a light milk wash then I sprinkle them with raw sugar.

This baby is ready for it's new home. It's new mama is going to bake it. Bu-bye sweet thang.

Apparently Dutch Apple Pie is the favorite in these parts. Everyone wanted Dutch Apple.

These are for Big D. She's heading off to Chicago this weekend to have an early Thanksgiving with her sister Harmony and family. Hope you all enjoy! (and I hope you don't find a hair in them or nothin gross like that.....)

There was a little bit of Pecan Pie filling that wouldn't fit in the pies. Don't think this pie eatin freak was going to wash that down the drain do ya? I chopped up a few more pecans laid them in the bottom of a ramekin poured the filling over it, baked it for 35 minutes and had glorious little mid morning treat. These pies aren't anything too unusual, pretty standard. But like my grandma always says "don't mess with tradition". These are the same pies I've been eating since I was just a little pot-licker.

I just added my pie recipes in my recipe box at Tasty Kitchen....like I said always cramming it in at the end. So you may have to wait a day or so until they show up. When they do I will link them here too. In the mean time there are many other pies to be had over at TK so take a look around.

What's your pie tradition on Thanksgiving Day? I'd love to hear......

Luv Ya more than my Pecan Pie!

Pumpkin Spice Donut Muffins

If you have been hanging around here this week you know I have been trying to keep things real. Letting you know a little about myself. Here is something you should know. I love pumpkin. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin soup, pumpkin muffins, whipped pumpkin hair mousse, pumpkin flan....just call me Bubba.

There's a farm not too far from my home that makes a mean pumpkin spice donut that just makes me want to do run. I absolutely despise running, but by golly if I had to, I think, I would run all the way to Post Family Farms to get me one of their donuts. Unless, Big D felt sorry for me, in that case I would just stay home and let her bring me a box of them.

If you missed the story about how Big D thought we were going to have to put our dog Jack to sleep and brought me pumpkin spice donuts then just take a minute and go back to that day.

The picture above is my own creation, inspired by the Pumpkin Spice Donuts at Post Family Farm and The Pioneer Woman's French Breakfast Puffs. I used Ree's puff recipe as a home base and came up with these marvelous morsels.

Take a look at that. Now if that isn't something that makes you salivate...well then you need to go see your doctor, because your saliva glands must be malfunctioning.

I told you I was still trying to keep it real with you. The day I made these muffins I also made cinnamon rolls (4 dozen) and banana chocolate chip muffins. So this is what my kitchen island was looking like right about an hour into all that.

The recipe makes 18 muffins. Here's what you will need:

Pumpkin Spice Doughnut Muffins

printable recipe

preheat oven to 350 degrees

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup sugar

2/3 cups Crisco shortening

2 large eggs

1/2 cup +1 tablespoon buttermilk see note

1 cup canned pumpkin (no sugar or spices added)

coating

2 sticks of butter melted

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. blend sugar, shortening, and eggs until creamy.

2 add pumpkin to the above, mix until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl often.

3. mix dry ingredients together in a large measuring cup or bowl. Measure out your buttermilk.

Still keepin it real...

4. Alternate adding the buttermilk, and dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture.

Scraping down sides of bowl until everything is fully incorporated.

5. grease muffin tins, I use non-stick cooking spray, fill muffin tins 2/3 full.

6. bake at 350 degrees for 22 minutes, remove from oven and dump out onto a cookie sheet


7. After letting muffins cool just long enough so you can handle them(30 seconds), set up this scenario for the coating. Melted butter in one dish, and mix the cinnamon sugar in another and set a cookie sheet close by.

Take muffin and dunk it in to the butter, make sure it takes a dip in the butter, you want it completely covered so the sugar will stick.

Take out of butter and dredge immediately in to the cinnamon sugar. Make sure the muffin is completely coated with sugar, no bare spots.

I have to say I am really, really sorry, because after you make these muffins, your family may find you in a corner somewhere totally bonked out on these things. Covered in crumbs, eyes glazed over, mumbling...pppuumkinnn..puuuummmkin..spICE, mama, dada.


Hey, I told you I was tryin' to keep it real around Strawberry Land. Well, just in case you wondered if I had some sort of special light box or something to take pictures in, not that my pictures are professional or anything. I don't! There is nothing professional or photo shootish about my food photography. I just have friends that stop in because of the mind controlling muffins. They stop by to make sure I am holding it all together....and well maybe to get a fix for themselves. This would be Dee. See that glazed over look in her eyes? That's the look. The muffin mind controll look.

Hi Dee! Thanks so much for stopping by and helping out. Dee is crazy busy these days check out what she's been up to. I really do think the mind controlling powers of the muffins drew her in. She was hollering from the garage, "WHAT are you baking?", before she even came in the house.

One last picture to see if your saliva glands are functioning. If this doesn't do it you need professional help.

In the words of my father "scrump-dilly-icious!"