Whole Wheat Ricotta Blueberry Scones

Scones are one of those baked treats that seem very impressive, but are really embarrassingly easy to assemble. If you are new to baking, I recommend trying scones as a gateway recipe, because they are also pretty forgiving.

This recipe is from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook, and I made it for our brunch while we were in the Outer Banks for a week. The original recipe calls for raspberries, but they are so expensive at the grocery store. We happened to have a big bucket of blueberries, so I just adjusted accordingly. You really could do these with other fruits, but it should be something jammy and squishable. Yes, those are official baking terms.

You wouldn't think that whole wheat flour and ricotta would make for a nice and delicate scone, but it does! The end result is a light, cakey and flavorful treat, perfect with a cup of coffee or a mimosa.

Whole Wheat Ricotta Blueberry Scones
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

Ingredients:
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder, preferably aluminum-free
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
1 cup fresh raspberries (or blueberries), chopped
3/4 low-fat ricotta
1/3 cup heavy cream

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In the bottom of a large, wide-ish bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, sugar and salt together.

Cut the butter into small pieces with a knife and work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Roughly chop the raspberries (or blueberries) on a cutting board and stir them into the butter-flour mixture.

Add the ricotta and heavy cream together and stir them in to form a dough with a flexible spatula.
Using your hands, gently knead dough into an even mass, right in the bottom of the bowl.

With as few movements as possible, transfer the dough to a well-floured counter, flour the top of the dough and pat it into a 7-inch square about 1-inch tall. With a large knife, divide the dough into 9 even squares. Transfer the scones to prepared baking sheet with a spatula.

Bake the scones for about 15 minutes, until lightly golden at the edges. Cool in pan for a minute, then transfer to a cooling rack. It’s best to cool them about halfway before eating them, so they can set a bit more.

Hidden Vegetables

 

Serving pancakes for dinner is incredibly indulgent. It's my guilty little trick for when I didn't plan a meal for a particular night, or I don't really feel like cooking anything elaborate. Normally, I'll use the world's best pancake recipe (courtesy of Mark Bittman), but with a growing toddler, I needed a way to lessen my Mommy guilt over serving pancakes instead of a well-rounded dinner. 

You might have seen that I'm a bit of a stalker fan of Smitten Kitchen's food blog. I found this recipe in her archives and, as you can guess, rushed to make them. You know how really really good zucchini bread can taste spicy, sweet and wholesome in the same mouthful? That's how these pancakes taste. You are eating pancakes for dinner (or breakfast!) but you're also eating GREEN VEGETABLES! It's a revelation!

I always double this recipe, so that I can flash-freeze the leftovers and have an easy breakfast for the little dude throughout the week. 

Zucchini Bread Pancakes

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen  

Ingredients: 

2 large eggs
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons light brown, dark brown or granulated sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk or 2 tablespoons each of milk and plain yogurt, whisked until smooth
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini (from about 1 1/2 medium zucchini)
1 cup all-purpose flour (half of this can be swapped with a whole wheat flour. Make them even healthier, right?)
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
Butter or oil, for coating skillet 

Instructions: 

In a large bowl, combine eggs, olive oil, sugar, buttermilk and vanilla until smooth. Stir in zucchini shreds. In a smaller bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir dry ingredients into zucchini batter, mixing until just combined.

I practice the Alton Brown method of pancake-storage: Place pancakes on a plate and cover with a clean dishcloth to keep warm. It makes for easy taste-testing access while you're cooking more!

Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Once hot, melt a pat of butter in pan and swirl it around until it sizzles. Scoop scant 1/4-cup dollops of batter in pan so the puddles do not touch. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook another minute or two, until golden underneath. Serve warm.

To flash freeze leftovers: Arrange pancakes in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and place into the freezer for an hour. Once they are frozen, remove pancakes and store them in the freezer in a tightly sealed bag. The flash process will ensure that they don't stick together!

 

TWD Baking with Julia

 

After a loooooong hiatus, I'm back! I needed to focus on work and family for a little while, but I missed my food blogging. So I jumped in with both feet and joined the newest TWD group. I really loved being a part of the original Tuesdays With Dorie (Greenspan) group, and this one is probably going to be just as delicious. Maybe a bit more difficult, but I'm still excited. 

We are following Dorie's book, Baking with Julia, published in the mid-90's. I bought my copy used, from Amazon, and it came from a Goodwill shop in California, with "Rosie's Cookbook" written in the cover. I wonder who Rosie is, and I hope she knows her cookbook is being brought back to life!

I've never made popovers before, because I always assumed that you needed the popover pan. FALSE! YOU DON'T! Dorie told me so. You can just use a muffin pan, spacing out the batter to every other tin. Ta-da! Fresh hot popovers on Saturday morning. Loved by husbands and toddlers alike. Try them yourself, using the recipe posted here!

These were good - but not great. I think I'd add something more to the batter next time, maybe a pinch more salt or even a bit of sugar. I guess they are supposed to be a vehicle for butter/jam/clotted cream, but I would like them to have a little more flavor as a stand-alone treat. Lots of fun to get back into it, though, and look out for MORE Dorie/Julia deliciousness! 

Also, coming soon...NEW BLOG NAME and look!