Baking | ORANGE & OAT SCONES … Dial 101 FOR Scones
Kate Bush
There’s something about scones. Quintessential, charming & endlessly enjoyable. A classic holiday platter ‘cookie’ of sorts that brings cheer to the table. I saw the recipe on my google reader a while ago & it was instantly love at first sight. What’s not to love about orange and oats in a scone? I made them recently, on my return from the FBC09, twice in fact, and both times they disappeared rather quickly.
One lot was with pistachio nuts & craisins with a demerera sugar topping, and the other a walnut & craisin batch with a vanilla sugar topping. Both delicious!
You might wonder what with this little sprig of holly, constantly floating around my blog. Actually this is a twig that I picked off a tree while walking down to Oxford Street while we were in London for the FBC09. Pam & me were walking by Hyde Park & I suddenly stopped short & stared at the tree in amazement, shrieking with delight. She thought I had lost it, but I was completely fascinated by the tree & the huge squirrels merrily chomping away on the berries! I had a carry a twig back… it connects me to the trip!
Reading about these scones from Romney Steels new cookbook My Nepenthe on Heidi’s beautiful blog 101 Cookbookshad them gently calling my name with urgency. I could barely wait for these bright hybrid oranges to show up in the market. ‘Keenu‘ as they are locally called, make an appearance on the shelves in early November, but were delayed slightly this year due the late onset of winter. ‘Keenus’ are are a cross between an orange and a tangerine, and are very sweet & juicy.
I made much smaller portions of the scones after reading Heidi’s comments on her post, and find that did work really well. The house smelt wonderful & warm while the scones baked, and it was difficult to resist nibbling a corner as soon as they were done. Gorgeousness in every crumb, fresh exciting orange flavour, teemed with the depth of walnuts & the tang of craisins. I managed to let them cool for a bit. Half the portion was nibbled away warm by the family. As Heidi says, the taste does indeed mature as time goes by, and I am sure they keep well for 3-4 days in an air tight box. I still have to get there because both times I made them they disappeared far sooner than that. These are nice healthy cookies to leave out on the platter for a passing nibble, and you can easily play around with flavours.
You can pat them into rounds and cut them into triangles like plump pretty scones, or you can even lightly roll the dough out & cut 2 inch circles … either which way a pretty wholesome scone! I might make these again with fresh ginger, orange and chocolate chips … just saying!Even ginger cranberries and white chocolate chips might work some magic into them! Immense possibilities….
The scone is a small British quickbread of Scottish origin. Scones are especially popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Canada, but are eaten in many other countries. They are usually made of wheat, barley or oatmeal with baking powder as a leavening agent. The scone is a basic component of the cream tea or Devonshire tea. The original scone was round and flat, usually the size of a small plate. It was made with unleavened oats and baked on a griddle (or girdle, in the Scots language), then cut into triangle-like quadrants for serving. Today, many would call the large round cake a bannock, and call the quadrants scones.
Orange and Oat SconesAdapted from 101 Cookbooks adaptation from My Nepenthe by Romney Steele
( This is half the quantity of the original recipe)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour (or whole wheat pastry flour if available)
1/3 cup vanilla sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 cups rolled oats
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/8 cup coarse turbinado, vanilla or demerara sugar, for sprinkling
1/2 cup dried craisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Method:
Combine the flour, 1/2 cup of vanilla sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse 15-20 times or until it looks like sandy pearls. Transfer the dough to a bowl and stir in the oats, craisins, walnuts and zest. Stir in the buttermilk until just moistened.
Bring the dough together with your hands. If the dough is still too crumbly, stir in more buttermilk a tiny splash at a time, but try to avoid over mixing. After bringing the dough together, gently pat it into an 8-inch round. Cut into triangle shapes (see photo) and transfer to the prepared baking sheet with some room between each scone. Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar. Bake for 12 to 15 minute or until the bottoms are deeply golden.Makes 12 to 16 medium scones, or 8 extra-large ones.
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Deeba @ PAB
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
33 Comments
The Cooking Ninja
oh yes, I remembered that branch. For a minute I thought bird shit was raining on your head, then I looked up and saw 2 beautiful big squirrels chomping happily their breakfast. 🙂
Your scones sounds delicious. I just made 2 batches of oatmeal cookies.
Colloquial Cook
It looks wayyy too good! With the super cold windy weather out there I will confess I'm desperate for a cup of tea and a oat scone. No buttermilk around, dammit! I wonder if yog would work…
Rosa's Yummy Yums
Those scones look perfect! I love that combo! Great idea.
Cheers,
Rosa
Mamatkamal
I love scones. Your orange and oat scones looks so delicious. What a great flavour.
Swathi
Scones look wonderful.
Sarah, Maison Cupcake
Not had scones for ages and I would love one of these with some butter on it. I love your pretty heart print ribbon too.
I need to pick your brains though – I like it when bloggers do montages of pictures and am trying to do them in Picasa. It is clunky and taking forever. What's your secret to turning around these lovely montages?
Alexa
I have scones baking in the oven right now. 🙂 I wish I could share one with you over tea or coffee. There's always something delicious on your blog, Deeba!
Dawn
I am a huge lover of scones and am always on the lookout for new combo's–just like this one. Very clever.
Happy cook
I can imagine your delight in seeing them.
Beautiful scones.
I love that you brouthg a twig back home.
Megan
We are a scone loving family and this looks like a nice new version to try. I have it bookmarked too!
Helene
There is something abouth freshly baked scones. The smell and eating it with a good cup of tea or coffee makes them even better. You always feature beautiful baked treats 🙂
Linda
My husband loves scones and this is definitely has flavors he would love.
Lea Ann
These scones look wonderful. Great photos. I've made scones once and was surprised how good they turned out on my first try. This recipe sounds delicious and I'll give it a try.
Gloria
Deeeba this look amazing, I love them, xoxoxo gloria
Kerstin
What lovely scones, they look amazing!
Barbara Bakes
I really want to try this recipe! They look so delicious! I especially love the cranberry version. I also love that you brought a twig home from London! Happy Holidays!
BonjourRomance
I love scones, and forever looking for new scone recipes. I'm going to try this one asap. I really enjoy the way you explain things and give a little history on the food.
The mistletoe is perfect. I'm off to the kitchen – wish me luck!
Patti
This looks amazing, and I will definitely try these scones.
A little botany lesson: the sprig you have is holly. Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that grows in trees, and isn't an actual tree. Some varieties are also incredibly toxic. But it's a cool memory to have saved from your trip, and it is very festive for your scone pictures!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
Beautiful work as always and this an a variety of scone that I had never heard about before so that is exciting 🙂 I've never seen Keena before too-the things you learn! 😀
Mimi
Scones are favorite snack around our house. The craisin and orange are perfect for the holidays.
mimi
Trissa
Lovely idea – scones with all my favourite holiday flavours!
shaz
Love that story about the holly sprig Deeba! Such a beautiful way to remember the good times. And I love all your pretty props 🙂 Those scones look absolutely delicious, I'm going to have to try them.
Natashya Kitchen Puppies
I have heard good things about this book. And the scones look very tasty indeed!
bethany (Dirty Kitchen Secrets)
What a fantastic twist on the scones. I love this Deeba and I will definitely be giving this recipe a go in the new year when I hope to have more time! Miss you xx
Susan from Food Blogga
Mmmm… I wish I had one of these to enjoy with my cup of tea right now. I love oranges and oats together. In fact, I recently posted on date and orange cookies adapted from a recipe by Sunita. Next I'll have to try your scones.
Lauren
I adore scones. They're simple, delicious and perfect any time of day – these look heavenly Deeba!
lisa @ dandysugar
I saw this recipe and my thoughts about them were similar…these look so fantastic. Scones are just perfect with tea on a workday afternoon to help get me through the rest of the day!
Anonymous
I just tried to get on to vote and got 2008 is that what I am suppose to get?? totally confused..
Erika
P.S. I think you have an excellent baking blog..great recipes and pictures to go with!!!
Bellini Valli
These would disappear pretty quickly from my kitchen as well Deeba. Lovely photographs as always.
Kelsey B.
Mmm, this looks delicious! I love this new cookbook!
truthaboutabs
Thanks so much for this wonderful blog; this is the stuff that keeps me going through the day. I’ve been looking around for your blog after I heard about them from a buddy and was thrilled when I was able to find it after searching for some time. Being a avid blogger, I’m pleased to see others taking initiative and contributing to the community. I just wanted to comment to show my appreciation for your work as it’s very encouraging, and many writers do not get the credit they deserve. I am sure I’ll be back and will spread the word to my friends.
Phil
Hi Deeba – Just wanted you to know that I made your Orange Oat Scones yesterday (just getting into this cooking malarkey!) and they were delicious.
Not sure whether its my cooking skills or your recipe that I have to thank…. Oh ok. Let’s be honest. It was the recipe!