Thursday, January 24, 2013

Whatever Scones


I generally don't enjoy bakery scones.  You know, the sweet, monstrous triangles whose textures somewhat resemble a rock.  I like moist, tender scones:  those that are more like fluffy biscuits than small pastries.  This scone recipe is like that, with the added bonus of being able to mix in whatever the heck you are hankering for.  Thus the name.

In other news, I'm learning the Dvorak keyboard.  This is mostly curiosity-driven; I want to see how fast I can pick it up.  I'm sticking with Qwerty a work, so I can still get things done.  Needless to say, typing at home is slow going.

Whatever Scones

  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup white flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup cornmeal
  • 1 1/3 cups rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup veg oil
  • 6 Tbsp honey/maple syrup/sugar/any combo
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/4 cup plain yogurt
  • 2-3 cups stuff*
*I used 
  • 1 cup chopped apple
  • 1/2 cup chopped cranberries
  • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 cup coconut shreds
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  1. Preheat oven to 400F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat.
  2. Mix flours, sugar, leavening, salt, cinnamon, cornmeal, and oats.
  3. Add the oil, honey, eggs, and yogurt and mix halfway.
  4. Stir in the stuff.
  5. Drop 1 1/2 to 2 inch blobs onto prepared baking sheets and flatten slightly.
  6. Bake for 18-22 minute, rotating pans halfway through.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

A New Muffin Year

We've had a pretty excellent Christmas and New Years.  We spent a week at home in Minnesota spending time with friends and family and making and eating delicious foods.  One of my family parties featured an "ethnic" theme, with dress-up encouraged.  We're special.  Every time we go home for a bit, I get excited to move back there and spend more time with family.  They my peeps.

We were hoping to have an epic ski season, as both our schedules enable us to work from wherever for this year only.  However, Ullr seems to have different plans.  Not much is open, and for the week that my parents and sister were out, there was only 1" of snow total.  Oh, the sadness of our little first-world problems.  In the meantime, I've rediscovered my love of skate skiing.  And Matt comes along too.  He's less efficient, which works out pretty well for pacing.  Also, nordic is a lot harder at 9,000 ft than it is in Minnesota.

We're back in Boulder and just getting into the swing of work again.  I'm writing like a fiend and trying to finish up all the last experiments that haven't been working for the last 9 months.  Somehow, I still adhere to the irrational belief that they will work this semester.

After coming home from a week of vacation, we had almost nothing to eat at home, so whipped these up.  While I'm not usually a proponent of weenie baked goods, there are remarkably moist and delicious.


Morning Glory Muffins

  • 1 cup whole-wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 cup oats
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 cup mashed banana + applesauce
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 3/4 cup shredded carrots (about 2 smallish)
  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut
  1. Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease 12 muffin cups
  2. Mix the flours, oats, sugar, soda, and salt together.
  3. Mix the yogurt, bananapplesauce and egg in a separate bowl and add it to the flour mixture.  Stir until blended, but don't overmix.  
  4. Stir in raisins, carrots, and coconut.  You can add nuts too if you like.
  5. Fill the muffin cups full and bake 20-25 minutes.