The Flavor Of Fall

"This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God." 2 Corinthians 9:10-11

I have been on a scone baking binge lately. I love to bake. Few things make me happier than when I can set freshly baked breads on the table for everyone to enjoy. Bread, muffins, cookies, you name it. The problem is that baked goods aren't really great for my....ahem....behind.

So when I found myself here in NC taking care of the middle's children, I was overjoyed! Not only do I have a hungry audience, one of them is a growing boy! A boy who is just hitting his growth spurt and loves all things baked. (to be fair he also likes all things fried, sauteed, broiled, and well you get the picture)

A few weeks ago, the middle and I were out at the coffee place we all know and love. Only it's getting a bit pricey to go there so it's become a bit of a luxury. Just under 20 bucks for 2 lattes and 2 scones was enough to make us decide that we make the same thing at home for pennies. And I knew that I could remake that fall flavor pumpkin scone with less calories. 450 calories for a triangle piece of bread????? I don't think so.

So here is my take on the pumpkin scone. It received rave reviews at middle's school where she teaches. I have to say that I was quite proud of the results. Scones are very forgiving so it doesn't take the finesse that some baking requires. And you can add just about any dried fruit to change up the flavor combinations.

Pumpkin Scones
makes 6-8 depending on how you cut them

I used a food processor to mix dry ingredients and cut the butter in.

2 1/2 cups all purpose or bread flour (wheat or bread flour works but makes the scones a little coarser)
6 TBL turbinado sugar or brown sugar
1 TBL baking powder
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 stick butter (not margarine) Cut into slices and place in the freezer for 30 minutes before starting the recipe
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pie mix) or mashed sweet potatoes
3 TBL half/half (you can use milk and I have even used yogurt or buttermilk)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400. Make sure your oven shelf is in the middle of the oven. You will need parchment paper for this recipe. Or the baking sheet liners from Reynolds that are amazing! Line a cookie sheet with either one. If you are one of the lucky bakers in the world, you have access to one of those silicone baking mats. Middle turned me on to that a couple of years ago and I have to tell you that I am a huge fan of that thing. It makes baking a breeze. But I digress.

Place the dry ingredients in the food processor and pulse once or twice to get it incorporated. Plus it adds some air to the flour mixture as well. Now take your frozen butter slices and dump them in. Pulse for about a minute (longer than you think) until it looks like cornmeal. In a separate bowl, mix the pumpkin, milk, egg and vanilla together with a fork until well blended. Now here you can go one of two ways. I dump the wet into the dry and pulse until I get a ball of dough. Or you can dump the dry into the bowl of wet and stir together until you get a ball of dough. Either way works. Dump the dough out onto a sheet of wax paper (it makes cleanup easier) sprinkled with flour. Knead four or five times and pat out into a circle about an inch thick. Cut

the circle into 6-8 triangles and place on your prepared cookie sheet. Now...here is where I do things a little differently. I put the uncooked scones into the freezer (on the pan) for about 15 minutes to let them get good and cold. It makes them lighter and, in my opinion, keeps them from getting too brown on the bottom. After 15 minutes place the pan into the preheated oven and bake for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. They should be a golden brown on the top.

Let them cool on a rack so that they cool evenly. At this point you can glaze them or leave off the extra calories and just spread one with some yummy pumpkin butter.



Enjoy and please share your favorite scone recipes!!!

Blessings,



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©2014MichelleWelch, team member of Breath Of Life Women's Ministries
photography by Michelle Welch, all rights reserved
Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.