Cherry Butternut Drop Scones

I have a pantry overflow shelf just inside the door to the garage. “What in the hell is a pantry overflow shelf?” you might ask. (In my mind you say it this way…with a slight twang—“Whaat. In the hail. Is a pantry overflow shealf?”)

Well….it’s the place where I put the extra cans and bottles and various and sundry pantry items that don’t currently fit in my adequately sized kitchen pantry. I’m Italian American. I buy extra amounts of items that my kitchen should never be without. I buy ingredients that look like they’d be good for a recipe I haven’t even dreamed of yet. I have a pantry overflow shelf…please don’t judge me.

There’s a can or two of Organic Pureed Butternut Squash on that shelf. “Why?” (Again…with a slight twang—“Whay?”) I don’t know. It’s pretty easy to just buy a butternut squash, cook it, and use it in recipes. I’d just never seen it canned. And, organic! Boom. In the cart. On the shelf. (It’s that easy. Try it. But, this time with a Northern Jersey accent. “Boom. In da cart. On da shelf.” See? You too can have a pantry overflow shelf.)

I’ve been eyeing that can for awhile. Thinking about what to do with it. And, the other day, snowed in, wanting scones, I grabbed it and started baking. I really had something more exotic than scones in mind for that can of squash. But, I was hungry and breakfast wasn’t going to make itself. And, scones are pretty quick and easy. Voila! Cherry Butternut Drop Scones.

They came out light and sweet and delicately, deliciously flavored. Butternut squash is not an overwhelming flavor but it provides a mellow undertone. I bet you could use pumpkin or sweet potato very easily in it’s place—they’re a little stronger in flavor but would be a good variation. After all, how many people have Organic Pureed Butternut Squash sitting on their overflow pantry shelf?

Cherries are, without a doubt, one of the most delectable of fruits. Visit Diane Elbin’s (The W.H.O.L.E. Gang) Friday’s Foodie Fix for more great cherry recipes. Oh yeah…check out The Sensitive Pantry’s Red Velvet Smoothie. Lip smacking cherry chocolate goodness for breakfast or a healthy dessert.

Cherry Butternut Drop Scones

¾ cup sorghum flour

¾ cup rice flour blend*

¼ cup tapioca flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Dash nutmeg

5 teaspoons Earth Balance

1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons rice milk*

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup butternut squash puree*

Handful or two of dried cherries

Turbinado sugar for sprinkling

The Earth Balance, rice milk, and butternut squash puree are best if used cold but, if not, don’t let that deter you from making these on the spur of the moment.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the rice milk, lemon juice, vanilla and squash puree together in a large measuring cup until smooth. Place it back in the refrigerator.

Place the flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together until combined.

Cut the cold Earth Balance into small chunks and place on top of the flour mix. Cut the Earth Balance in with a pastry blender, two forks, or your hands until it’s well incorporated and has the consistency of coarse sand.

Pour the wet mixture into the flour and mix gently by hand with a curved spatula or spoon. Add the cherries and incorporate gently into the dough.

Scoop big spoonfuls of the dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar, place in the middle of the oven and bake for 16-18 minutes. The recipe should make about 12 scones.

*Notes:

I used Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Flour, which has xanthan gum as an ingredient. If you use another flour blend be sure it has xanthan gum in it or add xanthan gum to the recipe in proportion to the amount of flour you’re substituting (about 1/4 to 1/3 teaspoon xanthan per cup of flour).

You can substitute the rice milk with another non-dairy milk—coconut, hemp, or soymilk, for example. Also, if the milk is vanilla flavored or sweetened you’ll want to adjust the vanilla and sugar in the recipe slightly.

The Butternut Squash puree was similar to canned pumpkin puree. You can use pumpkin or sweet potato, if desired. Since not all purees will be the same you may need add a little more flour or milk to get the dough to right consistency. The dough should stand up easily when spooned onto the parchment lined cookie tray.

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Triple Orange Muffins

It’s the little things in life that thrill me. OK, I’m easy that way.

Kitchen short-cuts learned over the past year or so fall into the “little things” category. I wasn’t much of a baker before going gluten-free so, I didn’t use the little baker’s tricks that ease the path to baking success. I’m learning as I go.

This is basic stuff for you seasoned bakers but I’m excited to share. Like I said…the little things thrill me.

1)   Store starches & gums in jars. Tapioca starch is explosive. Not combustible. More volatile, turbulent, rocketing. (Yes, I used the Thesaurus!) I’m pretty sure some type of starch—not flour—was used in I Love Lucy when Lucille Ball ends up wearing flour during a cooking episode gone awry. That’s how I look when I’m baking—tapioca starch everywhere! I used to keep starches in the bags in which they’re sold—rubber banded to keep from spilling—and then contained in a second zippered plastic bag for added protection. Well, starches have just graduated to quart-sized wide mouth mason jars. No more battling with the explosive white stuff.

2)   Crush nuts instead of chopping them. Chopping nuts was my job when my sister and I baked together as pre-teens. She was older, bossed me around, and got to do all the fun stuff. I got to chop nuts. Needless to say, I’m not a big fan of chopping nuts. Put the nuts in a zippered plastic bag, push the air out and seal it. Gently tap, tap, tap with a heavy spoon or similar object until the nuts are the right size. If there are still large pieces in the mix break them with your fingers. This works well with walnuts and pecans. Other types of nuts that are less fragile may take a heavier hand or you may have to revert to chopping.

3)   Coat nuts, dried fruits, and chocolate chips with a little flour so they don’t sink to the bottom of the muffin (or cake or brownie…you get it). Put the add-ins in a zippered plastic bag (gotta love those plastic bags) with a teaspoon or so of flour and shake until everything’s coated. Then add to the batter.

4)   Stir your batter with a curved silicone spatula instead of a spoon. It’s so much easier. This might not work with a really heavy batter so you may have to revert back to a heavy spoon for those.

5)   Use an ice cream scoop to fill muffin cups. Almost everyone knows about this technique but, I just started doing it and it makes a huge difference. Get an old-fashioned ice cream scoop, the one with the mechanism that releases the ice cream when you push the thumb handle, and use that to scoop muffins and cupcakes into the tins. The muffins come out uniform and have a very pretty domed top.  

Little things, folks, little things.

On to the muffins…

We got a tray of Honeybell Oranges from a friend. They beg to be eaten. Sweet. Juicy. A little bit of sunshine in a bright orange wrapper.

One or two could easily be sacrificed for a delightful breakfast food. No, not three…just one or two. The triple in Triple Orange Muffins is all about the flavor and color of orange. So, we’ve got orange juice, orange zest, and carrots making up our little orange triplet.

I’ve made these a few times and each time they’ve been tasty. Also, each time they’ve stuck to the muffin liners. So, if you have some tips on how to fix that please let me know.

Triple Orange Muffins

1/2 cup (one small container) coconut milk yogurt

1 cup orange juice, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ cup grapeseed or canola oil

2 flax eggs

2 carrots, coarsely grated

zest of one orange

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 cups sorghum flour

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1 cup rice flour blend*

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar, for decoration

Heat oven to 400℉. Lightly grease and flour muffin cups or line with paper or foil liners.

Make the flax eggs by mixing 2 tablespoons flax with 6 tablespoons warm water.

In bowl combine (whisking them together) yogurt, ¾ cup of the orange juice, vanilla, and flax egg. Add the grated carrots and orange zest. Stir together.

In separate bowl whisk together sugars, flours, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt and baking soda until combined.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry a little at a time mixing gently by hand until the batter comes together. (Add remaining orange juice a tablespoon at a time if the batter seems too stiff.) Gently fold in walnuts and raisins. Spoon into muffin cups.

Sprinkle muffins with chopped walnuts and turbinado sugar.

Bake 20-25 minutes.

Makes about 10 large muffins.

*I used Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Flour which has xanthan gum as an ingredient. If you use another flour blend be sure it has xanthan gum in it or increase the xanthan gum in the recipe in proportion to the amount of flour you’re substituting (about 1/4 to 1/3 teaspoon xanthan per cup of flour).

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