One of my best friends in the world loves blueberry lemon desserts. When I started making batches and batches of scones, she requested one with that flavor combination and I knew exactly which recipe I would use as a base. This recipe is based on the cranberry white chocolate scones on my site and with the addition of lemon extract they turned out really well. Because I don’t put a glaze on my scones, it is very hard to get a prominent lemon flavor from juice alone, so I added lemon extract and it did the trick.

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup white chocolate chips/chunks
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries; frozen won’t leak as much into the batter
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (you may need 1-2 tablespoons more depending on how the dough comes together)
• 3/4 teaspoon lemon extract
• additional white sugar for sprinkling on top of the scones

Preheat your oven to 400° and line a baking tray with a baking mat or parchment paper. Place flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cubes of butter into a large bowl and rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until you have a coarse breadcrumb texture. Some pea sized lumps of butter is fine. (I was using frozen butter so I grated mine with a cheese grater.) Add the white chocolate chips and blueberries and stir very briefly to evenly distribute. Place the eggs, heavy cream and extract into a bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Add the egg mixture into your flour mix and stir gently, until a soft, crumbly dough forms. You want it to hold if you press the dough together, but not be sticky and wet. If the mixture is still too crumble, add in the extra cream, 1 tablespoon at a time. (I live at altitude and added 2 tablespoons and probably could’ve added one more.)  Tip the dough onto your prepared baking tray and press into a large disc, around half an inch thick. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut the disc of dough into 6-8 wedges. At this stage you can leave the scones in a circle, or use a spatula to spread the scones around the baking tray with a 2 inch gap in between each one. Sprinkle some white sugar onto the top of each scones and then place in the oven for 13-17 minutes. (I left mine in a round for about 14 minutes because my mixture was pretty crumbly, then I separated them and baked for about 5 more minutes. You’ll know they are done when they are risen, golden around the edges and sound light when you tap on the top.

I think I might have a problem.  A scone problem. Currently there are 7 different types of scones in my freezer, and I have variety to satisfy any particular craving on any particular day. The thing I like about them is how well they reheat. It takes away all of the worry about trying to finish them before they go bad because you can just individually wrap them and store them in the freezer. This latest recipe filled a niche I didn’t have yet, and that is the pecans. It adds an earthiness that I enjoy and it pairs really nicely with the apple. I toasted my pecans before mixing them into the batch but that is an entirely optional step.

• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 cup butter, preferably frozen
• 1/2 large apple, pealed and chopped into small pieces
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped, toasted
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• cinnamon sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 425. In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Grate your frozen butter with a box cheese grater, then mix into the dry ingredients. Add the chopped apples and pecans, stir. Pour in the heavy cream, and stir until incorporated. Once the dough comes together, form into a circle, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, then cut into 8 pieces and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes or until browned. If you want,  you can mix together half a cup of powdered sugar with two tablespoons of milk to form a glaze and drizzle over the cooked scones.

With fall right around the corner I knew I would need to find a pumpkin scone recipe to indulge in. The first place I checked was my go-to site, cookiesandcups.com.  Of course she had a fabulous scone recipe, but I took mine down a slightly different path and added cinnamon chips to it; as well as left off the icing. I have explained on previous recipes that I like to store my scones in the freezer and that doesn’t lend itself to icing. I judge every recipe on here as if it didn’t have the frosting and it absolutely has to taste yummy without it. The cinnamon chips in this scone just reinforce the fall flavors and add that little bit of sweetness without being too much.

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup cold, salted butter, preferably frozen
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup cinnamon chips, (I found mine at Walmart)
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (like Sugar in the Raw) for garnish

Preheat oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Set aside. Grate the frozen butter on a box cheese grater, then mix into your dry ingredients. Add in the cinnamon chips. In a medium bowl whisk together 1/2 cup heavy cream, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Mix the dough together using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. It should have a slightly dry texture and hold together, but not be crumbly. Add an additional 1-2 tablespoons of cream if the dough seems too dry. Place the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and form it into a ball. Flatten the ball into a circle about 1 1/2- inches thick. Using a knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 8 wedges. Place the wedges onto the prepared baking sheet and brush with the remaining 2 tablespoons heavy cream. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly golden.

This scone recipe is another winner if you want a delicious scone that has lots of flavor, but isn’t dry. It comes from my favorite food blogger cookiesandcups.com and once again she doesn’t disappoint. The recipe recommends adding a drizzle to the scones, but because I freeze mine individually I leave it off. I will include it here in case you want to try it, but I personally don’t think they need it. Also, because I live at altitude I had about 2 more tablespoons than the recipe calls for in order to get everything to hold together.

Scone:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup toffee bits
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream, divided
• 1 medium banana, mashed (about 1/3 cup)
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar for garnish

Drizzle:

• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cut the butter into the mixture using a pastry cutter or a fork until the mixture resembles very coarse sand. Don’t worry if you have butter the size of peas throughout the mixture, this is fine. Mix in the chocolate chips. In a medium bowl mix together 1/2 cup of the heavy cream and banana. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour the cream mixture into the well. Mix the dough together using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. It will be slightly dry, but will hold together. Don’t over-mix. Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a disk about 1 1/2 – 2- inches thick. Using a knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 6 wedges. Place the wedges onto the prepared baking sheet, and brush with the remaining 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 15- 20 minutes until the edges are golden brown.

For the icing drizzle, whisk together the butter, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and milk until smooth. Drizzle the icing onto the scones and allow it to set. Serve warm or at room temperature.

My husband’s family is Czech and as such he has a huge love of kolaches. We’re talking the fruit-filled pastries, not the savory roll with sausage inside. Since I’ve been having success with my baking experiments this month I found a recipe and tried making them from scratch. They were delicious! I was so so pleased with how they turned out and start to finish they only took about two hours.

For the Dough:

• 2/3 cup milk (2% or higher is best)
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast, or instant
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 large egg yolk
• 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon fine salt

For the Filling:

• 3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• thick fruit preserve of your choice, I had strawberry

For the Crumb Topping:

• 1/8 cup flour
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon butter, melted

Warm the milk in a microwave-safe bowl for about 30 seconds until lukewarm. The target temperature is 110°. Once it’s at precisely 110°, add the yeast, sugar and 2/3 cup of the flour. Mix together well and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. (Because I used instant yeast I mixed this together while I got the rest of the ingredients together, but didn’t wait for it to double.) In another bowl, add the melted butter. Let cool briefly before stirring in the egg yolk. Add this to the yeast mixture and mix well. Add the remaining flour, salt, and mix very well well. Next, knead the dough for 10 minutes, making sure to lightly flour the board and your hands as you go. At the end of 10 minutes, the dough will be soft, supple, and not sticky at all. Grease a bowl with cooking spray and add the dough. Cover and let it rise in a warm place until it doubles in size. (At the end of this rise, you could cover it and put it in the fridge to use the following day. It will deflate, but it’s okay).

Next, you want to evenly divide the dough into 12 equal portions. I do this by weighing the dough, and dividing it by 12. Roll each dough ball into a perfect circle (see photo). Line a 9″ pie plate with parchment paper, and arrange the dough balls in it. At this point, I press gently on the dough to make a slightly oblong shape instead of a perfect circle. Let the dough rise until doubled in a warm place. Preheat the oven to 375°. Once the dough balls have doubled in size, use your fingers to make deep indentations for the fillings. Divide the fillings between the kolaches, I did 4 cream cheese, 4 strawberry and 4 strawberry cream cheese, but do what makes you happy.

Bake the kolaches for 18-21 minutes, until nicely golden brown. Use a toothpick inserted into the center kolache to ensure the rolls are done. Let cool slightly, and then tear apart and serve.