Hello again! :)
Last week I baked some savoury and some sweet treats! We had some blueberries that needed using so that is how blueberry scones came about. My sister then wanted some chocolate chip cookies because apparently I had promised her some for her birthday and never made them. I guess that is an oops on my end...
I made the cookies first, not for any logical or scientific reason, but simply because I just happened to make them first. These are really easy to make and relatively quick as well. I found both recipes off BBC Food. Generally, I find that this is a good place to find recipes.
I don't know about you, but personally, I always seem to be searching for the perfect cookie recipe. Now this I feel is a bit of a pipe-dream per say, as the perfect cookie is different to each individual. Chewy, crisp, thin, thick, crumbly, cake like... the list goes on. There are also so many different flavours. The classic chocolate chip, oatmeal, wholegrain, citrus, raisin... I prefer the slightly crumbly, chocolate chip cookie.
Then there's butter to consider. Creamed, chilled, melted, softened, salted or non- salted. I researched a lot about these different methods and found a really great photo that explained what a cookie would look like if you used a particular method.
And lets not forget sugar. Granulated, caster, soft brown sugar, light brown sugar, dark brown sugar or a combination of some. I mean it is no wonder it's so difficult to find the right cookie recipe, let alone figure out how to make it.
On to the scones, for these bad boys you will need the following. Scones are pretty easy going, in that they don't require a whole load of equipment to make them, you could even get away with as little as a set of scales and a baking tray. The rolling pin could be replaced by either a roll of clingfilm or just your hand. A glass could be used for a cutter and the back of a teaspoon for the egg wash brush.
Then again, you could just go for the cutter, rolling pin and pastry brush. It makes it all a little easier.
The ingredients you will need are; and you can make these whatever flavour you want. I made them blueberry as I had some lying around and needing to be used. (this is a BBC Food recipe)
Blueberry Scones Ingredients:
- 350g Self Raising flour, plus a little extra for the non sticking to the counter
- 1/4 tsp Salt- the fine stuff. This is the stuff you'd use on the table for dinner, not the fancy rock salt
- 1 tsp Baking Powder- I used a little less as I'm always a little worried it having that gritty on the back of your teeth taste.
- 85g Butter- relatively cool
- 3 tbsp Caster sugar
- 175ml Milk, again I used slightly less than this as didn't want to make them all soggy and gross. Instead I dribbled in a little at a time and then stopped when it looked good.
- It said to use 1 tsp of Vanilla, but this is a scone, so I thought not to add the vanilla. That and the fact that vanilla, even though I like it, can be a very over powering flavour. It is one of those flavours that if you don't like it, can ruin the whole thing for you.
A good example of this is when I was out for dinner, I ordered what I thought was a vegetable risotto. It was crab. Crab risotto. With crab. Not good in the slightest. Forced myself I did to eat the whole thing. I think it was around the 22nd excruciating bite, that my stomach said no more. Hence, one un-liked flavour will ruin everything.
- Some lemon juice - this is for making the buttermilk. If you don't have buttermilk it says to add lemon to normal milk. The lemon curdles it slightly and makes it thick, making something like buttermilk.
- Beaten egg yolk for the glaze, it said to add the whole egg, but I just used the yolk. You could save the whites for meringue or something.
- Around half a box of blueberries. I used fresh, but I guess you could use frozen. Not entirely sure how that would turn out.
Blueberry Scones Method:
- Preheat the oven to 220C in a fan oven and allow this to heat up.
- Chuck the flour, salt, baking powder and caster sugar into a bowl and mix together until it all mixes together.
- Add in the chunks of butter and using your hands (hopefully clean) and run the flour mix and butter together until it all looks sandy and breadcrumb like.
- Squeeze the lemon into the milk and give it a stir until it thickens and mixes together. Pour this gradually into the flour mix with one hand, and mix with the other one. Word of warning, your hand is gonna get super sticky and a little grim looking... it's all apart of the fun.
- Add in the blueberries and then scrape the mix out onto the a floured counter. Using the sides of your hands, roll the dough into a disc shape and then flatten either with a rolling pin or just your hand.
I liked the feeling of this dough, it was soft, squishy and pliable; making it easy to roll out. Using a floured cutter, cut out little scones shapes and plop them onto the baking tray you have prepared. Glaze them with the egg wash and then shove them in the oven to bake.
- Bake for 10 minutes until they are golden brown and baked all the way through. Once baked, let them cool on a cooling rack.
- Serve with butter or clotted cream and jam. Whatever you want.
Well that's the scones done. Onto the cookies!
I love cookies, especially the chocolate chip kind. All chocolate chippy and crunchy. I've already dithered on about trying to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, so now I'll just get on with the ingredients and method. This is another BBC Food recipe. I think that most BBC Food recipes are a solid bet. They are recipes that you just know will work and are there for you.
The equipment you will need is a bowl with a beater attachment, scales for weighing the ingredients, 2 baking sheets lined with baking paper, and an ice cream scoop.
Preheat the oven to 170 C fan oven. Line two baking sheets with baking paper and set aside so they are ready for the cookies when needed.
Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients:
- 150g Salted butter; I made sure this was softened enough to make the creaming method easier
- 80g Light brown sugar
- 80g Granulated or Caster Sugar
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 Large Egg
- 225g Plain flour
- 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 200g Chocolate chips; I used milk as I prefer milk to plain when in cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies Method:
- Fling the butter and sugars into the bowl and allow them to mix until they have become one mix and are light and fluffy looking. The caster/ granulated sugar makes them more cake-like and the brown sugar gives them a chewy factor. The best of both sides I think.
- Add in the vanilla and egg and mix this on a low speed. This will ensure that the liquid mixes in completely and doesn't curdle or splash out all over you and the area surrounding your mixer.
- Chuck in the flour. I didn't sift it as it wasn't really needed. I used to sift, but have since found no benefit in it whatsoever. All it could do is remove any lump bits from the flour. But as there were no lumps in my flour, I didn't.
- Add in the bicarbonate of soda and salt as well and then give all the dry ingredients a good mix to make a fluffy cookie dough.
- Add in the chocolate chips and give one final mix. You don't want to over mix the dough and make it tough. You want it to be crumbly and light when baked and eating it.
- Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies have gone slightly golden around the edges and look baked. Remember that they'll harden as they cool, so you don't want them to over bake and go kinda burnt.
- Once baked, take out of the oven and allow to cool on the tray. Once cooled, move them onto a cooling rack and leave to firm up completely.
- All that is left is to eat them! One word...yum!
p.s these are really nice microwaved for 10 seconds or less. It makes the chocolate melt slightly. Yum :)
Thanks again for reading and have a lovely weekend all!
