Cheater Cheater
Pumpkin Scone Eater!
Ah, fall. The first official day of fall is today – yeeee! So I thought I’d drop a surprise with a little treat – an extra mid-week post!
*screaming* HAPPY SWEATA WEATHA Y’ALL!
Ya welcome! Let’s get into it –
It’s Pumpkin Szn
Out of all the hype everyone has for Pumpkin Spice, pumpkin scones are not something I’ve seen or even thought of. Luckily, I stumbled upon a nicely packaged pumpkin scone MIX. I was excited. I immediately thought to myself (in the Kronk voice) “oh yea, it’s all coming together.”
Not just for the Brits.
Scones are so posh. They go with every-damn-thing – champagne, brunch, high-tea, coffee, a book, breakfast in bed, a rainy afternoon, more champagne…I could go on. I love them dearly. I’ve attempted to make them from scratch once and they were like….ugh, shit, just alright? Don’t get me wrong, they were great, but all the damn work and waiting, and chilling (literal chilling of the dough in the fridge) – it wasn’t for me. The process took too long for me to feel just lukewarm about the results. The things we did in times of COVID, amirite?
BUT SERIOUSLY. I grew up around awesome & creative home-cooks. Substitutions, additions, edits, etc. – it can seriously change the entire course of a recipe. Its amazing what little things our tastebuds pick up on & what our brains predict will taste well together – especially something outside the box! My mom calls it “doctoring it up.” Another southern “-ism” I’m sure you’ve all heard of at one time or another.
This pumpkin scone mix was innocent enough – I was happy to see there wasn’t a crazy-long list of ingredients. Things I could actually pronounce, it was all good. I started rummaging thru my pantry try to make it “more fall” – like, “more fetch”.
Cheating, but not really.
DRIED CRANBERRIES. Yes, yes. Oh yes. Such a fall staple. Absolutely screams fall. I had to add it to this scone mix to make it my own. But wait, shit. Dried fruit sometimes burns or even hardens in the dough so that’s a no-go….so how could I make this work? I reconstituted the cranberries in warm water & 2 TBS of apple cider vinegar – just for that slightly acidic bite & extra “umph” ! I steeped them for about 2 hours & drained the remaining liquid out before folding them into my scone batter. Voila! Softer, but still tasty, chewy, cranberries ready for baking!
((I literally just covered the cranberries in water (don’t let them SWIM in it, ok?) and then stirred in the 2 TBS of apple cider vinegar & covered with plastic wrap & set aside))
But I kept nagging at myself….something else HAD to go into this mix. Reconstituted cranberries were not going to cut it. Like, oh yea, congrats. Blogger of the damn century right here – I’m sure no one had never, ever thought to add some fruit to a scone mix – I deserve my own eyerollllll. Bitch, please. Riveting.
The Good Stuff
ALMOND EXTRACT. (stamping my foot) YES THAT’S IT! What an unexpected & delightful addition! But (again) wait, shit. I have never used this scone mix before. What if I completely fuck it up by adding this 1 ingredient & it tastes like shit and I’ll never know if I was the one who messed it up or if it was just an awful mix to begin with?? – cue the anxiety & self-doubt.
Pffft. I got it. No biggie. I’ll make a glaze. I personally believe all scones *should* have a glaze. If they don’t, they are trash. You read it here. Its just my opinion, but its right.
Glazes are so simple – truly. 2 or 3 ingredients – mix well – das it. Its hard to mess up & even harder not to like it. Suga & Wata – but adding in that *touch* of almond extract completely changed the game! I’m sure other extracts would be divine – peppermint, lavender, vanilla, etc!
Just some notes – A vanilla scone mix would be super festive with mini chocolate chips added in & a peppermint glaze! An apple scone mix would be delicious with chopped, dried apricots & a vanilla glaze! A butter scone mix would be refreshing with fresh lemon zest & lemon glaze!
THE LIST GOES ON – just wanted to give you a few ideas :)
After you are over your evil-chemist phase….meaning, once you have picked what extra ingredients you’d like to add into your basic-ass scone mix – bake the scones according to package directions and allow them to cool for about 15-20 minutes on top of your oven. Then, whip up your glaze and, using a spoon, gently drizzle about 2 spoon-fulls over each scone. It should be effortless & like, really pretty.
MAKE THE MAGIC!
Feel free to get creative on your own – find ANY scone mix & see what you can do (within reason, shit. don’t get weird) to make it your own! It obviously doesn’t take much & its pretty exciting to feel accomplished by putting your thinking cap on and transforming something – even if its as little as 2 ingredients! Hope you enjoyed this fall-themed detour; I did, at least! & if you didn’t, then same.
INGREDIENTS
· 1 packaged scone mix
· ((whatever extra ingredients it calls for – mine was only 2/3 cup water))
INSTRUCTIONS
· Mix your ingredients according to package directions.
· Bake according to your package directions.
GLAZE
· ¾ cup powdered sugar
· 2 TSP cold water
· ½ TSP almond extract – ((omit if you don’t think this particular flavor goes with your scone mix! – I swear to Lucifer, you should have been paying attention — SEE ABOVE!!!))
Thanks for stopping by!
I appreciate you stopping by! If you loved it, I’d love to hear from you.
If you hated it, then same.
Have a great day & look for my next entry!
© 2021 Cookin’ & Cussin’
