Cinnamon Chip Scones

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Another one of my “almost famous” recipes is this super easy, yet super yummy recipe for homemade Cinnamon Chip Scones.

I made some this week to take to a morning meeting at work, so I thought I would share with  you.

The first time I had these was at a friend’s house for a holiday party.  Brenda is quite the chef, baker, and entertainer.  We all raved about these scones, but I had never attempted making them before.  I assumed they were difficult.  And truthfully – every scone I ever had before this was less than exciting…..  Many I’ve had were quite dry and lacking in anything that really made me want to do cartwheels.

But these – oh my – I wish I could express to you have awesome they are.  They are tender and moist and full of sweet and cinammony chips.  sc8

And though they end up looking like they would be something difficult or time consuming to make, they are really easy.

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So here we go.

Start by mixing the dry ingredients together (I often do this the night before and put in a bowl with a lid, so I can make fresh in the morning by simply adding the wet ingredients and baking):

2-3/4 cup Flour
1 TBSP Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 cup + 2 TBSP Sugar
Pinch of Salt
2 tsp Cinnamon

Then add 1-1/2 sticks of cold butter, sliced and cut in with a pastry blender (Sorry, Kurt – I told you there was no butter in them – just keep believin’ that – Wink! Wink!)

It starts out looking like this…
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and with the magic of the pastry blender (who needs a food processor?! – have had two – gave away – over-rated), in a matter of about 2 minutes, it becomes a crumbly mixture like this:

sc2Easy Peasy.

Then you add 3/4 cup (or a little more if it is too dry) Buttermilk and 1 TBSP Vanilla with a wooden spoon just until dough forms a ball.

Then you transfer it to a floured surface, blend in a bag of Cinnamon Chips, and shape into a 15 x 3″ rectangle.

Cut it in half, then each half in thirds, then each third on a diagonal into triangles – like this:

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I then brush with a little bit more buttermilk or water, sprinkle some coarse raw sugar on top, place on baking stone (I use 2 with 6 on each) – allowing room for them to GROW.  They go in the oven looking like this:

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Bake at 400 degrees F for 10-15 minutes, and they come out looking like this:

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These are truly best served the day they are baked.  If you store them in an airtight container or bag, they get soft and lose the crispy outside that contrasts so well with the tender inside and makes them so amazing.

sc7Hope you’ll give these a try – even if you don’t think you like scones.  I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

sc8Enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Kicked-Up Chewy Peanut Butter Cinnamon Chip Cookies

Kicked Up Chewey Peanut Butter and Cinnamon Chip Cookies

The other evening while surfing around on Pinterest, I came across an intriguing recipe via FoodieCrush for Flourless Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies that led me to Averie Cooks.  These peanut butter cookies intrigued me because they were rolled in cinnamon and sugar.  I had never thought of combining peanut butter and cinnamon.  And who doesn’t love peanut butter and who doesn’t love cinnamon and sugar?!

Well – I NEEEEEDED to make some cookies to take to our regular Thursday night trip to John’s Bar for dinner and drinks with our friends because I had missed and had to make up for a very important birthday the week before (Sorry Donna – you know I love you!).  These sounded different and worth a try.

The original recipe called for vanilla extract – of course – a staple for cookie bakers – but can you believe I was out of it?!  I had orange extract and mint extract and root beer extract and maple extract and RUM extract…. Hmmmm… Rum extract might work.  Thought I’d give it a shot.  And then to Jodify it and kick it up a notch, I decided to throw in some cinnamon chips too.  Couldn’t hurt – eh?  And instead of granulated sugar to roll them in, why not the coarser brown raw sugar to really add crunch and texture.

Well – oh my – I gotta say – they kinda kicked butt!

This recipe makes approximately 2 dozen large cookies.

Ingredients:

2 cups creamy peanut butter

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1 tsp rum extract

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup cinnamon chips

1/2 cup raw sugar and 3 tsp cinnamon for rolling

Mix the first six ingredients on medium-high speed of a stand mixer for 2-3 minutes.

Flourless Chewy Cinnamon Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies by Averie Cooks

Add cinnamon chips.

Flourless Chewy Cinnamon Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies Kicked Up Batter

Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour or more.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the 1/2 cup raw sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.

cinnamon and sugar

Form 1 inch balls of dough and roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture – TWICE – to create a thicker cinnamon-sugar coating and produce cookies with more texture and more intense cinnamon sugar flavor.

Place balls onto a baking stone about 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly with the tines of a fork, creating a crisscross pattern.

cookie sheet 1

Bake for 8 – 9 minutes. They will look slightly underbaked on top and a little fluffier than you expect when you pull them out, but allow cookies to cool on the baking stone for AT LEAST 10 minutes or until they’ve firmed up.

cookie sheet 2

Once completely cooled, store cookies in a Ziploc bag in the fridge or freezer for best yumminess.

ENJOY!

Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi