Whole Grain Cranberry Apple Scones

One of the things I'm learning as a mom is that kids think they are very clever.  When C helps me bake, she is always finding some way to get her fingers in something sweet.  I let her wipe up "drips" of muffins and cupcakes, clean up "spills" of sugar or honey, and of course lick the beaters and spatulas.  Coincidentally, there are a LOT of drips, spills, and a careful count of each and every utensil used.  In this recipe, we sprinkle sugar onto the tops of the scones before baking, and she has discovered that if she "accidentally" sprinkles sugar on the baking mat, or the counter, or anywhere other than the scones, she gets to eat it.  As a result, we use a lot more sugar than you might otherwise.  She truly believes I don't know what she's up to.  Makes one wonder how much we actually got away with as kids. 

So, scones.  We absolutely adore scones.  They are so simple and so good.  I generally make them once per week, for a weekend breakfast, and I've tried dozens, maybe hundreds of different recipes over the last several years.  This is our current favorite, featuring oat flour and whole wheat flour for a healthy twist (well, as healthy as a whole stick of butter can be).  I'm not into buying specialty ingredients, so I simply whir rolled oats in a food processor to make oat flour.  In fact, this entire recipe is made in a food processor, which this dishwasher in the house (oh, wait, that's me) loves.  In addition to sprinkling sugar at the end, the kiddos can cut butter into cubes, add butter to the processor, pat the dough, and brush the tops.  

Whole Grain Cranberry Apple Scones

Makes approximately 12 round scones.

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups whole wheat flour, plus more for board
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 t baking powder (non-aluminum)
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 cup butter, cut into cubes and chilled (tip: cut it and then place in the freezer while you mix the dry ingredients)
• 1/2 cup buttermilk, yogurt, or cream
• 2 large eggs
• 2 t vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup apple juice (or for more flavor, use 1/4 cup frozen concentrate)
• 1/2 cup chopped apple (about 1/2 apple)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• cream
• turbinado sugar

Method

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2) Whir oats in food processor fitted with steel blade until finely ground.  Add remaining dry ingredients and whir until well mixed.

3) Add butter and process until mixture resembles coarse sand (this is quick).

4) Mix all wet ingredients together in separate bowl.

5) Add wet ingredients to food processor and whir until mixed.  Don't overmix.  Mixture will be wet.

6) Dump out onto floured board and sprinkle top with additional flour.  If the mixture is too wet to handle, fold in some additional flour, up to 1/2 cup.

7) Fold in apples and cranberries and just enough additional flour to make the dough stay together.

8) Press or roll into large disc, approximately 1 inch thick.  Cut into rounds with biscuit cutter and arrange on baking sheet.  If you prefer wedge-shaped scones, move dough to baking sheet, press into a round, and then cut into wedges.

8) Brush the tops with cream and sprinkle lightly with turbinado sugar.

9) Bake at 375 or approximately 20 minutes. Don't overbake.  You want the bottoms to be just brown, the tops just dry.

10) Serve warm with butter, clotted cream, jam, etc.

Jamie Oliver's Tomato Sauce

Jamie Oliver has been doing guest spots in Parenting Magazine, which I've been getting for 4 years and have never paid for (maybe if you have more kids than hands you get a free lifetime subscription?).  Last month he featured his veggie-filled tomato sauce, which looked wonderful.  Now, I'm not a fan of hiding veggies in food (Black bean brownies?  No thanks!  Just give the kids beans, for Pete's sake!), but this seemed like a delicious and decidedly non-sneaky way to get some extra veg in.  I immediately made up a batch but, unfortunately, we didn't like it.  At all.  Far too much red pepper flavor and not enough tomato for us.  The dog, however, loved it, after it was flung from the table with great force by the twins, at the same time, too quickly for me to catch their plates.  A second batch was much better received.  The original recipe calls for 2 bell peppers, which I've eliminated, and I've made a few other variations noted below.  In addition to spaghetti, we've used it on pizza, Pasta with Tomato Sauce, Spinach and Goat Cheese, and in a baked pasta-cheese-deliciousness I concocted the other night.  I think I'll also try it as a tomato soup (thinned with broth), and with ground meat for a lasagna.  In other words, it's versatile.  Final verdict?  I'll be making a batch every couple of weeks!

Ingredients

• 2 small onions, peeled and diced
• 1 leek, thoroughly washed and sliced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 carrots, grated (I use a food processor for all this grating)
• 2 zucchini, grated (or use broccoli stems!)
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled and grated
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 t dried oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 14.5 oz cans plum tomatoes, with juice
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1 cup water
• 1 t sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Method

1) In very large saucepan, heat olive oil and add veggies, oregano, and bay leaves.  Cook slowly, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes with the lid on, or until veggies are soft but not starting to brown.

2) Add tomatoes with juice, water, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 30 minutes.

4) Spoon out bay leaves and blitz with stick blender until smooth.

Makes approximately 13 cups.  You can freeze the extra in quart-sized freezer bags (lay flat so they store well), or can the extra in hot, sterilized jars (tomatoes are acidic so you can just do hot sauce + hot jars).