Chicagolandia
Last Friday, I had lunch with my other mother (my mother-in-law) at Panera. While the atmosphere was crowded and noisy and the food was good, but a little pricey for my taste - I discovered a new love. Not just the yummy, over-priced tuna sammie (which with Dijon mustard was a nice change), but the luscious, plump wild blueberry scones that we treated ourselves to as dessert. One bite and I was in love. Head-over-heels, want to eat a dozen more kind of love. The dangerous kind...

For one delicious moment, I imagined making that a weekly treat. Then I imagined how much that would cost over the course of a year, and quickly put an end to that foolishness. So, next stop: the cookbook collection. Naturally, scones were not so much in style over the last decade and recipes for them either: required ingredients I do not typically keep on hand or were deemed a little too unhealthy (heavy cream, anyone??) so I kepy looking. I finally made my way into DaMama's cookbook collection where I found a base recipe I could use as a start point.

What is a base recipe? For me, a base recipe is one I can use the structure of (for dry and wet ingredients) while adding my own spin on things. Which I do. Always. I often start by adding some sort of extract (to any baked dessert or sweet treat), or changing the flavor originally called for in the recipe. Vanilla is nice, but I live my life by rum - extract, I mean. We all have a favorite flavor, mine is simply not vanilla. My rule of thumb: I make what flavors I love, after all, I am the cook/baker.

My first batch of scones I tried using some blueberries I needed to get out of my fridge anyway, and they were good, but not as sweet as I may have preferred. Definitely not as sweet as Panera. But the form and texture were perfect. So, last night, I tried my hand at a second batch of scones, using the original base recipe, and adding some brown sugar which was not called for in the original. This batch has all the flavor I was looking for, the texture is good, the result: a definite keeper. This is the kind of thing you could bring to a fancy brunch and watch people fall all over themselves. Now, I just need some local friends that do brunch, and I'll be all set! If not, Easter is just around the corner.

Cinnamon Raisin Scones Recipe
8 Responses
  1. Frances Says:

    Yeah for finding/creating the perfect recipe! Good for you!


  2. gotta love a new recipe for some yummy dessert. And it has blueberries, so it has to be good for you, right?


  3. Burrowing In Says:

    Panera is a favorite of mine, and I don't mind the price as much since I know it means I'm getting wholesome ingredients, like meat that isn't treated with hormones and antibiotics! That is one of Panera Bread's key values. Same at Chipotle, which I also love!!!


  4. I've been there a few times but I agree so over-priced! But everyonce in a while you know you get to splurge :)

    Loving your new recipes!!


  5. Thanks Frances! I love making good food at home.


  6. Yankee - anything with fruit has to be healthy, right? LOL - I do love that it uses oats - and I have tons of those from the last round of coupon deals back in January


  7. Kathy - I love Panera's food, but anything I can learn to make at home is a winner in my book. I will probably go there as a treat, but until the prices are more reasonable, it won't become a habit.


  8. Alexis - exactly! It's super yummy, I will have to keep it on the back-burner as a very occasional splurge.


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