Oatmeal, Cherry and Toasted Walnut Scones

By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links which offer sources for ingredients and equipment. 

It’s been snowing out. Even this morning, although it has once again turned very cold, especially overnight. We’ve probably got about six inches of that white stuff accumulated overall. Considering that it is  now mid-January, I don’t really expect a whole lot more of accumulating snows this winter, although I could be wrong. I do bank on having cold temperatures and grey skies until late Spring.

This time of year is great for baking. It helps keep the house toasty when the temperatures go sub-zero. So yesterday I spent the day baking scones, and then a couple of Bundt cakes. The first Bundt I think I forgot to add leavening as it was more like a Bundt-pancake. I am not surprised that my brain wasn’t totally present, as I have just gotten over the virus that has everyone bogged down in epidemic levels.

I also have been working hard at restoring myself- so put together a pot of pho from some bone broth I had tucked away in my freezer. It was spicy and nutritious.

As well, I have been making lots of yogurt with my new Kitchen-Aid precise temp mixing bowl,   which both attaches to the mixer and also can be used stand alone. I like that I can heat my milk, let it beep, add the yogurt cultures, let it beep, then set it to time and hold my specific temperature.

I wish it worked on sick people with a fever. I could have used it last week.

One of the side benefits of making your own yogurt (or even cheese) is the extra whey that is produced. It is the watery cast-off from milk. You might see it  sometimes a little bit on top  of commercial yogurt, or if  you buy something like feta cheese at the market- that’s not water it is floating in. It’s whey.

It is good  for a number of things, so if you are lucky enough to get it from making something like yogurt, absolutely do not put it down the drain.

You can use it in a number of things, like baking, or making nutritious protein smoothies,  or adding to feta to keep it moist. But in the recipe below, if you don’t have it, you can either use buttermilk in the same quantity, or mix up some  whey from protein powder that you buy. I believe it mixes up at one scoop  of whey protein powder per one cup of water.

I have also added affiliate links for the dried cherries and sparkling sugar should you need them, or want a visual of what those are. The sugar is not just table sugar, but very coarse and sparkling. I used Bob’s Red Mill brand.

Join me tomorrow when I post my recipe for the Lemon Bundt Cake with cream  cheese frosting that I told you I was baking. It’s good. Bill won’t let any go out  to share and wants it all for himself. I told him that I guess if he felt strongly about sharing cake this month he could always dig that pancake of a flat cake that came before it out of the dumpster. Then I laughed in my best “Dr. Evil” (from Austin Powers) laugh.  Although I am not very good at that impression.

And don’t forget to take a peek at the other oatmeal recipes in the linkup by clicking the blue froggy. The link won’t take you to the twilight zone- just to recipes. My web hosting service doesn’t allow the link-ups to post direct to my site, and it’s not important enough to switch service just over that odd bit. They have been good to me in all other ways. And I tend to be loyal to those who treat me well. It’s the right thing to do.

~s

Oatmeal, Cherry and Toasted Walnut Scones

• Servings: 8
• Time: 1hr 20mins
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 6 fluid ounces whey or buttermilk
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 cup finely chopped dried cherries (plus 1-2 tablespoons flour)
• 3/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 2-3 tablespoons coarse sparkling sugar

Method:

1. Stir together the flour,  oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl.
2. Add cubes of  butter to the bowl and cut the butter in with a pastry cutter until the mixture is coarse crumbs.
3. Whisk together the whey (or buttermilk) and egg in a small bowl. If using powdered whey, make sure you mixed it with water or milk (usually about one scoop).
4. Sprinkle the cherries with the little bit of extra flour so they stay separate (as opposed to clumping) and have something to adhere them to the batter,  stirring until they are dusty, then adding the walnuts.
5. Mix the cherry nut mixture into the flour.
6. Add the egg/whey mixture, stirring gently just until the flour mix is moistened.  Over stirring will make the scones tough.
7. Cover the dough with plastic and chill for about half  an hour.
8. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
9. Turn the chilled dough out onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and pat into a disk nine inches across, avoiding handling with your warm fingers as much as you can.
10. Using a pastry brush, brush top of dough with a little bit of milk and sprinkle with coarse sugars.
11. With a sharp knife wet with cold water, cut the disk into eight wedges, separating the scones about 1/2 inch apart  to let the oven heat get down to the sides.
12. Bake scones for 25-30 minutes or until browned and done on the sides.

From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com

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January 2018: Oatmeal

Be sure to check out the other Fantastical Oatmeal recipes this month!

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