Strawberry Ricotta Scones

One sweltering and blindingly sunny summer day an eternity ago, we went strawberry picking. After shortcakes, smoothies, balsamic strawberry jam with cracked pepper, and much strawberry limeade, we ended up with about 5 pounds of berries in the freezer, where they've been hanging out gathering ice crystals ever since. Obviously, it's time to use them before the next strawberry season rolls around, but any old smoothie won't do for these conserved nibble-size beauts. Hard-earned berries require something special.

A few months ago I made these egg-free Blackberry Meyer Lemon Ricotta Scones and I haven't been able to shake their legacy since. Is there a better place to nestle sweet tender summer berries in the dead of winter than in between flaky warm layers of whole wheat ricotta scones? I for one think not.

Strawberry Ricotta Scones
adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar*
1/2 tsp kosher salt
6 tbsp cold, unsalted butter
1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen), coarsely chopped
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup buttermilk

*I upped the sugar just a tad from the original recipe because well, I like sugar, but what I really mean to say is that it offsets the tartness of these particular strawberries. Let your berries be your guide and if yours are particularly sweet, feel free to reduce down to 1/4 cup of sugar.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with a Silpat mat or parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Using a pastry blender or 2 forks, cut the cold butter into the flour mixture until the largest bits are about the size of a small pea. Be patient. It will happen.

Chop the berries coarsely (some big hunks are good!) and add to the flour mixture. Stir to combine.

Add the ricotta and buttermilk all at once. Stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Knead the dough a few times with your hands then dump it out onto a well-floured surface. Pat the dough into a round about 2 inches high. You can add a little more flour to the top of the dough to prevent it from sticking to your hands if it's super sticky.

Use a sharp knife and a steady hand to slice the round into 8 even wedges. Carefully transfer each wedge to the prepared baking sheet.

Bake 15-18 minutes until the scones are golden brown and dry and crisp at the edges. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring the scones to a wire rack to cool completely.

If you really want to do it up, serve them alongside balsamic strawberry jam with cracked pepper or vanilla mascarpone cream. May the sweet flavor sustain you until the return of berry season!

Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Cookies

Confession time. I meant to post these bad boys weeks ago and then the holiday hoopla took over and I never got around to it. That said, these are most definitely not holiday specific cookies. Oat-filled, not too sweet, heavy on the fruit, dairy-free, and egg-free, these vegan delights are perfect lunchbox cookies, cup of tea cookies, even dare I say it, breakfast cookies?!

The KC kids are not the best breakfast eaters. They suck down a cup of milk most mornings and head for the door while I chase them with a piece of toast or an apple. I've already discussed a few of our breakfast strategies, including my go-to Snackfast, but breakfast cookies might do the trick too.

This recipe is so basic and relatively wholesome (they are cookies, after all) that I almost didn't give it a chance. I kept thinking how can these be any good? Where's the butter, you know? And that banana can get overwhelming fast. Thank goodness I didn't listen to me!

Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, teeming with texture and just the right hint of banana to make them interesting, think of them as homemade round granola bars. Then give them to your kids for breakfast without apology. It's a big step up from the rainbow sugar crisps lining cereal shelves at the grocery store, right?

Oatmeal Banana Raisin Breakfast Cookies
adapted from VegWeb

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
3 tbsp water
1 large banana, mashed
1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 & 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 & 1/4 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Using an electric mixer, combine the sugars, oil, and water. Mix in the mashed banana and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together both flours, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined. Stir in oats and raisins. If the batter is runny, allow it to sit for 15 minutes until the oats absorb some of the moisture.
5. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Drop cookies by 1 tbsp dollops onto the cookie sheet and bake 10-13 minutes until the undersides are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Perhaps the best thing about these cookies is their sheer versatility. Feeling particularly virtuous? Use all whole wheat flour and stir in some ground flax seed to boot. Don't like bananas? Try 3/4 cup of applesauce instead, which gives the cookies a more subtle flavor overall. I recommend this route especially if you're going to pour in more than one mix-in. Speaking of mix-ins, the options are truly endless. So far we've tried golden raisins, chocolate chips, and dried cherries - all supremely delicious but sadly I didn't think to combine the chocolate chips and dried cherries in a single batch. Next time.

Instead of raisins, feel free to experiment with an equivalent amount of dried fruit, chocolate chips, shredded coconut, pepitas, sunflower seeds, or nuts if they won't endanger the lives of you or those around you. Obviously we steer clear but that doesn't mean you have to. Throw a few pecans in there for me, would you? Thanks.

Whole Wheat Blackberry and Meyer Lemon Ricotta Scones

Blackberry. Ricotta. Meyer lemons. Uh-huh.

I've been on the prowl for a superstar egg-free scone recipe for some time. Leave it to Deb Perelman, Smitten Kitchen food blogger extraordinaire and author of The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook to have my back. She has a luscious recipe for whole wheat raspberry ricotta scones (no eggs!) that has been calling my name since I stumbled upon it months ago.

Sadly, winter raspberries in Chicago always look like they've been pre-chewed by the time I get to them. And while still far from the plump farmers market jewels we get in August, November grocery store blackberries seem to hold up better to the wear and tear of stock boys and throngs of Thanksgiving shoppers. And the Meyer lemons? They were winking at me across the aisle, glinting their sunny skins right into my eyes, refusing to be ignored.

Whole Wheat Blackberry and Meyer Lemon Ricotta Scones
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/3 cup granulated sugar*
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp cold, unsalted butter
1 cup fresh blackberries, lightly chopped into halves and quarters
1 Meyer lemon (or regular lemon), zest and juice
3/4 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1/3 cup heavy cream

*The original recipe calls for 1/4 cup of sugar, but since I wasn't sprinkling any coarse sugar on top of these babies and I wanted to make sure the kiddos would love them, I upped it ever so slightly. 

1. Preheat the over to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk together the flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Using a pastry blender or 2 forks, cut the cold butter into the flour mixture until the biggest chunks are no larger than a small pea. This might take a few minutes. Be patient.
2. Add the chopped blackberries and lemon zest to the flour-butter mixture. Stir to combine.

3. Add the juice from the lemon, ricotta, and heavy cream all at once. Stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Knead the dough a few times with your hands. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat it into a circular mound.

4. Use a sharp knife and a steady hand to cut eight wedges and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.

5. Bake about 15 minutes until golden brown and crisp at the edges. Allow scones to cool on the pan for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. These are best the day they are baked, but can be frozen and reheated in the oven in a pinch.

Ridiculous, right? These are so freakin' good. Looly polished one off before she took her coat off after school. I would have scolded her but the truth is that mine never even made it onto the cooling rack.

 I'm thinking cranberry-blood orange scones for Christmas morning. What do you think?