Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Crazy About Oats

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for my absense this past week and a half; I had a lot of schoolwork to finish up before my March Break started, and, in addition to that, I had started the Lenten fast which made baking quite difficult. Now that I am in the oil-free vegan regime, though, the smells of the treats I'm about to share with you don't lure me into taking a bite.  Instead, I hand over the job of taste-tasting, and eating, to my parents, who don't seem to mind the multitude of oats in our baked goods this week.


Over the course of this past week, I have been eating a lot of oatmeal.  The version you see in photo was topped off with dried figs, pecans, and blackberries.  (Mmm). Both of the recipes for the scones and the bars are not original, but there are several modifications that I had made to both. 




Oat Scones

Adapted from Essentials of Baking by Williams-Sonoma

Makes 6 Medium-Sized Scones
For the dough:
1 cup (155g) all-purpose flour
3/4 (75 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup (20g) oat bran
1/4 cup (60g) firmly packed brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp (90g) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch (12 mm) pieces
2/3 cup (160 mL) half-and-half cream or whole milk

For the topping:
2 tsp whole milk or half-and-half cream
2 tbsp rolled oats
1 tbsp turdinado sugar mixed with 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven, preheat to 425°F, and line a rimless baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. 2. In a food processor, combine the flour, rolled oats, oat bran, brown sugar, baking powder and salt and pulse 2 to 3 times to mix.  Add the butter and pulse 7-8 times until pea-sized crumbs form.  Pour in the cream or milk and pulse 5-6 times until moistened.
  3. Turn dough out onto floured surface and press into a ball.  Pat out into a round about 1/2 inch (12mm) thick and 6-1/2 inch(16.5 cm) in diameter.  (If you have the time to do this, I recommmed chilling the dough in the refrigerator for half an hour or so).Cut into 6 wedges and place 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart on the prepared pan.
  4. Brush wedges with the milk or cream and sprinkle with oats and cinnamon sugar.
  5. Bake for 13-17 minutes until golden and brown.  Col slightly on wir rack and serve warm.
Breakfast Oatmeal Squares
You can find this great recipe on Tartelette's blog; the only modificaiton I made was adding an extra tablespoon of honey to the dough, and glazing the squares with more honey after they came out of the oven, just to increase the liquid to dry ratio and make these a little sweeter.

4 comments:

  1. You blow me away, Mary. These pictures! And the scones sound marvelous.

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  2. Yummy yum. I've been eating a lot more oats these days! Glad to have some new recipes to try out!

    ~Michele
    www.etsy.com/shop/chelebert12

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  3. Your blog is adorable. The photography is fantastic and the recipes look very yummy!

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  4. love, love your blog and the photography

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