Baking & Pinterest

If your a lady and you haven't jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon, I highly recommend it. :) If you have no idea what it is, it's a virtual bulletin board, which I think is awesome. You can access my Pinterest page and have a looksy via the Heather's Pinterest button to the right of the blog.

Since we have faster internet in Qingdao and are on vacation I have spent much time on Pinterest. I love all the awesome craft ideas, beautiful pictures, fitness pins and of course all the food!

There's one big problem with Pinterest, though. Everyone posts tons and tons of delicious looking, way-too much sugar-filled dessert pictures. And well, sometimes, I give in, and bake them!

But if you notice the title of my food board is "In all things give praise." This is to remind me that even in eating, baking and cooking I can give praise to God and thank Him for His goodness, even in a scone.

Here's one of the few things I've tried from recipe inspirations on Pinterest.

I didn't take any pictures but I made these petite chocolate chip scones for Church. They were awesome!

They looked the same as in the picture, thanks to a cookie rack dripping over the sink.

We love scones and I was pleasantly surprised to see how easy they were to make. They would be perfect for taking to a party, since the recipe made so many bite size treats. I recommend putting less chocolate chips. They turned out to be soooo sweet, like chocolate chip cookies. I prefer scones that are less sweet, so next time I will put just a few chocolate chips in.

(This recipe and directions are taken from King Arthur Flour and adjusted slightly)

scones

• 2 3/4 cups all purpose unbleached flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cut in pats
• 1 cup to 2 cups mini chocolate chips, or finely chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or the flavoring of your choice
• 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup half and half or milk

glaze

• 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 7 tablespoons water, enough to make a thin glaze
• 1 teaspoon vanilla, optional (I added it)

1) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.

2) Work in the butter just until the mixture is unevenly crumbly; it's OK for some larger chunks of butter to remain unincorporated.

3) Stir in the chips or finely chopped chocolate.

4) In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla or other flavor, and 1/2 cup half and half or milk.

5) Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until all is moistened and holds together. Stir in additional milk or half and half if the dough seems dry, and doesn't come together.

6) Scrape the dough onto a well-floured work surface. Pat/roll it into an 8" to 8 1/2" square, a scant 3/4" thick. Make sure the surface underneath the dough is very well floured. If necessary, use a giant spatula to lift the square, and sprinkle more flour underneath.

7) Cut the square into 2" squares; you'll have a total of 16 small squares. Now, cut each square in half diagonally, to make 32 small triangles. This is all easily accomplished with a rolling pizza wheel; if you're working on a silicone mat, be very careful not to press down too hard as you cut.

8) Transfer the scones to a parchment-lined or well-greased baking sheet. They can be set fairly close together; you should be able to crowd them all onto an 18" x 13" half-sheet pan.

9) For best texture and highest rise, place the pan of scones in the freezer for 30 minutes, uncovered. While the scones are chilling, preheat the oven to 425°F.

10) Bake the scones for 19 to 20 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven, and allow the scones to cool right on the pan. When they're cool, cut each scone in half once again, to make a total of 64 tiny triangles. Don't be too particular here; in fact, if the scones are already a size you like, don't bother to cut them again. But if you decide to cut, don't stress about making them all the same size, or perfect triangles; trust us, no one but you will care once they're glazed and on the table.

11) Make the glaze by stirring together the sugar, water, and vanilla. If the sugar seems particularly lumpy, sift it first, for an extra-smooth glaze.

12) Now you're going to coat each scone with glaze. You can dip each one individually, which is quite time-consuming. Or line a baking sheet (with sides) with parchment, and pour about half the glaze atop the parchment. Set the scones atop the glaze, swirling them around a bit to coat their bottoms. Then drizzle the remaining glaze over the top. Use a pastry brush to brush the glaze over each scone, to coat it entirely. The glaze is very thin, so this is easily done.

13) Transfer the scones to a rack set over parchment, to catch any drips. As you pick each scone up, run its sides over the glaze in the bottom of the pan, both to use up some of the extra glaze, and to make sure all sides are coated.

14) Allow the glaze to set before serving the scones.

Yield: about 64 small (2") scones.

You can make these same scones and just add different ingredients! Next time I will add orange juice instead of vanilla, cranberries and orange zest in an attempt to make Cranberry Orange Scones. 

                        

Since spending some much time on Pinterest I have made a little commitment to myself to not just spend all this time looking but also DOING some of the things I pin. The painting in our living room was inspired by a pin on Pinterest. 

I painted a canvas the desired color I wanted (the teal) and let it dry. After it had dried completely I put a tree sticker of a tree on the canvas and painted everything black. After it had dried, I pulled off the sticker. Pretty easy!

You can do this with any stickers. 

There are many more ideas along this line of creating at this awesome blog. Her's are WAY better than mine. But I'm learning. :)