Beautiful Baking - Organic Scones

Can I make a confession? I can't cook. Well, I can… because I believe that everyone can do anything if they try hard enough but I don't like cooking. In fact,I kind of hate it. It's not fun and I never like anything I make. I think food tastes a lot better when someone else cooks it for you. Am I alone here? Anyway, despite my aversion to cooking, I find that I really enjoy baking. It's so fun to mess around with different recipes and create something, that is hopefully super yummy, for my loved ones.


Scones have become my "thing". I love baking scones! I don't know exactly why I love it so much but it's a ton of fun for me and I really love experimenting with making different flavors of scones.

I know that Beautiful Basics is a beauty blog but I love scones so much and a lot of you expressed interest in the recipe when I shared a photo a while back so I hope you won't mind too much that I'm posting about food.

I have found that when it comes to baking recipes are pretty much just suggestions. You can make substitutions or add other ingredients and create something unique. Baking is a fun process of trial and error. The following is my base recipe for scones and then I had things, by eye, to create different flavors. The photos in this post are of Blueberry and Plain scones but I have also made chocolate chip (the favorite of my family) and Peanut Butter. Feel free to add anything you want to your mix! Also, I use all organic ingredients but you can feel free to use whatever you prefer.

Preheat your oven to 425 and then get your dough ready! You will need:
2 ½ cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar – you can add less or more depending on your tastes and the final flavor you're going for. I go for ¼ cup when using chocolate chips or other sweet ingredients.
¾ cup milk
8 tablespoons of cold cut up butter - I actually use 4 tablespoons of real butter and 4 tablespoons of Earth Balance and it works beautifully. I have found that using only Earth Balance doesn't work as well but if you're a vegan feel free to substitute for the butter

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt before adding the butter. Let the butter incorporate and then add your sugar. Once those ingredients are mixed add your milk. If you're making plain scones you're done but if you're not then this is the point where you will add your other ingredients – berries, chocolate chips, etc. You'll know when the mixture is ready because it becomes a sticky but packed dough ball. At this point you can cut up your dough and stick it on a cookie sheet. I like to form a ball and flatten the bottom on my cutting board. I then take a pizza cutter and cut the dough like a pie. You can make your scones as large or as small as you would like.

Bake your scones until they are a lovely shade of golden brown. This can take anywhere from 10-15 minutes. Take them out of the oven and let them cool on racks. Now you're done and you should have a tasty batch of scones. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Happy Monday beautiful! I hope you had a fantastic week. I know Beautiful Basics is a beauty blog but today is going to be a little different because I'm going to be sharing a recipe for muffins. They're not just any muffins though, they're truly delicious, and healthier than other options. I made them last weekend and they were gone by the next morning, because everyone loved them so much. I figure since Thanksgiving in the U.S. is on Thursday now would be the perfect time to share my treats!

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups sugar (I used 1 ½ cups of white and ½ brown but you can use whatever you want – including raw or a sugar substitute)
1 cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup of vegetable oil
¼ cup of applesauce
1 cup of fresh, frozen, or dried cranberries (I used Craisins, but if you use fresh or frozen you'll want to chop them up)

In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together and then add the pumpkin and oil – make sure to mix very well. Next you'll combine the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until moistened. Now it's cranberry time! You need to gently fold in the cranberries so they don't get broken down and mushy. Fill your lined muffin cups ¾ of the way full and stick your muffin pan in the oven. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. I then dusted the muffins lightly with powdered sugar, but you can skip this part if you'd like!




I hope you enjoy!