Mother's Day Breakfast (Fruity Breakfast Muffins)

Two posts in one day. . on a roll! Here is once again a recipe so old that these muffins were another part to my mother's muffin basket for mother's day. This is also one of the many dozen recipes that I have stored away in my blog drafts because ironically it is the safest place to hide them far from the trash can or from being put into lost hands. However, it is just now being posted to the public because of my four month strike from Blogger. (In which I am deeply sorry to any readers out there who have missed reading up on my recent culinary creations.)

These fruity breakfast muffins are a top favorite amongst me, my friends, and my family. They are fresh with fruit, vibrant with lemons, and have the classic crunch from walnuts that balance off the moist flavorings from the banana. Of all the muffins in the muffin basket, the breakfast muffins were the first to go because they are that good and definitely hands down a crowd pleaser!
Ingredients:
1 cup strawberries, chopped
1 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 ripe banana, mashed
2 large eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1 lemon, zested
1/2 pint blueberries
1 cup chopped walnuts
LETS COOK!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, mix together strawberries and 2 tablespoons sugar. Let sit 15 minutes until strawberries give off juices. In a small bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, eggs, oil, 1 cup sugar, strawberries, and lemon zest. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Do not over mix. Fold in blueberries and walnuts. Scoop batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out with a few crumbs but not wet, about 30 minutes. Cool on a rack to room temperature and enjoy!

Sticking With The Classics (Blueberry Muffins)

Okay so it has been what? Nearly four months since I have yet to post anything in this silly blog. Sounds like an insanely long time, but to me those four months have flown by as I denied the length in time and yes, sadly I will admit, have even at times denied my blog. It has just infuriated me to extremes such like denial of the entire process. Why? For one I have and forever will remain irritated at the fact that Google has ripped any earnings that I potentially had and could have made with their stupid Google Ads. And two, a virus has been roaming my posts which sends visitors to virus staked sites waiting to scam one of money. However I have grudgingly put all that aside because my sister's wonderful Bama friends have easily persuaded me that they have missed reading my blog, therefore here I am four months later and still blogging away.

With that said, I am finally, FINALLY sharing my mother's day recipes to the world wide web of bloggers and starting with my all time favorite muffin recipe; classic blueberry muffins. They are soft and moist on the inside, but have an outer, crunchy coating of sugar toasting on top. The classic muffins have yet to disappoint as they have been given as part of a mother's day muffin basket and shared amongst many of my closest friends. 

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh
coarse white sparkling sugar for garnish

LETS COOK! 

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with papers, and grease the papers. in a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand-held or stand mixer, until light, fluffy, and almost white in color. Start the mixer at low speed until the ingredients are incorporated, then gradually increase speed to medium-high until the desired color and texture are reached. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand-held or stand mixer, until light, fluffy, and almost white in color. Scrape down the bowl to make sure all the butter is incorporated, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until the batter is smooth. It will be thick. Fold in the berries by hand. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups, using a heaping 1/4-cup for each. Bake the muffins for 18 to 24 minutes. Remove them from the oven and while still warm dip the tops into melted butter and then into sugar. Allow to cool and enjoy! 

For The Tennis Ladies (Blueberry Crumble Bars)

I often love to seek any and every excuse to bake up something sweet. I don't bake often, for when I do, I always find at least half of the baked goodness lingering around my kitchen weeks after. I am beginning to think expiration dates are much needed when baking anything in my kitchen that contains sugar, flour, and butter. However, I continue to find pleasure in the kitchen standing by an overheated oven for hours on end waiting for perfection to ring. Luckily today I knew I would be baking for a dozen tennis ladies, thus my blueberry crumble bars would not go to waste. My mother was attending a tennis ladies luncheon day thing and she was to bring a dish of any kind. Therefore, I jumped at the opportunity and eagerly agreed to make Smitten Kitchen's/AllRecipe's Blueberry Crumble Bars for her.

I believe I am often craving to bake because of the sensational aromas which are given off through out the house, and then the sweet, savory smell that lingers on into the morning. (Or until doors and windows are swung open to let loose of the beautiful lemon zest and blueberry juices.) There was no exception to my blueberry crumble bars. They not only turned out to look fabulous, but tasted just as good. The crumble on bottom and top reminded me of cookies that my grandmother and I bake during Christmas time, and the blueberries in between oozed all over as they popped and exploded in the oven. This is a wonderful dessert to give away for it is easy to cut and serve, but it also just as good to eat right at home warm over cold vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
LETS COOK!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9×13 inch pan. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares. Serve and enjoy!

MS150 Breakfast (Whole Wheat Blueberry Pecan Pancakes)

Last weekend was the annual BPMS150 which my dad and I participated in. It was my first time to ever ride such a distance from Houston to Austin and my dad's third time to fulfill the two day trip. However, I managed to beat his "thirty years older" legs by a near hour leaving him in the dust after the lunch break. (funny how it is called the "lunch" stop when I got there around nine in the morning!) I crossed the finish line, turning into the heart of downtown ATX at approximately noon, fifteen minutes before my mother (who had driven up that day) even arrived! And almost an hour before my dad crossed the same line. So bittersweet I felt when no one was there to greet me at the finish line, yet giddiness when I realized I finished so early that I beat my own mother's car! (Which I guess isn't saying much when she drives SO SO SO SLOW. . . ha! I still love you mom!)

But anyways back to the Whole Wheat Blueberry Pecan Pancakes, because a post will soon follow with in depth details on the BPMS150 Houston-Austin ride. So these pancakes were made the night before the big day, because I knew that there was no way I was going to get up at five in the morning to cook a gourmet breakfast that I would be craving. So plan B: make the pancakes ahead of time and freeze them! (Which I still have a few frozen that are waiting to be eaten. . . thus saying, they freeze quite well for weeks.) These pancakes are healthy with the whole wheat flower, juicy with the flavorful blueberries, and have a slight crunch affect with the finely chopped pecans. All of these which add to the whole affect of an absolutely amazing grand breakfast pancake.
Ingredients:
one cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
3/4 cups milk (PLUS MORE)
1 tablespoon melted and cooled butter
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
LETS COOK!
In a bowl mix dry ingredients and in separate bowl beat egg, milk, and butter together. Gently stir mixture into dry ingredients and then add in blueberries and pecans. If thick, add some more milk (which you will most likely be adding LOTS MORE!). Lightly spray skillet and heat over medium-high. Ladle batter onto skillet to make pancakes. Adjust heat and flip pancakes after bubbles rise to surface and bottoms are brown and golden. Cook until the second side is slightly browned and serve warm. Enjoy!

For My Parents (Classic Blueberry Pancakes)

And tomorrow we are off! The day that my dad and I have been waiting for has finally arrived, and in less that nine hours we will be well on our way to Austin, Texas for the annual BPMS150 bike ride raising money for multiple sclerosis. Excitingly I have raised a near 900 while my has raised a whopping 1400, and added up together our team Gardere raised a total of 140,000 dollars! We will begin the race at my back door and will ride to La Grange by Saturday evening ending at the University of Texas in Austin mid-evening Sunday. So with this 180 mile bike ride, I thought it only necessary to have a good and healthy start. That is why the night before I decided to make pancakes for that morning!

 Now I originally had made whole wheat pancakes filled with fresh blueberries and chopped pecans, but sadly my parents (well my mom more than my dad) were a bit iffy on the fact that the flour was whole wheat making the pancakes no longer traditional. Honestly, I think they are just scared to try something fresh and different (as well as something that so easily qualifies under the Food Revolution Movement that has recently sparked up across the world.) Therefore, the nice daughter that I am, I made a new batch with white flour which calls for a bit of a different recipe. They still make for a great before-a-long-two-day-bike-ride-breakfast, but are just not quite as healthy as my whole wheat ones (which will be posted within a few days). This pancake recipe originated from the New York times, but was fixed up by me to make the flavors more fulfilling and tasty.
Ingredients:
one cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
3/4 cups milk
1 tablespoon melted and cooled butter
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
LETS COOK!
 In a bowl mix dry ingredients and in separate bowl beat egg, milk, and butter together. Gently stir mixture into dry ingredients and then add in blueberries. If thick, add some more milk. Lightly spray skillet and heat over medium-high. Ladle batter onto skillet to make pancakes. Adjust heat and flip pancakes after bubbles rise to surface and bottoms are brown and golden. Cook until the second side is slightly browned and serve warm. Enjoy!

Be Happy! (Fresh Orange Juice)

I have discovered that we have an orange squeezing machine! It was a brilliant find considering Spring has sprung and citrus fruits are all the fab right now. So with my happy and sunshine attitude, I grabbed my bowl of oranges and got to squeezing. Now let me mind you, this machine has been around as long as my parent's marriage so it wasn't the fastest of squeezing but it still worked quite well regardless of all the racquet it created. (Not saying anything about your age mom and dad! ha!) Anyways, The first orange I cut up was just simply gorgeous and smelled so sweet and pure that I knew within minutes I would have a fresh jar of orange juice to savor. Hmm. . . I sure was wrong. Not about the part of how sweet and delicious it smelled, but of the whole jar savoring thing, because well, one giant orange is equivalent to about a small cup size of juice. (And when I mean cup, I am referring to the size of that little rooster cup in the picture below.)

So there I was ten minutes later with almost a cup full of orange juice to share among me and my three family members. But hey, I didn't have much to do the rest of the day so why not squeeze the rest of my oranges then? Well, because the rest ended up being pink Cara Cara oranges which are not really oranges rather than some sort of citrus fruit that simply does not squeeze juice out the same way a regular orange can. Therefore I was done, and with all my hard work had created a small cup where about each person in my family could savor one orangey, pulpy, all natural sip. And that sip I let linger in my mouth as long as possible savoring and enjoying every last bit. And it sure was worth it.

Fresh squeezed orange juice definitely, and by far beats the carton juice. When orange juice is fresh squeezed it tastes fresher smells stronger, and has way, way, way, more pulp! Which I absolutely love the taste of almost having to chew your orange juice because the pulp is so overpowering. Pulp gives orange juice a real and authentic taste resembling a true and real bite out of an orange. That is why I absolutely adore pulp in my orange juice, and I absolutely adore fresh squeezed, home-made orange juice. And for those who wish to pursue (or attempt) to make home-made orange juice, well the only ingredients necessary are oranges! and lots of them! And it is as simple (or complex) as that; squeeze a few oranges and. . . wahlah! (or not so wahlah as is , give it thirty minutes and then possibly wahlah!) So enjoy life, enjoy juice, and savor every bit of the two.

Get Well Soon (Berry Banana Smoothie)

So Blake has unfortunately come down with mono. . . and that is all I will say. So before going with him to get his haircut I thought it would be a nice gesture to make a smoothie for the sick throat. This was my very first smoothie that I can recall from ever making from scratch out of the blue... I didn't really have a recipe nor know exactly what to put in a smoothie. But of course I knew fruit was needed and a little bit of ice. I took whatever I could find already in my refrigerator and made a berry banana smoothie! I loved it just as much as Blake and my mom did, so I'm thinking I can now call myself a successful smoothie maker who will definitely be making more in the future. . .

Ingredients:
1.5 bananas
10 raspberries
1/2 cup blackberry yogurt
10-20 pieces ice (depending on how thick you would like)
2 tablespoons orange juice
LETS COOK!
Chop up bananas and add to a blender. Add raspberries, ice, yogurt, and orange juice. Blend together until smooth and a smoothie is made. Serve, and enjoy!!! (WOW! how simple?! I mean it probably took me five or less minutes to make!)

Cheerful Lunches (Citrus Garden Salad)

Today I stayed home from school for unexplainable reasons, but that is far besides the point. The point is I was able to prepare a fabulous lunch for my most fabulous mother while she was away gaining another victory for her tennis team. She was delighted to see I have been somewhat productive on my day off as I folded the laundry, unloaded the dishwasher, ran a few errands, and now indulged in a little something for my self as well as her; in which I made a deelishis citrusy salad with these new extra citrus oranges that my mother had recently found at our grocery store.

It is very hard for me to explain these oranges, because they are not typical oranges. They are way better! Yesterday my mother came home from the local grocery store, and inside our go-green bags I was delighted to see loads and loads of colorful fruit. It made me smile at the fact she was thinking about me and made me smile even more to see she had bought oranges, life's happy little fruit. However, when I cut one open the other day, I noticed they looked more like grapefruits. But when I bit into one, it tasted quite like an orange but juicier, fresher, and all around better! Therefore, it was settled that I must add this fruit to my next salad to spruce up a typical garden salad. The salad was fresh, tangy, and looked so much happier, for it was now mixed with a sweetly sensational fruit.
Ingredients:
Mixed baby greens and baby spinach lettuce
One Orange (Or any citrus fruit)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
basil herb salad dressing
LETS COOK!
Place lettuce in a bowl and grate cheese over lettuce. Pour dressing and toss. Add salad to plates and sprinkle almonds on top. Place orange on top of salad, serve and enjoy! (How simple and easy was that?!)

A New Twist (Pear and Pecan Salad)

What good is a cook book when the price triumphs over taste and thinking while one stares at a recipe, is it really worth twenty dollars? That is why I love the Half Price Book Store so much. The price is the last thing I have to worry about when wandering from aisle to aisle scanning all the gently used and greatly loved books. The store has been so lovingly good to me in the past years from accompanying pleasurable summer novels for me to read while lounging around the beaches of Mexico, to saving my life with Spark notes for school projects in English, and now leaving extra change in my pocket to buy my first vegetarian cook book. Yes, that is right, I have pledged to PETA, and have happily become a vegetarian. So good bye meat, and sorry to those meat lovers, but this will no longer be a blog of meat. And for those meat lovers, well, it was very nice to meat you. (Hah, Blake, I had to add a pun! It only made sense!...Or since I am talking about saving money, it only made cents!)

I absolutely loved this salad, because the textures melted so well together. The pear was perfectly ripe and sweetened the red tipped lettuce, while the toasted pecans added a huge crunch to every bite. The softness of the pear almost smashed into the salad and the crunch of the pecans caused them to crumble on top. Because of this, a perfect salad was created. Thank you Nicola Graimes for this splendid combo! Note to reader: As this recipe did come from a cook book, I did change it up quite a bit and I saved more or less the idea of blending the two main ingredients together in the salad.
Ingredients:
1 cup shelled pecan nuts, halved

2 ripe pears

about half or so red tipped lettuce
caesar dressing that is more on the oily side

LETS COOK!

At 350 degrees fahrenheit, toast pecans on baking sheet that is lightly covered with olive oil. Make sure they do not burn. Cut the pears into even and thin slices, leaving the skin intact and discarding the cores. Wash the salad leaves and spin dry as well as patting down to with towel to further drying. Pour dressing and nuts over lettuce and toss. Serve with pecans on top, and enjoy!

Happy B-Day Big Sis (double chocolate-raspberry cake)

So this blog post goes out to my big sister, LB, for her big double digit 2-0 birthday. (Happy birthday big sis!) Somehow she manages to still get I.D'd when entering theaters, and still receives adorable little plush bears wearing Ralph Lauren bow ties. However, the time has arrived where it has become harder to squeeze so many birthday candles onto such a delicate and dainty chocolate cake without worry of wax and fire colliding together to melt the cake away.

As long hours and patience went into the cake, all was worth it when LB's face lit up from the final product. (Or was it more lit up from the many candles that had bombarded the chocolate?) Friends and family were delighted over this classic birthday cake, for it was simple yet elegant with the pleasurable Ghirardelli chocolate and rich raspberries which added a sweetly tart taste to top the cake off. I originally had made a raspberry filling, (which might i add took at least a good 25 minutes to "simply" squeeze all the juices out of the fresh raspberries) but I was not satisfied with the taste and did not want to ruin the cake so I forced myself to throw the filling away. (Tear.)With or without a filling, this classic chocolate cake will beat any body's chocolate cake any day! It is simple, yet oh so delicious with decadent flavors in every bite!

Ingredients:

1 package fresh raspberries

2 oz. semisweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli.. as always!)

3/4 hot coffee (you will not taste the coffee in the cake, it just brings out the richness from the chocolate)

1.25 cups of sugar

1.25 cups of flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1.5 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 regular sized eggs

3/8 cup vegetable oil (I know this is an odd measurement, but trust me when I say it works the best)

.75 cups buttermilk

2 teaspoons pure and all natural vanilla

Frosting:

8 ounces semisweet chocolate

1/2 heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 tablespoon of syrup

1/5 cup unsalted butter

LETS COOK!

preheat the oven to about 280 to 300 degrees F. Grease two round pans (normal round cake pans) and line the bottoms with parchment paper. The re-grease, and make sure to grease the sides as well! Make the coffee so it will be hot enough to melt chocolate. As coffee is brewing, chop up chocolate into chunks and then combine with the coffee. Stir well until melted, then set aside. In medium sized bowl, sift cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Once all sifted, add salt to the mixture and set aside. In a VERY LARGE bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until frothy and thickened. While still mixing on a medium speed add in (slowly) the oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Finally add the coffee and melted chocolate and beat until all combined. Separate the batter among both pans and cook for 30 to 45 min. While cake is in oven start on frosting. Over a double boiler add the cream, sugar, and corn syrup over medium-low heat. Whisk together and let sit over heat for good five minutes while chopping up chocolate. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until smooth and melted. The add the butter in chunks and stir until melted. Set frosting in refrigerator until cake comes out and is cooled completely. Add frosting on top of one cake and then stack the other on top. Cover the entire cake in frosting, and garnish with raspberries, and enjoy!

Classic Cranberry Apple Crisp

The classic cranberry apple crisp has been a whopping success twice; once at Ol' Dave's famous Montgomery fish fry (or shall we call it more of a "nursing home gathering"?) and once at the past Thanksgiving dinner with the many aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Blake and I first found the recipe in the good and trusted Houston Chronicle and flung the casual dessert together in no more than thirty minutes, which brought us great praise from our oh so flattering family and friends living Montgomery. We knew the recipe had been a keeper when the pan was licked clean and about twenty other desserts on the dessert table had gone untouched. If the dessert had passed the "this-beats-my-grandmother's-apple-pie-any-day test"  then for sure it would be good enough for the fam. Therefore, my grandma and I made it for Thanksgiving dinner, which turned out to be an even bigger hit when paired with home-made whipped cream.

My dad is a down-to-earth and true southern man loving anything "Betty Crocker" style home-made desserts. From pineapple upside down cake and pumpkin pie, to coconut cream pie and banana pudding. But he now has a new favorite that has climbed its way to his top 10 list of best desserts thanks to my new cranberry-apple crisp recipe. This recipe is great to make as a true southern dessert. It may not appear as decadent and chic as the tiramisu cake or english scones, but heck this is one that taste triumphs over appearance any day! However, my personal chef slash grandma gave me the grand idea of adding a pop of color and flavor by adding a dollop of fresh, home-made whipped cream on top. (Which really "topped" this crisp off!...hah!)

Ingredients: 

3 cups chopped unpeeled apples

2 cups fresh cranberries

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats (preferably maple sugar flavored) 

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup each: all-purpose flour and chopped pecans

1/2 cup melted margarine

whipped cream:

one small carton of whipping cream or heavy whipping cream

two to three tablespoons of granulated sugar 

LETS COOK!

for the crisp: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine apples, cranberries and sugar in 2-quart rectangular pan. In a separate bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, flour, pecans and margarine. Top fruit mixture with oat mixture. Bake 45 min. or until bubbly and light brown. Serve with whipped topping

for the whipped cream:

pour all of the whipping cream into a medium sized bowl. Blend with an electric mixer for a LONG time! mix together until light and fluffy and no longer appears "liquidy". *but be very careful that it is not over mixed or it might start to form butter* once whipped, gently fold in sugar and stir well before serving. 

Beautiful Semi-Disaster (Chocolate-Raspberry Scone)

So where do i start? From sitting in seventh period tennis scrolling aimlessly through my phone thinking of ways to procrastinate my time from having to study for an unrealistic pre-calculus test the next day, or from going out to the Train concert the night before with Mr. Handsome as my mind floated from him, to the concert, to what my next blog post should be. Either way, I had decided it was time for me to kick it up a notch in my culinary skills. And what better way to do this than creating classic English scones? Yes, that is right an English scone made right here in my "Texanized" kitchen.

Before yesterday I had never tried, let alone encountered, such as a scone. But oh the stories i have heard about them! And the articles and pictures i have seen of them! There is such elegance about such a beautiful pastry-like bread. The unique shape with the glossy finish on top would make anyone look so fab and chic while eating this up-scale and high-end scone. If there was one food i would idolize over, this would be it. When I hear of a scone, I imagine a classic bakery on a small corner selling all varieties as the scents and aromas intertwine and mingle upon each other as they swirl their way through the bustling streets of fashionistas. So yes, as it shows I have great appreciation  for a little scone. Little did I know (tis tis.. I didn't do my research before I began to bake!) that scones do have a rather bland taste to them. However, I believe their appearance sure does make up for it.

The scone I have made has a basis of creamy dark chocolate and fresh raspberries. (Such a wonderful mix between the richness of the chocolate and the refreshing raspberries.) As i began making the scone dough while having a conversation with a close friend from Finland, I realized that anything is possible in the scone baking world! As I have added raspberries and chocolate to my scone, assorted nuts, berries, and heck! anything else could be added. My "Finish" friend even suggested putting a meat inside the scone, or adding cheese to the mixture! Scones are a time to express your personality and just to go and have fun with it! I decided to leave mine simpler, for this was my first experience at scone baking. Now I must warn thy fellow bakers; the recipe below for this raspberry and chocolate scone came out to be a bit bland and did not portray the thick flavors I had intended on. However, I did try part of my scone with some fresh raspberry jam and butter... and thought that topped the scone off making it splendid! Also coffee and tea will really bring out the hidden flavors of the scone giving it more taste than eating them alone. So this scone varies in taste with its endless possibilities on how to present and eat it.

You will need:

4cups all purpose flour
2/3 granulated  sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into pieces
4.25 ounces dark chocolate chunks
2 cups fresh raspberries
1 cup whole milk plain yogurt (suprisingly this is hard to find!!!)
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large egg, lightly beaten
Egg mixture for brushing tops of scones:
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon milk
LETS START COOKING!
preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should appear crumb like. Stir in the chocolate chunks and whole raspberries. In a smaller bowl whisk together the yogurt, vanilla extract, and eggs. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. *Do not over mix.!!*
Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently untill the dough better comes together and then pat, or roll, the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round and about 11/2 inches (3.75 cm) thick. (For these processes you will most likely need to use lots more flour, for the dough can become very sticky) Cut the dough into four squares, and then cut each squart into 2 triangles. Place the scones on the baking sheet. Make an egg wash of one well-beaten egg mixed milk and brush the tops of the scones with this mixture.
Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and then turn your broiler on. Sprinkle confectioners sugar over the tops of the scones and place them under the broiler. Broil for about a min. or less, until the sugar has melted and turns golden brown. Keep an eye out while scones are in the broiler, because they can burn! Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Makes about 16 scones.