Low Calorie Blueberry Scones

As you can tell, I LOVE home baked goodies.   That's why I bake all the time but the biggest drawback is the calories.  Now this is where this great recipe comes in handy.  These scones are only 196 calories as opposed to 460 at Starbucks.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Starbucks and am a regular customer but man, when they started listing the calorie content of their foods...uh, that was like an instant repellent for me.  I can't live without a hot cup of coffee in the morning and a nice chilled coffee drink in the afternoon but the extra calories and poundage I'd gain from eating their scones or pastries...umm..no, not good.  Anyways, as I'm waiting in line to order my coffee I wistfully gaze at the scones and wave goodbye to them.   Too many calories!

Determined to find a way to be able to have my cake and eat it too, I went on a recipe hunt. I didn't have to hunt for very long though.  Hello...CookingLight.com.  This recipe calls for very little butter and sugar which is a good thing.  An even better thing is that they taste really good.  I've baked them and everyone who's tasted them really like them.

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light:

1/2 cup 2% reduced fat milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

To brush over scones:
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons sugar ( I used turbinado sugar-natural brown sugar)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, level with a knife.  Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Cut butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.  I usually start out using a pastry cutter then end up using my hands to combine the butter with the flour mixture.  Add milk mixture, stirring until moist.  Warning: The dough will be really sticky especially if you're using fresh blueberries that have just been rinsed.  That little bit of extra water on the blueberries adds to the stickiness.

Dust a surface flour and turn dough out onto it.  I also dust the top of the dough too so its easier to work with.  Pat dough down into 10 wedges and place dough wedges onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

I used a flower cookie cutter with this batch so that the scones would be round but you can cut yours in to triangles.  Either way looks attractive.

I use parchment paper every time I bake cookies and scones.  It just saves to much time and is so much easier to bake the goodies on.  It's not that expensive so I highly suggest that you buy a roll.

Brush egg white over dough wedges, sprinkle evenly with turbinado sugar.  Bake scones at 375 degrees for 18 minutes or until golden.  Serve warm.

Mmmmm, nothing like warm blueberry scones right out of the oven!!! Yummm!!!

The BEST New York Black & White Cookies

When in New York City, I always treat myself to a black and white cookie.  These cookies are huge, probably about 5 inches wide, and coated with vanilla and chocolate frosting.  When you bite into it, it's soft and almost cake-like and oh so good.  I've always wanted to try baking them but was never satisfied with the recipe's that I found had listed for ingredients, especially the lemon extract.  In a black and white cookie??? Ew, gross.  The cookies I buy in New York don't have a hint of lemon in them so I've passed over many recipes until I found one in Cook's Country Magazine (February/March 2012) issue.  Yay, no lemon extract listed in the ingredients!  Plus it didn't look very complicated. Remember I like E-A-S-Y stuff.

Since I'm tawkin' about New York, I thought I'd share some photos from a vacation last year.  There's only a few so don't worry, you won't fall asleep (I hope).

Entrance to the New York Public Library

After I took the picture above, I later noticed the lady in the bushes.  I wonder what she's doing? Hey, it's New York, no telling right?

Brooklyn Bridge

I took this picture from a party boat.  Yeah, a party boat complete with dance floor and a Disc Jockey that played some rocking tunes.  I have to tell you it was kind of amusing to watch drunk people try to dance on a floor that rocked every time a wave hit us lol.

The music on the party boat was so loud that jet skiers and other people around us danced on their watercraft.  We musta' looked so cool that they just had to join us. lol

Flat Iron Building, one of my favorite buildings.

And finally, my favorite place to hang out, Greenwich Village.  There's just something about the place that I love.  Maybe because it just feels so laid-back.  Last time I was there, I was sitting in a coffee shop and ended up having a great conversation with a lesbian woman and her daughter.  People are just so friendly, contrary to what everyone else thinks of New Yorkers.  The city is just like no other.

Ok, now to the recipe.  Looking at my vacation photos wasn't so bad was it?

Recipe:
1-3/4 cup (8 -3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup sour cream

Glaze:
5 cups (20 ounces confectioner's sugar, sifted (whoops, I forgot to sift it!)
7 tablespoons whole milk
2 tablespoons corn syrup (I didn't have any corn syrup so I used agave syrup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted (I didn't sift this either, geez I'm a bad baker!)

For the cookies:
Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Using a stand mixer (I used my handy dandy handheld mixer) fitted with a paddle, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined.  Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of sour cream, scraping down the bowl as needed.  Give dough final stir by hand.

Using greased 1/4- cup measure, drop cookie dough 3 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.  Whoops, I didn't read this part of the recipe but no big deal, I just scooped out the dough with a little spatula.

Bake until edges are lightly browned, 15 to 18 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking.  Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 1 hour.

For the glaze:
The recipe says to whisk the sugar, I used my mixer instead because as you combine the mixture it's a bit THICK.  So mix 6 tablespoons of milk, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt together in a bowl until smooth.  Transfer 1 cup glaze to a small bowl; reserve.  Mix cocoa and remaining 1 tablespoon milk into remaining glaze until combined.

Note: The glaze was a bit too thick so I added a tiny bit more milk (about a teaspoon) until it was easier to manage.

Working with one cookie at a time, spread 1 tablespoon vanilla glaze over half of UNDERSIDE of cookie (the flat part).  Refrigerate until glaze is set, about 15 minutes.  It was cold in my kitchen so I didn't bother refrigerating the glazed cookies. 

Cover other half of cookies with 1 tablespoon of chocolate glaze and let cookies sit at room temperature until glaze is firm, at least an hour.  Serve.  Cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Enjoy the cookies!!!