Orange and Dark Chocolate Buttermilk Scones

There are two things I'd like to leave you with today.

First, make these Orange and Dark Chocolate Buttermilk Scones from Naturally Ella. I took these to work not too long ago, and my friend described them as triumphant. This may be my favorite food compliment I've ever received.

Second, try out a time-saving tip I learned from Cooking Light. Instead of cutting the butter into the dry ingredients, melt the butter and pour it into very cold buttermilk while stirring constantly. The butter will start to solidify as you stir it around in the cold buttermilk. When it's fairly lumpy, dump it into your combined dry ingredients and mix up your dough. That way, you still end up with tiny bits of butter incorporated throughout the dough, but it takes much less time than using a pastry blender or knives, and doesn't require getting the food processor dirty.

Cooking Light also indicated that using this method allowed them to cut the butter measurement in half (!) for the buttermilk biscuits they were making over. I wanted to test the method and the scones recipe before doing something as drastic as cutting the butter in half. But next time I think I'll give it a shot, saving a whole lot of calories and sat fat!

Happy baking!

photo from naturallyella.com

Cooking Tip: Fruit and Veggie Prep

When peeling, trimming, and chopping fresh fruits or vegetables, keep a plastic bag (such as a produce bag or a plastic grocery bag) on the counter by your cutting board. Peel vegetables over the bag rather than over the trash can (haven't we all dropped a half-peeled carrot into the garbage at least once?), and toss pits or other trimmings into the bag rather than walking back and forth to the trash can.

Particularly in warmer months, and particularly with fruit, I find it helpful to tie up the bag before dropping in the garbage. That way, it takes longer to stink up the trash can and makes the trimmings less alluring and accessible to pesky fruit flies.

Cooking Tip: Non-Stick Spray

When spraying a pan with non-stick cooking spray, open your dishwasher and spray the pan over the open dishwasher door. That way, cooking spray residue will end up inside your dishwasher with your dirty dishes, rather than on your kitchen floor. Obviously don't do this if the dishes in your dishwasher are clean!