I’ve got to tell you, over the last few weeks my kitchen has smelled heavenly!  My boys and I have churned out lots of wholesome and delicious goodies, had many lovely conversations around the kitchen table about the benefits of whole grains, fruits & veggies, and enjoyed each others company over tall glasses of milk and warm treats straight from the oven.

Since one of my goals is to get kids involved in the kitchen, I called my boys into duty and let them each select a recipe we would work on.  The first week of the series my son chose chocolate cake.  The chocolate theme continued into the second week with my other son’s choice: brownies.  For the last week of this King Arthur Flour series, I got to choose a recipe.  Breakfast is an important meal in my book, and I am always looking for ways to incorporate good quality, nutritious ingredients into hearty breakfasts straight from the oven.  With so many jars of this summer’s fruit preserves still in my pantry, I decided to to make my choice scones.   Lo and behold, there on page 85 of King Arthur Flour’s Whole Grain Baking cookbook was a recipe for Oat and Currant Scones.  That recipe yielded a moist and delicious breakfast pastry that I was itching to adapt.  My version includes the addition of fresh fruit, flax meal and raw sugar making it a hearty, heart healthy breakfast option for the whole family.

But first, I am excited to offer a big congratulations to LEANNE PERRY, the winner of our King Arthur Flour GIVEAWAY!  Leanne will have the wonderful opportunity to peruse and bake from her own copy of King Arthur Flour’s, Whole Grain Baking cookbook as well has stocking her pantry with a selection of wholesome King Arthur Flour products.  Congratulations!

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Whole Grain Blueberry-Orange Scones

(adapted from King Arthur Flour’s Oat and Current Scones)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 C whole wheat flour (or King Arthur Flour’s white whole wheat flour)
• 3/4 C whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 C oat bran
• 1/4 C flax meal
• 1/4 C raw (Turbinado) sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 C (1 stick) very cold butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 C buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp orange zest
• 1/2 tsp orange juice
• 1/2 – 1 C fresh blueberries (or frozen blueberries, defrosted and drained)

Topping Before Baking:

• 1/4 C buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp orange juice
• a few pinches of raw sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, oat bran, flax meal, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, vanilla, orange zest and orange juice.  Set aside.
4. Remove butter from refrigerator.  With a sharp knife, cut stick of butter in half lengthwise, then cut each half in half (you should have four long pieces).  Cut the long pieces into roughly 1/2″ chunks and add to flour mixture.  Using pastry cutter (or two knifes one in each hand and cutting in a scissor fashion) cut butter into the flour mixture.  Mixture should resemble course breadcrumbs.
5. Add fresh blueberries, gently mixing as to not squash the berries.
6. Gently stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture, with a fork just until all flour is moistened – again as not to squash the blueberries.
7. Turn dough onto floured work surface and knead 3-4 times.
8. Divide dough in half. (for larger scones skip this step)
9. Pat dough into a circle approximately 1 inch thick.
10. Cut dough into eight wedges (more if making larger scones)
11. Place scones onto parchment lined baking sheet.
12. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup buttermilk and 1/2 tsp orange juice.  Baste this mixture onto the top of each scone and sprinkle with a little of the raw sugar.
13. Bake at 375 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until lightly browned.

** After dough has been cut (step 10), wedges can be placed in a single layer in the freezer and frozen.  Once frozen, place in a sealable freezer bag and store for a later use.  Frozen scones can be baked fresh anytime without defrosting.  Simply preheat oven to 375, place frozen scones on parchment lined baking sheet, and bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

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A big thank you to King Arthur Flour for teaming up with Out of the Box Food to offer this fantastic Giveaway!  Here’s to healthy families, fun in the kitchen and lots of whole grain baking in 21012.  Until next week…