Chai Scones with Cinnamon Spiced Glaze

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How's it going folks? Here in Kansas, it's April and we have snow in the forecast. Because that's how Kansas rolls. Whatever. I'm over it. (Not really. I'm ready for picnics, hammocking and my face not hurting when I go outside.) In the meantime, I'm craving wintry flavors still and enjoying snuggling up with my dog.

And that's where these scones come in. I am chai OBSESSED. Like it's kind of a problem. I love the warmth and complexity all of the spices together bring to a tea or in this case a baked good. I'm constantly on the lookout for really good chai lattes, so if you know of one, let a girl know! 

To me, chai has quintessential winter flavors like cloves and nutmeg. I know it's not technically winter, but it's currently like 27°F here, so it FEELS like winter. The chai flavors combined in a flaky, tender scone and then drenched in a sweet cinnamon vanilla glaze is just a Godsend on a cold winter morning. You know what, I'm going to say it, it's a Godsend on any freaking morning, because chai should be enjoyed at all times. These are easy, and fast, and heartwarming. Enjoy with a warm cup of coffee, OR MOAR CHAI!

Also, in case you want a quick language lesson, there's no need to say "chai tea latte." In many Eurasian languages, chai translates to tea, so if you say chai tea latte, you're saying tea tea latte. *Insert the more you know GIF*

This recipe has been adapted from Tutti Dolci.

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Chai Scones with Cinnamon Spiced Glaze

Scones

• 3 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream

Glaze

• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, and sugars in a medium bowl. Combine vanilla extract with 1 1/3 cups heavy cream; drizzle cream over flour mixture and fold in just until flour is incorporated and a shaggy dough forms. If the dough isn't incorporating, drizzle in a little more heavy cream, a tablespoon at a time. I had to do this.
2. Turn out on a lightly floured board and divide the dough in half using a bench scraper. Use lightly floured hands to pat each half into a 6-inch circle. Place the two circles of dough on prepared baking sheets and cut each circle into 6 wedges. Chill baking sheets in the freezer while preheating oven to 425°F.
3. Pull the wedges slightly apart, leaving an inch between them. Bake for 16 to 17 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until tops are set, edges are beginning to turn golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool scones for 5 minutes on baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool.
4. For the glaze, whisk together melted butter, powdered sugar, salt, cinnamon, milk, and vanilla in a small bowl. Drizzle glaze over scones (it's best when the scones are a little bit warm so the glaze sinks into all of the nooks and crannies) and let set before serving.

Pretzel Bites with Hatch Green Chile Queso

What up friends! How's everyone's beginning of March going? Here in Kansas we're finally getting some warmer weather, in fact, I spent most of today with the doors and windows open. It was glorious. I caught myself a few different times just standing in front of them feeling the finally not below freezing temperatures. When I wasn't entranced by the warm weather, the hubby and I spent a good portion of this weekend continuing to plan Peru! Seriously though, if anyone has any recommendations or advice on Peru, HIT A GIRL UP.

ANYWAYS, food. I'm not really sure what possessed me to make pretzel bites. Except for that they're freaking delicious. Seriously, I've kind of become known for them. I bring them to sport watching events, Super Bowl parties, or just parties in general. People are always so amazed that I made soft pretzels from scratch like yeast is this extremely scary substance that only highly trained professionals can use. Lemme tell ya, I ain't no trained professional. These are easy. You just need time.

This was the first time I made said pretzel bites with a hatch green chile queso. I've made it with beer cheese, or other cheddar based dips trying to imitate the plastic nacho cheese stuff you get with mall pretzels. I'm not really sure why I kept trying to achieve that yellow nacho, dare I say it...crap, but this queso was AMAZING. Like, my husband had to take it away from me so I could photograph it before I ate the entire skillet. It's so dang good. So make this for a party, or for lunch...like I did for myself today...lolz, it's not sad, it's fine. (Also if you're weird and don't like cheese you could serve these with a nice whole grain mustard. I picked up a Tank 7 based mustard at the grocery, because Kansas City that's why. But why would you not want to eat these with cheese??)

Pretzel Bites

• 2 cups of milk

• 1 1/2 teaspoons (2 packets) active dry yeast

• 6 tablespoons brown sugar (divided)

• 4 tablespoons butter, melted

• 5 to 5 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons fine sea salt 

• 1/3 cup baking soda

• 3 cups warm water

• Coarse salt for sprinkling

• 8 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Warm up the milk in the microwave. It should be about 110°F. If it’s too hot it will kill the yeast. You should be able to comfortably keep your finger in it.

2. Stir in yeast and one tablespoon of the brown sugar and let it sit for about 10 minutes, until it is frothy.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, pour the yeast mixture, butter and remaining sugar.

4. Add flour one cup at a time. The amount of flour you'll need will depend on the moisture in the air where you are. I only needed 5 cups. You'll want the dough to pull away from the sides, be smooth, and not too sticky.

5. Add the salt.

6. Knead the dough in the stand mixer for 10 minutes.

7. Put in greased bowl and let rise for about an hour or until doubled in size.

8. Preheat oven to 450°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

9. Combine baking soda and warm water into bowl and set aside while we make the bites.

10. Punch dough down and divide it into 12 even pieces. 

11. Roll out each piece of dough into 1 inch thick ropes. Cut bites into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Dip the bites into the baking soda water solution for a few seconds.

12. Place bites on baking sheet, bake for 6-10 minutes or until golden brown. Once they come out of the oven, brush the tops with the remaining melted butter.

** This recipe can be made ahead of time and reheated in the oven. Only reheat them in the oven. Microwaves leave them too squishy and not crisp! 

Hatch Green Chile Queso

• 2 tablespoons of butter

• 3 garlic cloves either finely minced or put through a garlic press

• 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

• 1 cup of whole milk (trust me, just get whole milk)

• 1 4oz can of hatch green chiles

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon cumin

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (or less if you'd like to tone down the heat)

• 1 cup of shredded monterey jack cheese

• 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1. In a cast iron skillet, or small skillet, melt butter over medium high heat. Once melted, add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. 

2. Add the flour to the butter and garlic mixture and whisk right away to eliminate lumps and create paste. Cook this for 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Slowly whisk in the milk.

4. Once milk is combined, add the chiles, cumin, salt and cayenne. 

5. Let the mixture come to a gentle boil and thicken. Whisk constantly.

6. Turn the heat to low and slowly sprinkle cheese into mixture allowing it to melt completely. 

7. Garnish with cilantro and green chiles. Dip and enjoy!

Cherry Amaretto Bakewell Tart

Hi friends. Again, I'm sorry for the lengthy time in between posts, but 2017 was a BUSY year! I bought a house, and more importantly got married in December of 2017! Life has been so wonderful to me and I'm so thankful for what the past year has brought!

Currently my now husband (!!!!) Lee and I, are planning a trip to Peru for this summer. Machu Picchu is at the top of my bucket list. Pretty surreal I'm crossing that off. We are beyond excited. I'm also headed to Las Vegas at the end of this coming week for the first time! We have all sorts of adventures planned, and I wouldn't want our first year of marriage, or honestly any year of our marriage to be any different!

Now onto the important stuff. Cherry. Amaretto. Bakewell. Tart. I've had an obsession with the Great British Baking Show, or the Great British Bake Off for a hot second now. The 2016 winner, Candice Brown, is honestly everything I want to be when I grow up. She's beautiful, ridiculously talented, and generally seems like the most pleasant person.

This recipe comes from her cookbook Comfort: Delicious Bakes and Family Treats. I had never made a bakewell tart before, and it's a traditional English tart made with a layer of shortcrust pastry, a layer of jam, and then a layer frangipane. In this case, the jam is an Amaretto cherry jam and the frangipane has a little splash of Amaretto too. Oh and it's topped with beautiful flaked almonds for a nice toasty crunch. It's wonderful, and decadent without being too rich. Also, amaretto. Just. It's everything. More things should have amaretto. Without further ado, here's some beautiful pictures and the recipe.

Quick note: the recipe will be in metric units as the book was written and published in London. If you don't already have one, get yourself a kitchen scale! It makes things so easy!

Cherry Amaretto Bakewell Tart

Short Crust 

• 100g turbinado sugar
• 100g unsalted butter
• 4 egg yolks
• 175g plain flour
• 25g ground almonds
• pinch of salt

Jam

• 200g frozen cherries
• 100g turbinado sugar
• 2 tbsp Amaretto liqueur
• grated zest of 1 lemon

Filling

• 120g unsalted butter, softened
• 120g turbinado sugar
• 1 tbsp Amaretto liqueur
• 2 eggs
• 120g ground almonds
• pinch of salt
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 30g flaked almonds

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350℉.
2. For the short crust, beat together the sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until fluffy and pale. Beat in egg yolks, followed by flour, ground almonds, and salt. Bring together with your hands to form a ball of dough. Flatten into disc and wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
3. Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface to 3-4mm thick. Lift with a rolling pin and drape into a 9 inch loose-bottomed fluted tart tin. Gently press the pastry into the flutes and remove the excess pastry so it is just at the top of the tin. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork.
4. Line the pie with parchment paper and fill with dry beans, or blind baking beans. Blind bake the crust for 15 minutes then remove the parchment paper and beans and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until set and golden. Set aside to cool. Leave oven on, but turn the temperature up to 375℉.
5. Next up, the jam. Place a plate in the freezer. Put the frozen cherries, sugar, Amaretto, and lemon zest in a small sauce pan. Set over a low heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Turn up the heat and allow to bubble away for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then test to see if it has set. Remove the pan from the heat and spoon a blob of hot jam onto the frozen plate. Leave for a few seconds, then run your finger through the jam - if the surface wrinkles, the jam is ready. If it doesn't, return to the heat and bubble for a further 5 minutes, then test again. Set aside to cool.
6. For the frangipane filling, beat together the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the Amaretto and eggs, then mix in the ground almonds, salt, lemon zest and flour.
7. Up next, assembly! Spread the cherry jam evenly in the baked pastry crust. Top with the almond filling and level out with a spatula. Sprinkle the flaked almonds over the filing. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the filling is just set and the almonds look toasted and golden. Cool before serving.