Coffee and Scones for Overnight Guests

My husband and I just love having overnight guests.  It's so nice for guests not to worry about having to drive home after a night of fun and then we get to treat them with something special in the morning!  Scones!  I always have my signature scones on hand in the freezer.  They're so yummy and such an easy treat to pop in the oven in the morning.  I found the recipe on www.food.com and slightly modified it (just made it a little easier so there's no need to knead).

Recently, my sister-in-law and her new boyfriend were visiting from out of town and were staying with us.  It was so fun to spend time with them and get to know her boyfriend better!  On Saturday morning my husband got up and went to work and I went to the St. Paul Farmer's Market (one of my favorite places) with my mom while our guests were able to sleep in and enjoy their vacation.  I made a little tray of fresh baked scones, fruit and set the grind and brew coffee for them to make when they woke up.  They enjoyed waking up to the special treat!

 

Here is the recipe for the scones:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F if you'll be baking the scones right away, otherwise no need for the oven today.

2. Mix 2 cups of ice cold heavy whipping cream in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form.

3. In a medium sized bowl, mix together with a fork 3 1/4 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, 4 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

4. Change the whisk attachment to the dough hook on your stand mixer.

5. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture into the whipped cream in four parts - waiting until the flour is well mixed into the whipped cream before adding the next part.  Be careful not to over mix the dough as the scones will become more dense.

6. Now add the mix-ins to your dough.  You'll want to add a total of 2 cups of mix-ins. Be creative with what you choose!  My favorites are: 1 cup of chocolate chips / 1 cup of toffee chips and 1 cup of craisins / 1 cup of white chocolate chips.

7. The next step is to form the scones into balls, which you'll need to do whether you're planning on freezing or baking them.  If you plan on baking them - prepare baking sheets with cooking spray prior to placing the scones on the pans.  If you plan on freezing them - choose a plate or baking sheet that will fit in your freezer, you'll need to put the uncooked scones into the freezer to form their shape.

8. Form the dough into 1 - 2 inch balls and place on appropriate pan/plate.

9. If you are baking the scones - arrange so there are 12 - 15 per pan.  Place a very small pad of butter on top of each scone and sprinkle with sugar.  Bake for about 20 minutes until slightly golden brown.

10. If you are freezing the scones - leave the scones in the freezer for about 45 minutes until they feel like they will keep their shape.  Place scones all together in a freezer bag and store them away until you are ready to use them.  Then, bake the scones according to step #9 with a couple extra minutes added to the baking time.

Grocery List:

-Heavy Whipping Cream (2 cups)

-Mix-ins such as Chocolate Chips and Toffee Chips

Pantry Items:

-Flour

-Sugar

-Baking Powder

-Salt

-Coffee

-Cream

-Any fruit you have on hand