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Tonight I baked the KAF recipe for Fresh Apple-Cinnamon Scones. I've baked it once before, and they were excellent--but only when fresh out of the oven. The apple tended to make them soggy after they had cooled, and even re-heating them did not equal the original flavor. My experiment tonight is to use chopped dried apple from Bob's Red Mill. I used 1/2 cup and rehydrated them with 2 Tbs. water in a dish covered with saran in the microwave. I then let them sit for a couple of hours. I'm hoping that tomorrow morning, when I've "sprung forward," and would not want to be baking, that these will be good at room temperature.
Although the recipe claims you can freeze them and then pull them out to bake as needed, I've never had any luck with that technique. Instead, the butter melted all over the place, and I had a mess to clean up. So, either I bake them in the morning--not going to happen with springing forward--or I bake them the night before.
My other changes to the recipe is that I used 2 cups KAF flour, then mostly a 3/4 cup of barley flour that I wanted to use up, with whole wheat pastry flour filling it the rest of the way. I reduced the salt from 3/4 to 1/2 tsp.; I also deleted the 1 tsp. of vanilla extract because I want the apple (recipe includes 1/2 cup applesauce as well) and the butter to take center stage. I sprinkled them with the KAF sparkling white sugar but not with cinnamon.
As the recipe specifies, I froze them for 30 minutes before putting them into a hot oven. Because the refrigerator is a side-by-side, I cut the parchment paper diagonally, then put each round on a small baking sheet that would fit into that space. I moved them back to the large baking sheet before putting them in the oven.
I'll add a note to this post tomorrow about how my experiment works. They do smell lovely.
Additional Note: These are delicious and the texture is scone perfect. I will definitely be baking these, with my changes, as one of my regular scone recipes.
The bread has a chewy crust, a firm yet soft interior, and a moderate open crumb. I see why Bernard Clayton recommends it for open-faced sandwiches. I like the overall flavor, except that I find the molasses somewhat strong. I'll bake this bread again, but I will probably cut back the molasses from 1/4 cup to either 2 or 3 Tbs. I had the bread for lunch with a one-egg omelet (flavored with Penzey's Mural Seasoning and some sautéed onion) on top of a slice. It pairs well with the more savory filling. I like the grain mix, and except for 1 1/2 cups bread flour, it is completely whole grain.
Welcome back, Skeptic7. Did the big storm in the northeast knock out your power?
I usually turn my bread out of the pans right after I remove them from the oven. If I'm using my instant read thermometer to check temperature, I've probably already turned it out onto my kitchen mitt, so that I can take the temperature on the bottom. However, when I've made Moomie's buns as rolls, I noticed that they are particularly delicate on top. I started leaving them in the pan for 5 minutes or so, until the top firms up, before I invert them onto a rack, then back onto another rack, being careful not to squish them. The bread I bake in the Emile Henry Baker also tends to be more delicate on top, so I let it set for 5 minutes before carefully tipping it out sideways onto a rack, then righting it.
Thanks Mike for locating the product picture of the Hafrakex. I may try to figure out how to crisp up in the oven the ones I baked today.
