banana scones with orange glaze

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I made these scones on Sunday for breakfast. Usually scones have eggs (added richness), but I was out so I Googled "eggless scones", which essentially is a biscuit, and found a version by Bobby Flay that I liked. I changed the recipe a bit, subbing chopped banana for the fruit in the original recipe and making a glaze with sugar and fresh orange juice instead of the icing topping. And besides grating the butter, I cut in cubes of cream cheese.

The funny part is that this wasn't the eggless scone recipe I found. But as this was linked to the other actual eggless recipe, and I liked the sound of it better, I went ahead with this version and simply omitted the egg.

Though I only used 2 ounces of cream cheese, they gave the scones extra tenderness and a softer, fluffier flavor. You'll want to cut in the cream cheese first since the grated butter won't take very long to mix into the flour.

For the glaze, I brought freshly squeezed orange juice to a boil with sugar. This idea came from a muffin recipe I've made before, and I liked the way the muffins tasted and looked with the sheen and the orangey and slightly sticky coating. I don't know if I'd use this again because it made the tops soft the next day. An alternative would be to thin apricot preserves with a bit of water (heat until hot) or just use the glaze the recipe suggests.

The scones were nice and light, and just sweet enough to make a good breakfast treat. The bananas add their own sweetness tasted good with the orange flavors. Since these are drop scones, you don't have to worry about shaping them with all the added mess that imparts. To me, that's what makes these perfect for a lazy Sunday morning.

Recipe after the jump

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banana scones with orange glaze
Recipe from here, adapted by me

Makes 12 scones

ingredients ~

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Grated rind of two oranges
1/4 cup frozen unsalted butter, grated
2 ounces chilled cream cheese, sliced into 1/2 inch cubes
3/4 cup cream (I used 1/2 cup evaporated milk and 1/4 cup water)
1 cup chopped bananas
2-3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

directions ~

1. Preheat an oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and orange rind. Sprinkle with chilled cream cheese cubes and toss to coat. Cut into flour mixture until it resembles the texture of cornmeal. Stir in grated butter to mix.


2. Toss chopped bananas into flour-butter mixture. Pour the cream on top and mix with a spatula just until combined. Scoop twelve portions out onto the prepared baking sheet (I used a spoon, but you could use an ice cream scoop), dividing evenly. Bake until tops and bottom are golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.


3. Meanwhile, bring orange juice and sugar just to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and cool. When scones have finished baking, brush the tops with the orange glaze. Let scones cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

big beautiful banana muffins

My love affair with America's Test Kitchen continues with a recipe for muffins. The basic recipe is plain with options for various flavors, and I chose the banana. A couple changes I made were to replace half of the flour with white whole wheat, not subbing brown sugar for the white, and not adding walnuts, though I used slightly more than the amount of finely diced banana called for to make up for it. That's right, the bananas weren't mashed, and I kind of like that.

Using yogurt as the liquid, along with eggs and melted butter, the recipe whips up quickly and even can be made a) ahead of time, and b) ahead of time and frozen in pre-portioned "cups" for future baking, which I'll be trying out later for the sake of testing.

The texture is moist, spongy, and soft. It didn't have a mouth-melting quality of a muffin made where the butter is beaten with sugar, it was light and good for what a muffin should be.

To make the crowns large and domed, the same Once Upon a Tart principle of filling the tins to just below the top is implemented with the ATK muffins. I still wasn't quite pleased with the overall height, though I figured I slightly overmixed the batter since didn't have the correct egg size and used 2 tablespoons less butter because I didn't want to cut into another stick, so I quickly beat a third medium size egg with a few tablespoons of milk and stirred that in. I wouldn't say it was really overmixed, but it probably was just by a bit. I also got 17 muffins instead of the 12 they said, most likely due again to the extra additions. I didn't see when they said to fold the extra ingredients into the batter, but I'm assuming it's before all the wet and dry ingredients have been folded together properly (a few light streaks of flour should remain).

One mistake I realized I made was that the recipe says to mix the wet ingredients with dry just until combined, then fold in melted butter. Obviously, I did not do this, and they make no explanation for why this method differs. This only means I'll have to make even more to see what happens.

I had a little ATL experiment of my own, one I've noticed in the past, too. Whenever there isn't enough batter to fill all of the cups in the muffin tin, I fill the empty cups halfway with water. I notice the muffins in the tin with water tend to have a higher crown than those in tins filled with all batter, even though the steam should hit all of them. Interesting.

Also, I notice that if the muffins come out at a certain height, after cooling they fall down a bit, even if cooked completely. Is this a steam being released thing going on?

Edit: These were delicious. Not too sweet, yet a perfectly accented banana flavor. I already noted the texture above. Here are some previously blogged banana bread recipes: black-and-white banana loaf, GT's banana bread, Mom's favorite banana bread.

Anyway, I have a few more recipes I've made that I need to blog about. If I don't, I certainly will talk about it. I may get them all out of the way in one sweet post. In the meantime, enjoy the recipe for muffins after the jump.

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big beautiful banana muffins
Recipe from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

Makes 12

ingredients ~
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk or low-fat yogurt
2 large eggs
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups finely diced bananas

directions ~

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 370 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.


2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the yogurt and eggs together until smooth. Gently fold the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined, then fold in the melted butter. This is where, maybe along with the butter, I'm guessing you also fold in the bananas.


3. Using a greased 1/3-cup measure, portion the batter into each muffin cup. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking time.


4. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack, and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

toasted coconut baked oatmeal with caramelized bananas

I haven't made baked oatmeal in a long time. I really enjoyed it the last time I made it, especially the texture. Unlike regular oatmeal, the texture is more like a soft oatmeal bar rather than an Oliver Twist-like porridge, although it's not something I make often because it requires a little more foresight. When I have a morning to spare, though, I can take a bit longer to make a more complex breakfast.

When making this recipe, I wanted the flavors to be more tropical than the fruit typically stirred into a bowl of oatmeal, so I decided on toasted coconut and a caramelized banana topping. For other flavors, I browned some butter and added cardamom. Instead of whole eggs, I used egg whites so that it wouldn't be too dense. You can sub whole eggs if you're feeling like Gaston.

This dessert-like baked oatmeal is filling, yet won't sit like a brick in your stomach, making it the perfect weekend breakfast. While it's traditionally baked in a baking dish, you could evenly divide the mixture between muffin cups for individual storage. Omit the bananas, maybe add crushed banana chips to the oatmeal (they'll soften overnight), wrap the oatmeal cups well, and freeze for longer storage.

I love it when recipes come out how you envisioned. As the weather continues to be crappy, I can pretend it's better by making dishes with a more summery feel. At least my stomach will be happy.

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toasted coconut baked oatmeal with caramelized bananas
Recipe by Christina Provo

You can also prep this delicious breakfast the night before and pop it into the oven the next morning.

Serves 5-6

ingredients ~

2 1/2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup unsweetened flaked coconut, toasted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, browned and cooled
1/2 cup egg whites
3/4 cup applesauce
1 cup milk
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 large bananas, sliced into 1/4 inch slices, on the bias
Granulated sugar

directions ~

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 8x3-inch round baking dish, or similar dish with tall sides. In a medium sized bowl, whisk oats, coconut, brown sugar, baking powder, spices and salt together.
2. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. In a separate bowl, whisk together applesauce, milk, and browned butter. Add oat mixture and mix thoroughly to combine, then gently fold in beaten egg whites. Pour into prepared baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes
3. Twenty minutes into baking time, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. When butter has melted, stir in 2 tablespoons brown sugar to melt. Carefully place banana slices in skillet and lower heat to medium-low. Cook, carefully turning slices, for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Take oatmeal out from the oven and place banana slices, overlapping, on top in a circular style. Pour and spread any remaining sugar-butter remnants on top and continue baking for remaining 10 minutes.
4. Remove dish from oven. Preheat broiler to high, with oven rack at the second-to-highest position. Sprinkle bananas evenly with enough granulated sugar to lightly coat. Broil until sugar has melted and slightly caramelized. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.