Pumpkin Chai Scones

I know it's been awhile since I've posted, so I decided I needed to come back with something really good to make up for the lack of posts.

For those of you who don't already know, I'm in the process of opening a delivery based bakery. I'll go into more details about that in another post when I'm closer to "opening" though. All of my days off from my day job have been spent doing legal work or perfecting new recipe ideas.

I decided to treat myself today as I finish up my business plan and cost confirmation layouts. It's a little gloomy outside-my favorite type of weather-so I'm spending all day in my pajamas in bed finishing some stuff up.

Since I'm going with a comfort theme today, I decided to combine two of the first foods that come to mind when I think of comfort: pumpkin and chai spice. Thus, my pumpkin chai scones were born!

(as always, click on the pictures to make them larger)

The recipe is super simple and you probably have most of your ingredients in your cupboard already. As for the chai spice seasoning, I got mine from a specialty spice store in town. If you can't find chai spice seasoning, you can substitute with cinnamon to still add a warm undertone to the scones.

Scones
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp chai spice seasoning
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/8 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter-diced

1 large egg
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
3 tbsp half and half
1 tbsp honey
splash of vanilla extract


Glaze
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp+1 tsp pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp chai spice seasoning
splash of half and half

Preheat oven to 425F

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, chai spice, brown sugar, and white sugar. Add in cold butter pieces and work in with your hands until the butter is completely incorporated and mixture resembles corn flour.

In a separate bowl combine egg, pumpkin, half and half, honey, and vanilla. Create a well in the middle of the dry mix and use a rubber spatula to get as much of the wet mix as you can into the larger bowl. Use the same spatula to combine the mixes by folding the dry mix into the wet mix while turning the bowl. After the mixes are completely combined, use your hands to knead a few times. You want to use the spatula at first to prevent yourself from getting pumpkin Hulk hands.

Put a decent amount of flour onto a clean, flat surface and place the dough on top. Pat a tiny bit of flour on the top of the dough and then press into an eight inch circle. Cut into eight pieces like a pizza and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake 13-16 minutes until thoroughly cooked through. If you want the scones to be more crunchy than soft, just leave them in an extra minute or so.

While the scones cooling, combine all the glaze ingredients in a small pot with a whisk over low heat. Heat for about two minutes, but do not boil. Drizzle the glaze over the scones and enjoy!

I hope you all enjoyed this post and I'll try to make time for some more posts soon. Until next time...

Stay Stellar,
Paige Elise

Pumpkin Potato Soup

This pumpkin potato soup is another one of those dishes where I've made so many times that I've lost count. I've been making it for almost two years now, so I've tried plenty of substitutions and fixins. This recipe is for the basic soup, but I have some substitution and fixins ideas (and some to avoid) at the bottom.

This soup is incredibly easy to make. The hardest part is trying not to cry while chopping the onion up. It takes about 30-45 minutes to make from start to finish and will make 6-10 bowls depending on how hungry everyone is.

(as always, click on the pictures to view them larger)


INGREDIENTS
1/2-1 yellow onion
1 small spoonful of butter
6 cups chicken broth or stock
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree (make sure you get plain puree and not pie filling)
3 large russet potatoes
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste

TOOLS
2 pots (one for the soup and one to boil potatoes in)
1 cutting board
1 knife
1 colander or slotted spoon
1 wooden or metal spoon for stirring

DIRECTIONS

Start by filling the potato pot about halfway with salted water and setting it on high to boil.

While waiting for the water to boil, finely dice the onion and cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces. I use a whole onion because they're one of my favorite foods, but you can opt for half an onion if you'd like.

Turn your soup pot on to a medium heat and completely melt the butter. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and stir in completely before adding the onions in. Take your time to make sure the onions are completely caramelized. Trust me, it's worth it to take your time building the layers of flavor in this soup.

Once the water in the other pot is boiling, add the potatoes in. I keep the skins on my potatoes, but you can peel them if you'd like. You need to cook them separately or else your soup will be too starchy.

After the onions are completely caramelized, add the chicken broth, pumpkin puree, and salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste. Bring the soup to a boil while stirring to make the the pumpkin puree is completely incorporated into the broth and then turn the heat down to a simmer.

When the potatoes are done cooking, transfer them to the soup using a colander or slotted spoon. Add your heavy cream, stir to make sure everything is combined, and taste to see if you need to add any more spices.

Put a lid on your pot and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes before serving.

SUBSTITUTIONS AND FIXIN IDEAS

Since I've made this soup so many times, I've tried experimenting with it and have a few ideas for what you could add (and what you shouldn't) to pump it up a little more.

So far I've discovered that trying to substitute the heavy cream for milk or greek yogurt didn't end very well. The milk just wasn't creamy enough and the greek yogurt made it so sour it was inedible.

I also tried using olive oil and vegetable oil instead of butter and the soup turned out all right, but the butter does taste a lot better.

I only use Libby's brand of pumpkin puree because I've tried some different brands and they all taste "off."

As for the onion, white works fine, but purple is too overpowering.

You can substitute vegetable broth/stock for chicken broth/stock to make it vegetarian and it tastes just as good.

For fixins, I've added different cheeses on top as a garnish and they've all tasted good. My personal favorite was some grated parmesan.

You can also add in some meat to make it even heartier. My mom made carnitas for dinner last night, so crisped some up in a pan and topped the soup off with it today. My boyfriend and I were both fans of this fixin.

I hope you all enjoyed this post! If you end up making this soup, let me know how it turned out and any experiences you have with substitutions or fixins of your own and until next time...

Stay Stellar,
Paige Elise