Ugh, what the frak (yes I watch Battlestar Gallactica). This morning has not gone as I foresaw.  Let me start by saying the weather for approximately 29 hours in Washington DC has been as I’ve always dreamed: dreary, chilly, and sweater weather.  I’m not a fan of spring and summer–I’m the odd soul who wants fall and winter. This perplexes my mother to no end.  Sure, I complain through winter as everyone else but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it, right? 

So this morning, James and I were getting ready for work and instead of making coffee and eating cereal or toast like I always do I decided I needed to go to Starbucks and partake in a pumpkin overload by ordering a pumpkin spice latte and a pumpkin scone.  Did it happen, NO.  Sorry about that, that’s the caffeine deficiency talking, let me fix that [gulp gulp gulp] okay I’m back. Apparently Starbucks doesn’t run on the weather pattern schedule when releasing their speciality drinks.  Can you believe that?  Not accomodating a pumpkin deprived soul who randomly wants pumpkin in her life?  I don’t get it either.  I sort of feel like Liz Lemon in the 30 Rock episode entitled Sandwich Day.  Pumpkin day is a magical day (oh joy!) and to take that away from someone is just criminal I say…criminal! 

But you know what?  I’ve found a way around the Starbucks monsters…that’s right I have a pumpkin scone recipe that is secret.  Alright, so it’s not secret–I found it on the Intertubes and it was clearly labeled “Starbucks Pumpkin Scones”. I feel like I just gained an enormous amount of power just now.  I can’t say if I’ll use my powers for good or for evil…I haven’t had enough caffeine yet to determine that.  While I sip my soy chai (despite it’s snobby sounding drink name it’s delicious and dairy sadly is not my digestive friends), I thought I’d share this recipe for those of you out there who have experienced the same level of dissapointment as I did this morning.  I’m really vamping this up to be something, aren’t I? Anyway, this is a special treat that I intend to make tonight to rectify this unfortunate situation. This is for all you pumpkin lovers out there…

Starbucks-ish Pumpkin Scones

Scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
6 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons half-and-half
1 large egg
Powdered Sugar Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk

Spiced Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pinch ginger
1 pinch ground cloves

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Using a pastry knife, fork, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half, and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball.
Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide). Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut those three slices diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 14–16 minutes. Scones should begin to turn light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

Glaze:
Mix the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp milk together until smooth.
When scones are cool, use a brush to paint plain glaze over the top of each scone.

Icing:
Combine the ingredient for the spiced icing together. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (at least 1 hour). A squirt bottle works great for this, or you can drizzle with a whisk.

Ahhhh….the Big Cookie. Is there anything greater in this world?  I would argue no.  Well, only if you’re talking ice cream and a big cookie. For those who have not experienced the big cookie, I can promise you there’s no going back to individual cookies after this. I figured I should give Martha a second chance, especially after some of my brash comments in yesterday’s post.  Martha, if you’re reading this, it was wrong of me to say you have bad hair.  Who am I to judge…when I was young my mom gave me a mushroom cut so “she who cast the first stone…”


Alright, let the salivating begin!

Skillet-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookie
courtesy Martha Stewart Living

The process and ingredients are the same used in making normal sized cookies.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.  In another bowl, cream butter and sugars until mixture is light and fluffy.  If you’re using a cheap hand mixer like me this should only take 30 seconds.  After you’ve scientifically determined the mixture to be “fluffy”, add the egg and vanilla.  Again, mix the ingredients together.  Once it’s incorporated, add the flour mixture, followed by the chocolate chips.  

Transfer the dough to a 10-inch ovenproof skillet and flatten.  Bake until golden (anywhere between 30-40 minutes depending on your oven).  The important thing to remember is to not overcook it, so watch it carefully after the 30 minute mark.  



Now here is where Melissa was stubborn and didn’t listen to Martha.  My cast iron skillet does not have a lip to it…I think you can see where this is going.  Sure, I smashed the dough into the skillet and I was elated to eat my big cookie all by myself with no one to judge me.  Had I have used a skillet with a lip, like this one I wouldn’t have had dough spilling over the edges onto the bottom of my oven.  Luckily, I line the bottom of my oven with foil for such a time as this, so all I had to do was pull out the foil and voila…problem solved.   

It’s hard for me to admit my mistakes, and it’s not even an option for me to show you the mess that occurred.  So instead, I’ll leave you with the end photo you should experience when making this delicious and easy recipe. Now, hurry up and make this cookie before you second guess yourself!

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