Weekend snacks: blueberry scones and energy snacks

It was a good weekend for making food.  I baked scones and bread and made a great soup (with brussels sprouts instead of peas), and we made fruit balls and almond energy snacks.  It is the season for hunkering down in a warm house with soup simmering on the stove and bread dough rising in a bowl.

Life is not quite as simple as that.  Sylvia has lots of energy so we try and get out to the park to limit the energy she has for dragging chairs about the kitchen to see what I am doing, patting my bread dough and plunging her fingers into my scones.  We were surprised on Saturday to find our regular park down at Coburg Lake had been pulled up and a new one is being installed with lots of dirt still about.  "We don't want to go to a dirty park," was Sylvia's refrain.  Instead, we went up the hill to another park.

Back at home, I decided to bake some blueberry scones.  I was interested in the recipe in the Rose Bakery Breakfast, Lunch, Tea cookbook.  Yet when I checked the Australian Women's Weekly, their blueberry and ginger scone recipe was simpler with no eggs and very little butter.  It was the sort of recipe my mum used to make so I stuck with it.  I used a handful of wheatgerm from the Rose Bakery recipe and I added some choc chips on a whim.

I actually was glad Sylvia was out the front in the sun with E and Zinc while I rubbed the butter into the flour.  But she cannot resist my baking and had to come and see what I was up to.  We ate the scones warm out of the oven and they were lovely.  All they needed was a lick of butter, though you could add jam or honey if you wanted a little extra sweetness.  I loved the barely sweet scones with the added flavour of ginger and bursts of sweetness from chocolate and blueberries.  The only change I might make it to add only choc chips or blueberries in future.

The scones didn't last long.  They are not meant to.  In fact the recipe said they are best on the day.  I agree yet they were still yummy the next day.  Maybe this was a result of my very soft dough.  I love baking but can't do it every day.  So Sylvia and I made some fruit balls.  They are such a simple and delicious snack.  I love them so much I have been looking at more energy ball recipes.  Perry's Plate and Lululemon have lots of great idea.

I adapted a recipe for Elissa’s Portable Breakfast Balls from Lululemon.  Elissa didn't blend hers at all but I wanted Sylvia to taste them so I blitzed them.  These were rolled late at night while Sylvia slept and bread baked.  I was disappointed at first.  E made a face when he tasted them.  Sylvia just spat them out.  Fortunately I gave them a second chance and have enjoyed a few.  Work was intense with back to back meetings so I was glad of a little energy hit. 

These energy snacks are packed with nuts and seeds.  They taste nutty, toasty and only slightly sweet.  In future I would do less grinding of the seeds and coconut.  But I have an urge to experiement with some more combinations, once this batch is gone.  We like to try new things in our house.  On the weekend, Sylvia was delighted in a new house for dolly, made by cutting windows and a door into a cardboard box.  If you look in the windows, you might notice that dolly has a little bowl beside her with a fruit ball and maybe a nutty energy snack as well.

I am sending the scones to Nayna at Simply Food who is hosting the Breakfast Club this month with berries as the theme.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: Nigella’s potato bread
This time two years ago: Celeriac Soup and Apple and Cheese Cake for Lunch
This time three years ago: The solstice fruitcake offensive
This time four years ago: Winter Solstice Roast Dinner

Chocolate, blueberry and ginger scones
Adapted from Australian Women's Weekly Old Fashioned Favourites
Makes about 12 scones

1, 3/4 cups white self raising flour
1/4 cups wheatgerm
1/2 tsp baking powder
30g butter, chopped
1/4 cup dark chop chips
1/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1, 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup milk
1/4 - 1/2 cup water
extra milk for glazing the scones

Preheat oven to 220 C and grease an oven tray.

Place flour, wheatgerm and baking powder into a largish bowl.  Rub in butter to resemble fine breadcrumbs.  Stir through choc chips, blueberries and ginger.

Make a well in the centre of flour mixture and pour in milk and water (I found 1/2 cup water a bit much so I would start with 1/4 cup and add a bit more if it was too dry.)  Gently mix through with a butter knife until it come together into a soft dough.

Briefly knead on a floured board until the dough is smooth.  (My dough was really sticky so I needed quite a bit of flour to be able to handle it.)  Pat into a circle of about 2cm and use a floured scone cutter to cut scones.  Place on greased tray, almost touching.  Brush with milk.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.  Eat fresh or keep wrapped up in a teatowel.

Almond energy snacks
Adapted from Elissa Joy's recipe at Lululemon
Makes heaps

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw almonds
250g (about 1 cup) almond butter
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup ground flax
1/2 cup pitted dried dates
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup water or more

Toast the oats, sesame seeds, coconut, sunflower seeds and almonds, one at a time on a hot dry frypan.  I ground it all up in a food processor but I think next time I might just grind the almonds and maybe the oats.  Add remaining ingredients to food processor until it adheres together in a clump (or just stir by hand if you don't grind it all).  Rolls into small balls about the size of a walnut.

On the Stereo:
Dream it Down: Underground Lovers