Mandarin Orange Cranberry Scones

When I first saw these scones at Peng's Kitchen, I bookmarked it immediately. I love the ingenious idea of incorporating mandarin oranges and cranberries into scones.

My baked scones did not have a strong mandarin orange taste and I guess that was due to the missing zest. The mandarin oranges were too soft to grate the zest and I seriously didn't want to squash the fruits into juice with my bare hands. Haha... Thankfully, the cranberries added a delightful dimension to the scones. :)

Somehow, the above picture doesn't look like scones at all to me. Instead it reminds me of croquettes or nuggets. Hahaha... What do you think?

Thanks to Peng's Kitchen for sharing the recipe. :)

Mandarin Orange Cranberry Scones
Adapted from: Peng's Kitchen

Ingredients (Makes 15)
125 g unsalted butter, cold
250 g plain flour
60 g sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 tbsp mandarin orange zest
5 - 6 tbsp mandarin orange juice (from 2 mandarin oranges)
1 egg, for glazing

Method
1. In a large bowl, place flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix well.
2. Rub in butter with finger tips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Stir in the beaten egg, dried cranberries, mandarin orange zest and mandarin orange juice. Reserve 1 tbsp juice, if the dough is too dry, gradually add the remaining liquid. 
4. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly about 10 times. Do not over-handle the dough. Dough should be non-sticky and slightly elastic. Roll dough to ½-inch thick and cut into shapes.
5. Place onto a lined baking tray and brush with beaten egg glaze. Bake in a preheated oven at 160°C for 12 – 15 minutes until golden brown.
6. Remove from the oven and cool.

Notes
- I omitted mandarin orange zest and egg for glazing.
- I chilled the dough for 1 hour before rolling out and cutting into shapes.

Blueberry Breakfast Scones

With some blueberries on hand, I baked these Blueberry Scones that I saw at Happy Home Baking. I totally agree with Happy Home Baker that the dough was very sticky, moist and difficult to work with and I began to have doubts whether I got the recipe right. Almost giving up, I chilled the dough in the fridge for half an hour, haphazardly rolled to the required thickness and sent it to the oven.

I know these scones are a far cry from Happy Home Baker's, but rest assured, the taste is not compromised. These warm scones are buttery, soft and flaky, perfect for afternoon tea. :)

Thanks to Happy Home Baking for all your generous tips and advice on scone baking. :)

Blueberry Breakfast Scones
Adapted from: LifeStyleFood and Holiday by Bill Granger

Ingredients (Makes 8 wedges)
250 g plain flour
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
100 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
125 ml cream
85 g blueberries, frozen or fresh, tossed in a little flour
1 egg, mixed with 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing

Method
1. Preheat oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Wash and drain blueberries, pat dry with paper towels and toss them gently with 1 tbsp flour.
3. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until combined.
4. Rub in the butter cubes with your fingers until roughly combined (there will still be lumps of butter).
5. Toss the blueberries in the flour mixture. Pour in the eggs and cream. Mix gently using a spatula (be careful not to crush the blueberries).
6. Once the dough starts to come together, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and give it a light knead.
7. Press into a 15 cm (6-inch) square or a big round flat disc (around 2 – 3 cm thick). Cut into quarters and then cut each quarter in half.
8. Place on the baking tray and brush with the egg and milk glaze.
9. Bake at 200°C for 15 – 20 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.

Notes
- Use cold butter; otherwise the scones will crumble and appear short.
- Tossing the blueberries in a bit of flour prevents them all sinking to the bottom of the dough.
- I wrapped the dough with a cling film and chilled in the fridge for about 30 minutes before rolling out to the required thickness.

Pineapple Rolls

The Chinese New Year will never be complete without pineapple tarts/rolls! Most people whom I have known are great lovers of pineapple tarts/rolls. I am an exception, haha... These pineapple rolls are specially made for my parents' indulgence, as well as for friends and relatives who will be visiting in the next couple of days.

I used the store-bought pineapple paste. I have little confidence in my cooking skills, seriously. On top of that, this is my maiden attempt in making pineapple rolls. I spent one whole afternoon in doing these rolls all by myself. Tiring as it is, I am glad that these pineapple rolls are well-received by my family. :)

I hereby wish everyone a happy and prosperous Chinese New Year! :)

祝大家：

恭喜发财, 身体健康
步步高升, 心想事成

Thanks to 我的厨房乐园 for sharing the recipe. :)

Pineapple Rolls
Adapted from: 我的厨房乐园

Ingredients (Makes 85)
250 g unsalted butter
50 g castor sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Pinch of salt
350 g plain flour
30 g corn flour
1 kg pineapple paste
2 egg yolks, for glazing

Method
1. Divide the pineapple paste to 8 g each and roll into small balls. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar until sugar is dissolved.
3. Add in egg yolk and beat until well-combined.
4. Add vanilla essence and salt and beat until fluffy.
5. Sift plain flour and corn flour together and fold into the butter mixture to form a soft dough.
6. Divide the dough to 8 g each and roll into small balls.
7. Flatten a piece of dough and place a piece of the rolled pineapple paste in the middle. Bring the edges of the dough together and press lightly to seal. Roll it in between your palms to shape it into a roll.
8. Place the rolls into paper casings and arrange on a baking tray. Brush the egg glaze on the pineapple rolls.
9. Bake in a preheated oven at 160°C and bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until the rolls are pale golden brown.
10. Cool on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container.

Cornflake Cookies

It will be an understatement to say that my family likes these cookies. They simply ADORE these delicious cookies to every single bit! My sister even asked if I can bake another bottle of these cookies, so that they can happily finish the first bottle without qualms before the start of CNY. Of course, I obliged to her request, happily as well. Hehe... :)

Thanks to Min's Blog for sharing the recipe. :)

Cornflake Cookies
Adapted from: Min's Blog

Ingredients (Makes 45 cookies)
110 g butter
50 g castor sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp lemon zest / orange zest, grated
125 g self-raising flour
1 tbsp corn flour
50 g corn flakes, crushed

Method
1. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla essence till pale and smooth.
2. Add in egg yolk and lemon zest (or orange zest) and continue to beat till smooth.
3. Sift in self-raising flour and corn flour, mix well to make it into a dough.
4. Using one teaspoon of dough, roll into a ball and coat with the crushed corn flakes. Place the dough into small cases and arrange the cases on a baking tray.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 150°C for 25 minutes.

Notes
- I omitted the grated lemon zest / orange zest.
- I substituted self-raising flour with 125 g plain flour and 1 tsp baking powder.

German Cookies

I believe that these German Cookies need no further introduction. A recipe which calls for only 4 ingredients and simple steps and ta-dah, awaiting you is a tray of irresistible melt-in-the-mouth cookies! :) No wonder these snow-white beauties are one of the popular cookies among the bloggers to bake for CNY this year.

Thanks to Cook.Bake.Love for sharing the recipe. :)

German Cookies
Adapted from: Cook.Bake.Love

Ingredients (Makes 36)
125 g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
40 g icing sugar
125 g potato starch
80 g plain flour

Method
1. Beat butter and icing sugar till pale and fluffy.
2. Sift in potato starch and plain flour and mix to form a soft dough.
3. Scoop the batter using a teaspoon and roll into small balls. Arrange on a lined baking pan and press lightly with a fork.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 150°C for 20 minutes (need not bake till cookies turn brown).

Notes
- To prevent the cookie dough from sticking on the fork, dip the fork in water before each use.

Coconut Cookies

These Coconut Cookies are perfectly described by Ching of 平平凡凡，简简单单. During baking, the lovely coconut aroma filled the entire kitchen. The finished products combine and bring out the best of the two worlds: buttery and the sweet fragrance of coconut. Perfect! :)

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #3: My Favorite CNY Cookie (Jan 2011) hosted by j3ss kitchen.

Thanks to 平平凡凡，简简单单 for sharing the recipe. :)

Coconut Cookies
Adapted from: 平平凡凡，简简单单 and 君之

Ingredients (Makes 38)
80 g cake flour
10 g rice flour
20 g desiccated coconut
90 g butter, softened at room temperature
1 tbsp egg, lightly beaten
45 g icing sugar
Some desiccated coconut, for sprinkling

Method
1. In a large bowl, sift the cake flour and rice flour together. Mix in desiccated coconut and set aside.
2. Beat butter and icing sugar till the batter turns pale and increases in volume.
3. Add in egg and beat until well-combined.
4. Fold in the flour mixture using a spatula until a soft dough is formed.
5. Using one teaspoon of dough, roll into a ball and coat with desiccated coconut. Place the dough into small cases and arrange the cases on a baking tray.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 150°C for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown. 
7. Cool on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container.

Almond Pandan Cookies

Baking cookies or should I say handling dough is never my forte. Can you believe that I actually spent more than 1.5 hour just to roll the dough and cut into shapes? I guess I really need to brush up my skills. Haha...

I am glad that the time and effort spent are paid off with crunchy buttery almond cookies. :)

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #3: My Favorite CNY Cookie (Jan 2011) hosted by j3ss kitchen.

Thanks to My Kitchen Snippets for sharing the recipe. :)

Almond Pandan Cookies
Adapted from: My Kitchen Snippets

Ingredients (Makes 75 small cookies)
100 g butter
50 g sugar
100 g flour
25 g ground almond
40 g cornflour
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp pandan paste

Method
1. Sift flour, corn flour and salt together. Add in the ground almond and mix well. Set aside.
2. Beat butter, sugar and pandan paste until soft and well-combined.
3. Add in the flour mixture and mix till well-combined.
4. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for half an hour.
5. Roll the dough out to about ½-cm thick and cut into shapes using cookie cutters.
6. Place the cookies in a lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 160°C for 20 minutes until lightly brown on the edges.
7. Cool completely on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.