Posted on by Christi Craig

Rainy Day Baking

The view from my window suggests lounge wear and scones.

Well, I always resort to lounge wear on cold, rainy days, but I rarely make scones. They intimidate me, with their sticky dough and delicate berry combination. Still, I had special occasion to bake something fun this morning, and I decided on these:

Blackberry Scones.

I found the recipe from www.savvyhousekeeping.com (I don’t know who she is, but her website hosts a smorgasbord of fun ideas. You should check her out).

I had every ingredient except sour cream. Thanks to the the ol’e internet, I discovered a list of suggested substitutes, one being a mix of sour milk and butter. Makes sense, right?

I set the butter out on the counter, so it would soften. Then, I lined up utensils: potato masher, spoon, whisk. I smashed. I stirred. I flicked my wrist like a pro. Sour milk and butter fragments jumped, helter skelter, from the bowl, but nobody was willing to come together.

I hauled out the big gun, my KitchenAid mixer, and tried to beat it into some sort of molecular breakdown. What resulted was a mountain of buttery clumps floating in a pool of milk.

Good enough, I thought, the scones are calling.

Adding my psuedo sour cream and kneading ever-so-lightly, I folded in blackberries. I used frozen berries, which stayed in tact for the most part. When they began to break up and color my hands and the dough, I poked in the rest. That might be illegal in the baking world, but it worked at my house.

Yummy, yum.

Pour me a cup of coffee, would you?

What’s your favorite rainy day activity? Or, better yet, what’s you favorite baked treat? I’m always in search of a sugary, full o’carb, kind of snack.

ps. The ones I made are also egg-free, since food allergies are an issue in our house, and that makes this recipe doubly good — it held up under my sour cream fiasco and my egg substitute.

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10 Replies to “Rainy Day Baking”

  1. Christi! First, I was looking for that link to your radio reading and I went to your Facebook page. Then I saw this link waiting right at the top so I clicked it. Then I saw the scones. Now I’m getting ready to make the scones. But I do have sour cream. 🙂 Cheers! *clink*

  2. Radio reading?

    Blackberries have been my favorite since childhood, but I’ve never had blackberry scones. Come to think of it, I’ve not eaten many scones of any kind.

    I like to stay in and write or read on rainy days … and sunny days. 😉 My comfort sweets are usually pies or custardy things.

    1. Linda,

      I had the opportunity recently to read one of my flash fiction stories on Public Radio. Here’s the link if you’d like to listen.
      http://www.wuwm.com/programs/lake_effect/le_sgmt.php?segmentid=7084 (I’m about midway through).
      There are two other stories by other authors as well.

      All this rain not only made me hungry today, but inspired me to clean. Or, maybe it was my subconscious telling me I’d better work off all those calories I scarfed up with that scone. At any rate…in the pie world, I’m a total French Silk kind of girl.

  3. I love rainy days, and though I usually spend them writing or reading, I do like to make the occasional loaf of gluten-free bread bread. Blackberries are my favorite, and your scones look divine. I bet I could adjust the recipe to make them gluten-free!

  4. Those scones looked so good, I want to reach out and grab one. This last weekend was rainy but I was too lazy to bake, let alone get dressed.

  5. Mmm, I do love scones. My favorite rainy day activity, is reading. I’m more of a carb/salt person, so I gravitate to buttered popcorn or chips and dip before I think of sweets. But your photos and description made me regret today’s skimpy breakfast.

    1. Oh, yes, then there’s the salt. My salty snack weakness is potato chips and salsa, a craving I inherited from my mother. Now I’m regretting my skimpy midnight snack….

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