I woke up Sunday morning to 60 degrees Fahrenheit in the cabin. My bed was warm and toasty but the effort to face the cold was overwhelming. Thankfully, I’d prepped my dry ingredients for scones, a crew favorite anytime, but especially on cold mornings. So, as slowly as possible I crept out of bed to race to the stove and heat up the cabin.
Did I mention we have no heat or air-conditioning on the boat? Yeah, well, we’re pretty creative with ways to stay warm and cool. Right now the objective is warm. Baking is a wonderful way to heat up the cabin. Our main social area is approximately 9 X 7 feet. It doesn’t take much to heat the cabin. When it gets really cold we move south, but sometimes Florida isn’t very warm either.
When normal baking doesn’t do the trick, we implement the poor man’s chimney. The flower-pot upside down on the stove top has been known to add fifteen degrees to the interior of the boat. A pleasant toasty warm. Still, the fruits of a day of baking are awfully tasty, so here’s our favorite scone recipe.
Cranberry Buttermilk Scones
3 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup plus two tablespoon brown sugar, divided
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup cold butter or margarine
1 cup buttermilk (note: We use buttermilk powder, 4 tablespoons powder to 1 cup water, the farther ahead you mix this the better.)
1 cup dried cranberries
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
In a bowl, combine the flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda; cut in butter. Stir in the buttermilk just until combined. Fold in cranberries.
Traditional scones are rolled and shaped into triangles. With limited galley space I divide the dough into 12 portions and drop them onto a lightly greased baking sheet, patting them into shape.
Combine 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Sprinkle on top.
Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 1 dozen.
• You can substitute all-purpose flour for the wheat flour and white sugar for the brown sugar. We only keep the wheat flour and brown sugar on the boat. When using brown sugar, do not pack. I find this a way to lower my sugar intake and still get the sweetness of regular sugar with the added molasses.
wow…those sound really good Nancy! and I totally understand about the cold mornings…..=) brr!
Sounds good! I think this recipe has advantages (no cream) over my standard, so I’ll have to give this a try. I do the opposite regarding the sugar. I keep white sugar and molasses, figuring there are recipes that need a taste of molasses and recipes that don’t. Found the powdered buttermilk at the grocery store a few weeks back, so I’m ready to fire up the oven. Thanks for sharing this!
You’re welcome!
OOOH. I don’t have a recipe for cranberry scones like this one. Thanks Nancy. I know I sound like a broken record but your life on your boat is absolutely fascinating to me. Love the poor man’s chimney!
The scones sound fantastic and I would most definitely prefer them to a cold cabin.
I’ve never heard the flower pot trick before, I’ll have to share it with my parents (who live on their boat 8 months of the year) although they do tend to stay pretty far south now. Cold mornings aren’t usually a problem in Grenada. 😉
The scones sound wonderful. The flower pot tricks works great. On the rare occations in Thailand– where even the cars have no heat, I use the clay pots to heat a room. No warm clothes here. It works!
Thanks, Nancy.
Sounds absolutely delicious! I love scones. My Mom would always make raisin scones for us as kids growing up and I’ve always wanted to try making them. I love how this is also a pretty good healthy alternative. Thanks so much for sharing – yum – my mouth is watering!
These sound yummy, as like all your treats! TFS the recipe. 🙂