Daily Breakfast

I go into cycles with breakfast. For the majority of the summer, it was a banana before I hopped on my bike and a yogurt smoothie thing. Before that, it was oatmeal of some sort or Coco Wheats shipped in from South Dakota to brave the cold winter. The cycles tend to coincide with the changes of the season. When I start to get sick of my "usual" breakfast, I notice my coffee shop expense go up. I get lazy and don't know what I want and nothing looks good so I end up buying a scone or muffin, and a latte of course.

In an attempt to save some money and try something new, I decided I would try making something on the weekend that I could take with me to work daily. Enter Smitten Kitchen and her Whole Wheat Raspberry Ricotta Scones. The best part of this recipe is that she give you the directions for mixing them up ahead of time and baking them when you are ready for them and I am going try this brilliant idea with other scone recipes as we continue heading for the cold of winter. I can warm the oven while I take a shower, pop one in the oven, and still have a bit of time for it to cool before I run for the subway. Who doesn't love a fresh baked breakfast? That's what I thought. I am going to try this with other.

Whole Wheat Raspberry Scones
Makes 9 scones

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup  all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup  granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• 3/4 cup whole milk ricotta
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

1. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. 
2. In the bottom of a large, wide-ish bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, sugar and salt together. 
3. Cut the butter into small pieces with a knife and work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. 
4. Roughly chop the raspberries on  a cutting board and stir them into the butter-flour mixture.  Add the ricotta and heavy cream together and stir them in to form a dough with a flexible spatula.
5. Using your hands, gently knead dough into an even mass, right in the bottom of the bowl.  With as few movements as possible, transfer the dough to a well-floured counter, flour the top of the dough and pat it into a 7-inch square about 1-inch tall. 
6. With a large knife, divide the dough into 9 even squares.  Transfer the scones to prepared baking sheet with a spatula.  Arrange them on your parchment-lined sheet and freeze them.  
7. Once they are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag or container. 
8. When you are ready to bake them, bring them back to a parchment-lined sheet. Bake 16 to18 minutes, until lightly golden at the edges.  Cool in pan for a minute, then transfer to a cooling rack. Cool them about halfway before eating.

Enjoy!