Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Sweet Coffee-Glazed Mini Scones and a St. Pat's Cat from Cleo Coyle


My husband, Marc, and I made a new friend this past weekend. On St. Patrick's day, an abandoned kitten, about six months old, was obviously lost and hungry and mewing piteously for hours. 


Cleo Coyle, who loves cats
in (and out of) hats,
is author of The Coffeehouse
Mysteries
No one came to his aid, so we took him in, fed him, and got him to our local vet. He's doing fine and will soon be the newest member of our New York stray cat crew. I'll have photos and more news soon, but we're so pleased the little guy found us--and on St. Patrick's Day!

The video below is not mine, but when I saw it uploaded to YouTube, I thought of our new kitten and decided to share it in honor of our St. Pat's cat. Enjoy!




I also did a bit o' baking over the St. Patrick's Day weekend. As usual, I made my "Shamrock" Pistachio Muffins. (I love these babies. The batter tastes like pistachio ice cream and the ricotta adds nice moistness to the muffin, along with additional nutrition. And, of course, they're green. :))

I also baked up some sweet mini soda breads or are they buttermilk scones? You be the judge. I threw in some mini chocolate chips and tarted them up with a quick coffee glaze. Delicious slathered with butter and served with tea or coffee, just be sure to eat them warm. Cold they're not so hot, but warm they're a nice breakfast bread.










Cleo Coyle's
Coffee-Glazed 
Mini Soda Bread Scones


This is an easy, sweet breakfast bread. The recipe is based on your basic Irish soda bread. With the addition of sugar and chocolate chips, it's really more of a buttermilk scone. They're easy to make and quite tasty when eaten warm with a cup o' tea or (of course...) coffee. ~ Cleo


Makes about 16 mini soda bread scones


2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup buttermilk (light is fine)


First preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Measure out all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Pour in your 1 cup of buttermilk. Stir it up. When the mixture comes together, use a clean hand to finish mixing and kneading it in the bowl until you have a sticky ball. Break off golf ball size pieces and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Pour your coffee or tea and serve warm, slathered with butter. For an extra sweet finish, glaze them up.


Quick Coffee Glaze


Using a fork, whisk 2 tablespoons of hot brewed coffee (or espresso) into 1 cup of sifted confectioners' sugar. With that same fork, drizzle the tops of the mini scones. 


NOTE: These are delicious warm, not so hot cold, so be warned. :)


F o o d i e
P  H O T O S










             
Eat with joy!


~ Cleo Coyle, author of


To get more recipes, enter to win
free coffee, or 
learn about my books, including
my bestselling 
Haunted Bookshop series, visit my online coffeehouse: CoffeehouseMystery.com



The Coffeehouse Mysteries are national bestselling
culinary mysteries set in a landmark Greenwich Village 
coffeehouse, and each of the ten titles includes the 
added bonus of recipes. 
 


The Ghost and
Mrs. McClure


Book #1 of 

The Haunted Bookshop
Mysteries
, which Cleo writes
under the name Alice Kimberly
To learn more, click here.




MURDER 203


Quick reminder to our Mystery Lovers Kitchen audience: Cleo Coyle and Lucy Burdette are appearing at MURDER 203!

If you're attending the MURDER 203 festival of mystery next month in Easton, Connecticut, be sure to stop by and say hi. You can register in advance or walk in the same day. More info about the conference here.
See you there!


14 comments:

  1. Oh yummm. Congratulations on your new family member. Is his name Patrick? Or something else Irish?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Katreader - Thank for the congrats! No name yet...we're trying out a few... He's adorable and so affectionate. We're so glad he found us.

      ~ Cleo Coffeehouse Mystery.com
      Cleo Coyle on Twitter

      Delete
  2. wow, ya have a good heart. nice and congrats for the new member haha.
    those soda bread look so good.
    added to my list :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cleo, what an adorable kitty! I hope you call him Paddy. :)

    ~Avery

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Avery - we're trying out a few names. (Marc nixed Paddy, lol, so I'm relying on the kitten to tell us...they have a way of choosing their own names in our house...more to come soon..)

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  4. Welcome, new little kitty! Looking forward to seeing pictures of you.

    Cleo, you know I love your foodie photos! And mini-scones - with coffee glaze, yet, you maverick! I thought, at first glance, that the dark spots in them were currants--but how can chocolate not be even better? Brilliant way to start St. Paddy's Day! Having pneumonia, I did nothing but cough this St. Paddy's Day, but I reserve the right to celebrate when I recover. Celebration is always the right thing to do, and scones are always the right way to do it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laine - Always a pleasure to see you in our Kitchen. Ack, so sorry to hear about your pneumonia! Marc and I are keeping you in our good thoughts and prayers for speedy recovery. Take care of yourself, girl!

      XOXOXO
      ~ Cleo Coffeehouse Mystery.com
      Cleo Coyle on Twitter

      Delete
  5. Another recipe I must try (and take to work :)
    Looking forward to the pics of the new kitty!

    ReplyDelete
  6. My mouth is watering, Cleo! Congrats on adopting a new kitten. I'm so happy for you. What a lucky baby!

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  7. Those scones look delicious. Cute video, and I love the jaunty way the kitten wears his hat. It is always nice when a kitty finds you.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I made these this morning for my family and they were such a hit that it’s been requested that I make another batch for snack time this afternoon. Thanks for such a quick and easy (and delicious) recipe!

    ReplyDelete