I've been teaching myself to make scones and bagels. My goal is to make them without using a recipe, varying what I bake by what ingredients I have on hand.

For basic scones, I use:

1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)(softened)
2 1/2 cups of flour -- part white, part whole whear
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
dash of salt
sweetner -- maybe sugar, maybe honey, maybe molasses
star ingredient -- this weekend, it will be finely chopped rhubarb, but sometimes it's grated carrots and raisins, or dried cranberries and orange zest, or chopped apricots, you get the drift!
About a 3/4 cup of liquid -- which includes a beaten egg and milk or buttermilk, or cream.

I cut the butter into the dry ingredients (I like to do it with my hands, but you could use a pastry cutter)

Then I add fruit or whatever.

Then I mix the liquid.

I pat the dough out and use a knife to cut the scones -- I like little triangles.

I usually use some kind of powdered sugar glaze drizzled over the scones. I don't like the scones to be too sweet, but I do like a little glaze.


When I make bagels, I use:

3 cups of flour -- usually a mixture of bread flour and whole wheat flour.
I add a package of fast rising yeast to the flour.
Dash of salt
Sweetner -- maybe 1/2 cup to sugar, or 1/3 cup of honey.
Other ingredients may be added -- raisins, cinnamon, wheat bran, sunflower seeds, etc.
About 1 cup of warm water

I mix this stuff up with my stand mixer, using the dough hooks.

After thoroughly kneaded, I let the dough raise -- usually for about 1/2 hour. Then I divide it into 8 balls and shape into bagels. I place each bagel on a little square of waxed paper and let rise while I get a big pot of water boiling.

I pick up the square of waxed paper and drop the bagel into the boiling water -- I can boil four at a time. They need to be boiled about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Then I remove from water and let them cool for a few minutes on paper towels. (I found out a slotted spatula works best for turning and removing from boiling water.) When the bagels are no longer steaming, I place them on a baking sheet -- I've learned to use parchment paper for baking the bagels.

They bake for 15 - 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

They don't keep well. . .so it's good to enjoy them while they're fresh.

Gail