In The Kitchen: Cranberry Scones, Homemade Buttermilk

I promise that this is not turning into a cooking blog, but I seem to be on a baking jag these days. The same way that I get on knitting jags, where all I can knit are hats or baby sweaters or the like, I can’t seem to stop baking.

This weekend, I baked Cranberry Scones:

Yes, they’re a little overcooked. I think I need to get an oven thermometer and see if our oven is accurate.

The recipe is here, and I only made two slight substitutions. One, I didn’t add nutmeg, because we didn’t have any. I don’t think that made too big of a difference, though.

As for the second substitution, the recipe called for buttermilk (which the recipe author subbed with homemade yogurt). I have neither buttermilk or homemade yogurt in my fridge, so I did a little Googling, and discovered you can (sort of) make buttermilk in your kitchen. I know! Amazing, right? And yet, so simple. Here’s how:

Ho to Make “Buttermilk” in Your Kitchen:

1. Place 1 Tbsp of white vinegar or lemon juice in measuring cup

2. Add milk to measuring cup, filling to 1 Cup level

3. Let sit out on counter for about 5 minutes

4. Use the amount you need for the recipe

I will admit, the resulting concoction concerned me at first – basically, you’re souring the milk. But I used the amount needed for the recipe (3/4 of a cup) and neither Mr. Martini nor I had any major illness or reaction, so I figure that was a success.

Like I mentioned above, I did overcook these scones just a tad, but the results were still delicious. Very crumbly, and while I usually find coffee shop scones very dry, these were much more moist and tasty. A fantastic recipe, and one I’ll definitely making again.