granulated sugar Archives - Pretty Little Apron

I’m so very much still in the Valentine’s Day spirit over here with these Coconut, Strawberry, Chocolate Chip scones! Or maybe, just maybe.. I had some strawberries and chocolate left over from my Salted Chocolate Covered Strawberries so I decided to put them to good use! <3 <3

Speaking of the Valentine’s Day spirit, I blogged about our Shrimp and Parmesan Strip Steak yesterday. It was our family Valentine’s Day meal and it was delicious! Valentine’s Day is always a great reason for me to go above and beyond in the kitchen and we had a great day. My husband also ate about 4 of these scones, so I’d say they were a hit!

Speaking of the scones, strawberry and chocolate are always a winning combo! I remember one of the first weeks in pastry arts school our chef asked us to think of some flavors that we’d like to put together in some cream puffs. I have no idea why but I was so nervous about it! I thought all day about what I wanted to make and at the end of the day all I could think of was strawberry pastry cream in the middle and chocolate on top. I was almost embarrassed to tell the chef that this is what I thought up. It just seemed to be too obvious of a choice.

And the chef was super happy about it and was like absolutely a great combination!

Never. Doubt. Yourself. 🙂

Sometimes it is totally fine to go with something safe!

Coconut Milk

So I feel like canned coconut milk is one of the best kept baking secrets! I have used it in everything from cookies to cupcakes to these scones and LOVE IT. I use it as a substitution in so many recipes and I have yet to have anything totally fail on me. If you are substituting coconut milk into a recipe have no fear, your final product will NOT take on an extremely coconut-ty flavor, and you may not even notice any coconut at all.

I also used the coconut milk in the glaze, which I felt was a bit more coconut then the scones themselves. If you are not a fan of coconut I would just omit it all together and use sour scream in the recipe, and regular milk in the glaze.

I know everyone thinks of the non-dairy coconut milk when you mention those two words, however the canned stuff is so much better in terms of ingredients. Yes, it is a fat source (I use the light version). However there are only 3 ingredients in the Native Forest Canned Coconut Milk that I used! 3 ingredients! They are organic coconut, water, and organic guar gum. If you have ever checked out the ingredient list on a carton of coconut milk they are quite lengthy.

*This white bread recipe is simply The Best White Bread I have ever had! I have shared this recipe time and time again with friends who rave that it “Tastes just like the bread their Grandfather used to make!” My tried and true recipe that will leave you wondering why grocery stores even bother selling shelf stable white bread. No comparison here!

The smell of fresh bread baking. Just close your eyes and imagine where that smell takes you. Maybe it is nostalgic, or maybe it takes you back to a job that you loved, or that guy you went on the horrible blind date with that one time, or Grandma’s house growing up. It is a beautiful, wonderful, amazing smell, isn’t it? I love the smell of fresh bread baking and this white bread does not disappoint in the amazing aroma department!

Hello beautiful, wonderful, amazing smells that are about to swirl through my home! 🙂

A fresh bread baking situation going on in my house means this Momma is so on point that given day. On point like doing a weeks worth of crap all in one day and possibly running around like a mad woman trying to understand why I all of a sudden have a million ounces of energy running through my body to do everything I’ve been procrastinating for weeks. You have those days too, right? Or did someone just spike my coffee?

Spiked coffee or not I usually bake this bread on the same day I make a pot of creamy tomato soup. Do you see where I’m going here? Yes, grilled cheese sandwiches. Who doesn’t love a grilled cheese sandwich on The Best White Bread you have EVER had dipped in creamy, cheesy, delicious homemade tomato soup? My goodness, if that isn’t food heaven I don’t know what is!

Baking Tips for The Best White Bread

Take extra precaution with the temperature of your milk. Too hot will kill the yeast, and too cold will not activate it! A nice lukewarm is where you want to be.
Room temperatures do cause breads to rise at different speeds. In the summer I may get a really quick and puffy rise, while in the winter my dough may not be as quick to rise. If you feel like you aren’t getting the rise you should be, preheat your oven to the lowest temperature option, then turn your oven off. Leave some of the heat out, then place your dough bowl in the oven to rise. This works like a charm every time!
Make sure you cover your dough while it is rising or a hard crust will form on the outside of the dough. I always use a warm, wet paper towel and that works perfectly. DO NOT however leave it on there for hours on end to go run a million errands because you will likely come back to a big ol’ dough ball covered in paper towel that you cannot get off. Can you tell I’ve experienced this first hand?
I always use bread flour when baking breads. Give it a try, you will not be disappointed with the results!

This recipe first appeared here on NYT Cooking. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!