Pumpkin Butterscotch Scones

Since the leaves are starting to turn and the wind is getting chillier, it's time to unveil the perfect fall recipe.

These delightful beauties are from a joyofbaking.com recipe that I altered to fit the ingredients I had in my kitchen. Needless to say, waking up on a Sunday morning and whipping up a batch of these will sooth your soul with cinnamon and pumpkin (and make your house/apartment smell phenomenal).

To make a batch of 8, you will need:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup light or dark brownsugar

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/2 cup butterscotch baking chips

1/3 - 1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup canned pumpkin (no spices added)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 largeegg

1 tablespoon milk

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Start by combining all of your dry ingredients into a large bowl and mixing them together. Add your butter pieces.

Next, work the butter into the dry ingredients by mashing the two together with a fork. The effect will look something like this:

Continue doing this until all of your butter has been mixed in and the powdered mixture looks like crumbled pie crust.

Next, stir in your chips.

In a separate bowl, combine your pumpkin, buttermilk, and vanilla. 

When it turns into a smooth orange puree, you're ready to add it to your main bowl.

Stir the pumpkin mixture into your other ingredients until the dough just comes together. Transfer to a floured surface and knead it 4-5 times. Carefully pat your dough down into a circle. Next, turn your hand into a sword and slice your dough circle in half. Then, slice each of the halves in half. Finally, slice each of the quarters in half. This should give you 8 relatively uniform triangles.

Lay these out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. In a separate bowl, mix your egg and milk together. Using a pastry brush (or your fingers), cover the tops of your scones with the egg wash.

Heat for 20 minutes and make yourself a nice big mug of coffee. When your timer dings, take these beautiful golden treats out of the oven.

The proper thing to do would be to let them cool for 10-15 minutes before digging in. But let's be real - they look WAY too good to wait.

Pair with your hot mug of coffee, a thick sweater, and falling leaves.

Happy autumn!

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The Wafel Shop

For once, one of my blog posts was completely unplanned.
It was Saturday evening, and my boyfriend and I were strolling around downtown. We popped into an old record store, and while he flipped through the musty racks I sipped on a cup of cherry coffee and browsed. 
I wasn't even hungry at that point. But then I remembered that The Wafel Shop was just around the corner.
For those of you who don't know, The Wafel Shop is a new establishment in Ann Arbor that makes some of the best breakfast-style comfort food EVER.
They have two different kinds of waffles, Brussels and Liege, that start at $5 each. You can top your waffle with free syrup, butter, chocolate shavings, or powdered sugar, or you can upgrade to $1 and $2 toppings like Nutella, bacon, and chocolate sauce.

I went traditional with a Brussels waffle topped with butter, chocolate shavings, and Nutella. Because it's criminal to not get Nutella when getting Nutella is a possibility.

Light, fluffy, but packed full of flavor, this waffle is definitely one that you'd want to top with some sweet and chocolatey options. It was a hybrid between a dessert and a scrumptious breakfast item.
My boyfriend went for the Liege waffle topped with syrup, butter, and bananas. He also grabbed a large coffee, which I immediately regretted not doing because The Wafel Shop serves Zingerman's brand coffee.

Scrumptious, buttery, and a bit nutty in flavor, this waffle was definitely unique.
Not that I didn't enjoy my chocolate mountain or anything.... 

Needless to say, I'm already planning my next trip. Maybe caramel sauce next time? Who knows....

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Fourth Coast Cafe

I've kept this place a secret for far too long.

Out of all the little local coffee shop's I've ever been to, this one is by far the best. It gets a gold star in all key areas - food, convenience, friendly staff, atmosphere, and, of course, coffee.

Let me put it this way - I've been buying bags of their house roast coffee from this place for the past two years, despite the fact that it's several hours away from where I live.

Situated amongst student and adult housing near downtown Kalamazoo, Fourth Coast Cafe is a little corner coffee shop that packs personality and taste into a delightful and memorable package.

And yes, you read that correctly. This coffee shop is open 24 hours a day. A college student's dream come true, eh? Couple that with their bottomless coffee deal (unlimited refills for $7.50) and anyone can tackle finals week.

On top of Fourth Coast is a delightful cafe called The Crow's Nest, which serves breakfast all day and is open continuously from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon. This town knows how to cater to nocturnals.

Inside, Fourth Coast is a personality-filled shop with plenty of tables and outlets, corner booths to nestle into, and a long espresso bar in the back.
There's also a bakery in the back, so the coffee shop is always churning out fresh pastries and cookies. Much better than the cardboard-y plastic-wrapped scones that the chain coffee shops dole out.

A sampling of the day's fresh goodies:

Despite my continuing addiction to their muffins, I elected not to purchase a sweet that day and went with my usual coffee order: the Sweet Coast Capp. A classic cappuccino topped off with fresh whipped cream.

Since the coffee here is undeniably delicious, all of their lattes and capps are similarly tasty. You can even buy bags of their beans to take home with you if you're as obsessed as I am. And while they only have one or two types of beans available on sale per day, the store purchases from an enormous bean catalog and will order any bag of coffee a customer wants for in-store pickup. GENIUS!
In keeping with the nautical theme of the shop's name, Fourth Coast Cafe names all their specialty drinks after ship parts. One of my boyfriend's favorites is the Walk the Plank - a shaker full of espresso.
Fortunately for his cardiac system, he chose a less caffeinated cappuccino.

His sweet tooth was a little stronger than mine that day, so he also grabbed a vegan brownie.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see that Fourth Coast has begun selling merchandise. As an avid fan, I couldn't resist without grabbing something to take home with me....

For only $4? How could I not?

If you liked what you saw here, or if you're just a fan of coffee in general, you should follow this link to vote for Fourth Coast to win the Celebrated Service Award (the shop is listed under Portage, MI). 

Getting first prize would earn this shop a well-deserved $5,000 bonus, and you'd get karma points. It's that simple.

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lab cafe

It's midterm season, which means a lot of time being spent holed-up in libraries and coffee shops wearing university sweatshirts and thick-rimmed glasses.
Stressful, for sure, but also very delicious at times. Particularly when you pick the right coffee shop.
Yesterday night, Joanna and I got together for a late-night homework and skype date with Katie. To ensure high-quality caffeination, we went to lab cafe, a mod-style coffee shop with minimalist decor and an excellent cappucino.

Psst! They also serve homemade fro-yo!

However, you must forgive me for skipping over the fro-yo to highlight some baked goods and creamy coffee.

This chocolate croissant will change your life.
Seriously.

My lovely cappuccino with the signature foam art on top. Lab cafe always tops off your cup with a cute design - even if you get it to go!

Joanna was being a good student while I munched on layers and layers of flakey pastry.

Until we decided it was skype time.

Bottomless cups, delicious baked goods and international chats. All part of a balanced day.

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