Blackberry Scones

Third trimesters are chaotic.  I've learned this.  You can really feel the time ticking away--and the baby kicking away at your internal organs.  If you're a working lady, you're swamped trying to get balls kicked out of your court before the big day comes so that the people who will be covering for you while you're out have less to worry about.  There's baby classes and showers and last-minute getaways with your partner to try & make the most of the last of your alone time...not to mention that summers are just always FULL of things going on over the weekends...

...and you somehow manage to not cook a single "real" meal all week, aside from a doctored up Hamburger Helper on Monday, and you forget to do any kind of lunch prep over the weekend.  (And maybe everyone else but you raises their hand during baby class when the instructor asks who already has their car seat installed. *sigh*) So...lunches that week are a little thrown together.  Aaaand maybe one morning your stomach/baby decides to reject first breakfast for no good reason.  It's a weird time, and without proper prep & planning, you find yourself eating very random meals like:

Breakfast -8:30a (the second one, which baby was apparently okay with):
Ginger Ale
A banana
Blueberry Nutri-Grain bar

Lunch -11:30a:
cottage cheese w/strawberries
a PB sandwich on multigrain
Earl Grey tea

Afternoon Snack(s) - 2p-4:30p: 
watermelon
grapes
snow peas
Babybel cheese (the highlight of my day--they're SO good)

Pre-Dinner:
5:30p - A packet of Grilled Cheese Captain's Wafers as you drive to your baby class
7:30p - A bag of Panera potato chips your husband brought to the baby class in case they didn't provide snacks (thank goodness...Seriously...who hosts a 3 hour class for 20 pregnant women and doesn't provide snacks?)
8p - 4 more Captain's Wafers (PB & Honey this time)

"Real" dinner (at 9pm after class):
Split a Taco Bell Big Box with the Hubs, eat half a Quesarito & 1 Doritos Locos taco on the way to trivia

Post-Trivia (aka dessert):
11p - Split a Samoa donut with the Hubs from Hurts Donut

Talk about a downward spiral...

BUT...You know what I DID have time to do this past weekend?  Make a big batch of blackberry scones to have for breakfast throughout the week.  

I used Marion Cunningham's base scone recipe, and then added some fresh blackberries that we picked at my cousin's house.  I've had issues making scones in the past, but these turned out really well.  They were slightly more cakey than some of the scones you see, but the Hubs actually preferred that because he thinks regular scones are too dry.

INGREDIENTS (makes 12):

• 3 cups all-purpose flour (you could also do a split, with half AP and half wheat or oat flour)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (note: 1 stick of butter is 4 oz, so I opted to use Smart Balance Spread for the other 2 oz)
• 3/4 cup skim milk (original recipe calls for buttermilk, but I just never have that on hand--the original also calls for more milk, but since you're going to get some additional moisture from the berries, I've removed a bit of the milk)
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries (you can toss these with a tablespoon or so of sugar if they're not super-sweet)

To top:

melted butter

granulated sugar

Directions:

Heat the oven to 425F.

Working either by hand or with a stand mixer, combine the first 6 ingredients & mix well.  Then add the chopped butter and mix until it's the texture of cornmeal.  Add the zest & the milk, and then fold in the blackberries (your dough will likely start to take on a bluish tint if you're using fresh berries).

Divide the dough into two balls, and then set one onto a floured surface.  lightly dust the top with flour if the dough is sticky, and then pat flat to about 1-inch thick.  Use a pizza cutter to slice the wheel into 6 wedges.  Repeat with the second ball.

Place the wedges onto a lightly spritzed cookie sheet, then lightly spread melted butter over the tops and generously sprinkle with granulated sugar.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms & tops are browned. (NOTE: since your dough may be bluish, the tops may not get as brown, so use the bottoms as the best reference.)

Serve warm plain, or with butter or jam (or cream if you're a Brit...tell me, is clotted cream as disgusting as it sounds?).  We ate some fresh for breakfast that morning with a Greek yogurt parfait, and then bagged up the rest in the fridge for breakfasts through the week.

NutriFacts (per scone):

• Calories233.8
• Total Fat10.0 g
• Saturated Fat6.0 g
• Polyunsaturated Fat0.5 g
• Monounsaturated Fat2.8 g
• Cholesterol26.2 mg
• Sodium307.9 mg
• Potassium79.2 mg
• Total Carbohydrate32.5 g
• Dietary Fiber1.6 g
• Sugars7.7 g
• Protein4.0 g