These scones and muffins are forgiving for the novice baker

I think there are two types of home cooks - one that strictly cooks and one that strictly bakes. I wish I were a mix of both, but baking has such a science, unlike cooking.

If I make a dish for dinner, I can taste it as I go and am nearly 100% satisfied with the result. Um, not so much for baking. It's a lot of trial and error, and if you have an unbalance of any ingredients, the final product just doesn't turn out.

Muffins and scones, however, are my jam. I think they are forgiving even for a novice baker, and I share three of my favorite recipes here.

My late husband once ate a scone at a business meeting in 1983. He declared it was the worst thing he ever put in his mouth, and from that moment on, scones were dead to him. I would beg him to try my scones because they are light, fluffy and delicious! But to no avail.

The carrot cake muffins resulted from buying a five-pound bag of carrots - I live alone. And I developed my banana pumpkin pancake recipe because I had a taste for pancakes and muffins at the same time. So, if you were ever the victim of a terrible-tasting scone, I hope you give this blueberry scone recipe a try.

Side note: All of these recipes freeze well. Place them individually on a baking sheet, freeze them for 30 minutes, and store them in a zip-top bag. They won't stick together, and you can pull out however many you want.

Enjoy!

• My Bizzy Kitchen runs once a month in Food. Follow Biz Velatini on her blog at mybizzykitchen.com/, Instagram at instagram.com/mybizzykitchen/?hl=en and Facebook at facebook.com/mybizzykitchen.

Blueberry Scones

The key to scones is not skipping the step of freezing the dough before slicing. You'll be rewarded with perfect knife cuts and the scones will be super cold going into the hot oven, resulting in a light and fluffy scone.

1½ cups self-rising flour

½ cup quick oats

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon butter, grated

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tablespoon vinegar (I used red wine)

½ cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon decorative sugar (Bob's Red Mill)

In a large bowl, mix the flour, oats, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add grated butter and toss to coat. Toss in blueberries.

In another bowl, add almond milk and vinegar. Let sit 5 minutes. Stir in yogurt. Add that mixture to flour mixture and mix just until combined.

Dump dough on counter and shape into a circle. Place on parchment paper and put on a baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 425 degrees. After 30 minutes, slice the dough into 8 sections and place on parchment paper. Sprinkle with decorative sugar and bake for 15-18 minutes.

Biz Velatini

Carrot Cake Muffins

I love carrots, but why I thought it was a good idea to buy a 5-pound bag of them, I'll never know! If you like carrot cake, you'll love these carrot cake muffins. I always bake my muffins at 425 degrees because I get a nice muffin top every time.

2 cups self-rising flour (all-purpose works, too)

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 tablespoons butter, shredded

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

2 cups shredded carrots

2 large eggs

½ cup granola

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder together. Using a box grater, grate the butter into the dry mixture and combine.

Add the almond milk, carrots and eggs and mix just until combined.

Divide the mixture between 12 muffin cups, divide the granola on top of the batter, pressing slightly to stick to the batter.

Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before removing.

Biz Velatini

Banana Pumpkin Pancake Muffins

I can't be the only one around the holiday season that buys canned pumpkin every single time I go to the grocery store, only to open my pantry in the spring and see six cans staring me in the face? No? Just me?!

For the muffins:

½ cup canned pumpkin

2 ripe bananas

¼ cup Greek yogurt

1/8 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/3 cup Truvia brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar-free pancake syrup

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2¼ cups self-rising flour (regular flour is fine)

1½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

For the crumble topping:

1/3 cup quick oats

1/3 cup granola

1 tablespoon light butter

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix the pumpkin, bananas, yogurt, sugar, eggs, Truvia brown sugar and pancake syrup together.

Mix in the baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour and 1 teaspoon of the pumpkin pie spice.

Divide muffin mixture between 12 muffin cups.

Mix the oats, granola and butter together. Sprinkle the crumble topping over each muffin.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Let sit 10 minutes before you try not to eat all dozen in one sitting.

Biz Velatini