Something good from Starbucks..who'd have thunk it?

I'm not the biggest fan of Starbucks. The coffee is merely meh. To make it better they add a shit load of sugar, cream and flavourings, which, yeah are delicious..but do you really need to drink your meals? I mean their white chocolate peppermint mocha is 520 calories..that's like lunch for me. Yeah, one once in a blue moon ain't an issue but if it's a regular thing then you can easily see yourself drinking a good portion of your daily calorie intake in a few mouthfuls. It's kinda scary. 

I remember the first time I was in a Starbucks, and yeah, it was pretty exciting. (Us country folk were excited by the small things back in the Celtic Tiger..I mean, we went from a choice of two cafes to a choice of hundreds..and ones that sold things other than tea and an iced bun)
 It was in Belfast and I was mesmerised by the sheer amount of produce they sold. It was a like a baker had taken a serious shot of steroids and baked non-stop of weeks. That was apart from the coffee menu which was mind-bogglingly confusing for someone who only ever ordered tea. 

It was pretty exciting though. Like the first time you're allowed to go to Dublin on the train with your friends. The possibilities are endless. I'm pretty sure I steered well away from the coffee but I did order and share a raspberry muffin. Man it was good. I shudder to think of the calories. If hedgehogs had houses, it'd be about the size of that muffin. I kid you not. It feed three of us easily, and I usually don't like sharing my muffin (minds out of the gutter please) 

Anyways, I was asked by Dad to bake some scones for him to take to work to share with his colleagues for one of their MANY lunch breaks. I honestly wish I'd inherited by father's metabolism. The man can eat and eat and eat and not put on weight. His appetite is ferocious. And he's nearly 5 inches shorter than me. Sometimes life isn't fair. But I digress. 
Now I usually make buttermilk fruit scones, the recipe is on this blog. But I was feeling adventurous and wanted to try something else. After a quick browse of Pintrest (my trusty reference site) it became pretty clear that a large portion of the interweb is crazy for Starbucks cinnamon scones. So..why the hell not? They looked good, and even though I held off on the icing they tasted AMAZING. I'm hooked and think I'll be making these a lot more in the future, maybe for Christmas morning breakfast - I think they'd be lovely warmed up too. 

For the scones:
355g plain flour
118g whole wheat flour 
60g granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bread soda
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (bextarter)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
113 g cold unsalted butter
113g greek yoghurt or greek style yoghurt
1 egg 
113g cinnamon chips 

To make cinnamon chips if you can't find them in the shops, you will need:
155g granulated sugar
3 tbsp cinnamon
2tbsp low fat butter
2tbsp 2 tbsp golden syrup 

1) Preheat an oven to gas mark 1/4 or slow cook (basically the lowest setting your oven has)
2) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3) In a medium size bowl mix together the ingredients until well combined. 
4) Spread the mixture on the baking sheet, spreading out with a spatula to about 1/4 inch thick
5)Bake in the preheated oven for 35 mins (or a little under) until the mixture is hot and melted together.
6)Let cool completely. 

7) Cut into small chips and store in an airtight container, ready for use (it's ok if they're a little sticky, they melt really well)


Method for the scones:
1) Preheat the oven to gas 4 or 180c. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2). In a large mixing bowl, stir together all the dry ingredient.

3) Chop the butter into small pieces and add to the dry mixture, rubbing together to form a crumb like mixture.

4) In a seperate bowl whisk together the yoghurt and egg. Add to the dry ingredients to form a dough. It's best to use your hands at this point to bring the dough together.

5) Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and kneed slightly. Shape into a ball and flatten into a circle with a diameter of 8 or 9 inches. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles 
6)Put onto the baking sheet, leaving space between them to allow them to spread. Cook for 15 mins or until golden brown.

(my ability to cut triangles was sorely tested )

7) Remove from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.
EAT!