Breakfast Muesli Scones

I’ve told you this many times already: I love breakfast and I love baking sweet treats to go with my morning coffee. So when Alpen Cereals invited me to take part in a breakfast challenge with three other London bloggers, of course I said yes! My breakfast routine has remained pretty much unchanged since I left Italy, where we eat a lot of cake and cereals in the morning. So what if you can combine cake and cereals in one delicious breakfast dish? You get these amazing Breakfast Muesli Scones!

The challenge was to create an interesting and delicious breakfast using Alpen Cereals and additional ingredients. I used my favourite scone recipe and simply added Alpen Original Muesli to the mix. Alpen cereals are packed with a perfect blend of rolled oats, toasted wheat flakes, nuts and tasty fruits. The oats, nuts and wheat flakes add texture to the scones while the raisins add flavour!

Just for a change, I shaped the dough in a flat round and cut the scones in triangular slices, American-style. To be honest, round scones make me think of afternoon tea, while triangular slices make me think of breakfast. Is that weird?

The judge of the Bloggers’ Breakfast Off challenge was Amanda Holden, English actress, TV presenter and brand ambassador of Alpen Cereals. It was a pleasure meeting Amanda, she’s such a lovely and friendly person!

And I enjoyed watching Amanda and the TV crew film a video for the new Alpen website. It was definitely an exciting and out-of-the-ordinary afternoon!

It was also nerve-wracking when the moment came for me to be in front of the camera. The other bloggers and I were filmed as we prepared our breakfast recipes at Venturi’s Table Cookery School.

I tried my best to keep calm and natural and even attempted to speak on camera, explaining my recipe step by step. I haven’t watched the video yet and I’m really excited for it be live on Alpen Mornings website soon!

Sadly I didn’t win the challenge! :( Amanda chose another recipe as the winner, but I’m proud of my creation nonetheless. I baked a batch of Breakfast Muesli Scones at home the day before the challenge and my husband loved them (so did I), so that’s enough of a reward for me! :)

Ingredients

• 250g plain flour
• 100g Alpen Muesli Original
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp caster sugar, plus more for glazing
• 60g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
• 1 free range egg, beaten
• 100ml whole milk, plus more for glazing

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan oven). Grease and flour a baking tray.

Mix the flour and baking powder together with a balloon whisk (to break up any lumps and aerate the flour). Gently stir in Alpen Muesli Original, making sure you get plenty of raisins in the mix. Add the salt, sugar and rub in the butter using your hands until resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Beat the egg and milk together, add to the dry ingredients and mix everything together with a spatula. Use your hands to bring it all into a dough. Leave it to rest for 10 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a circle 2cm thick and cut into 6-8 slices. Place the scones onto the baking tray and rest for 10 minutes outside the oven.

Brush the scones with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until they start to brown. Remove from the oven and place them onto a wire rack to cool down.

Best eaten freshly baked with a dollop of jam.

As the new face of Alpen, Amanda Holden is giving Brits the boost they need to take on the 21 Ways to Start Your Day challenge, to set us up for the day ahead.  From simply switching coffee for hot water and lemon, or adding a new variety of toppings to your Alpen, to practising yoga moves first thing in the morning, Amanda has provided some fun tips to encourage the nation to make some great changes to their mornings for 21 consecutive days.  Amanda’s tips are available to view at www.alpenmornings.co.uk

Disclaimer: I did not receive any compensation from Alpen. All opinions are my own.