I have been a fan of Victoria Hamilton’s Vintage Kitchen Mystery series and was delighted to find out that Victoria writes a Teapot Collector Mystery series under the name of Amanda Cooper. Recently I had the pleasure of reading her brand new release, THE GRIM STEEPER, the third book in her series and found I’ve been missing out!
When her grandmother, Rose Freemont, is hospitalized with a suspected heart attack, Sophie Taylor begs to take time off from her sous chef de cuisine position in the Hamptons. Denied permission, she quits. Not that Sophie is a quitter by nature but her grandmother means the world to her and she feels that she should be back in Gracious Grove, New York, to help out.
Out of a job, Sophie returns to work in her grandmother’s tearoom, Auntie Rose’s Victorian Tea House. With Rose’s health returning they plunge themselves into planning the Fall Fling, the town’s Tea Party, which Cruickshank College is sponsoring. In the midst of the preparations, a scandal rocks the college, involving her maybe boyfriend, Jason Murphy. Dean Asquith has accused Jason of accepting bribes to inflate the grades of the school’s star basketball player. Jason’s reputation and job are on the line and when the Dean is found dead in front of Auntie Rose’s Tea House, Sophie knows she’s going to have to find the culprit since the police have Jason in their sights.
THE GRIM STEEPER is the epitome of a cozy mystery! I love how the author connects the reader to the small town feel of Gracious Grove, where every body knows every one. Sophie’s grandmother is a sweet character and her group of teapot collectors, The Silver Spouts, adds charm and some humor when they decide to help with the investigation. The conflict between Sophie and her mother didn’t seem forced and there’s a hint of a mystery to what really happened between them. I’m hoping that relationship will be fully explored in the next book. Auntie Rose’s Victorian Tea House is some place I’d love to visit, especially to browse their teapot collection…have I mentioned I have a “few” teapots myself? And of course no tearoom would be caught without having scones.
Amanda (aka Victoria) has graciously provided a delicious recipe for Cranberry Pecan Yogurt Scones. Healthy yogurt replaces some of the butter in the recipe while still providing tender, flaky pastries. The ruby, tart cranberries and the buttery crunch of the pecans add just the right amount of flavor. My taste testers were clamoring for the recipe before the scones barely cooled! I’ve also included a short video tutorial at the bottom of the page, so you can see how simple these are to mix up.
A huge thank you to Amanda Cooper (Victoria Hamilton) for providing an autographed copy of THE GRIM STEEPER to one lucky winner! Please use the Rafflecopter box located below the recipe for a chance to win. Contest ends Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 11:59 pm PST. Winner will be announced on this page and on Cinnamon & Sugar’s Facebook page, as well as notified by email (so check your spam folder!) Open to Canadian and U.S. residents only.
Cranberry Pecan Yogurt Scones
Makes eight generous sized scones
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour (use the ‘lightly spoon into measuring cup and level’ method)
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (1/3 cup) cold butter – if you are using salted butter you can omit salt from the recipe.
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup plain yogurt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F).
Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt (if you are using it).
Add in butter, bit by bit, mixing as you go. Rub it in with your fingers, if you like, but leave small pebbles of the cold butter in the mixture.
Stir in the cranberries and pecans, and then the yogurt. Mix gently, but thoroughly. It may take a bit to get all the dry ingredients worked into the yogurt.
Form dough into a ball. Place on a greased or parchment paper covered baking sheet and pat into a circle about a 1/2-inch thick.
Sprinkle with sugar – you could use turbinado or another decorative sugar for this, if you want, but plain sugar works just fine.
Cut into eight pie shaped segments, but don’t separate the wedges!
Bake at 425 degrees (F) for about 20 minutes, or until edges are slightly crisp and the top is lightly browned. It may need as little as 18 minutes, or as much as 22, but don’t over or under bake the scones!
The scones will break apart nicely into perfect wedges. These are delicious warm or cold, with butter or not, and also stand up well to preserves or jams like Cranberry Apple conserve or cherry jam. Perfect with tea of any kind!
The scones recipe looks yummy. Thanks for the chance to win!
I love tea, I love scones, and I love the fact that you describe this book as “the epitome of a cozy mystery”! Thanks so much for sharing your review, and for the opportunity to win this book. Nicole 🙂
Oh, and my favorite hot beverage is actually a tie between hot tea and a really good cup of hot cocoa! 🙂
My favorite is a cup of hot chocolate. Nice post. But then. Must admit, I’ve liked everyone. They are fun and informative. Grim Steeper is on my TBR. But am hoping to read sooner rather than later. Jan is filling my list in the order they are listed (for the most part) That is why I am hoping sooner rather than later. So I really do apprecaite these giveaways. And the recipes of course. I am still collecting. As if I needed any more. LOL. Thank you
Collect teapots. Love your book finishing up the grim steeper noe😊😊😊
Reading the grim steeper now love it
Love the books🎉🎉🎉11
Your scones look pretty and I know they taste delicious! Thanks for the chance to win Amanda’s book.
My favorite hot beverage is hot chocolate.
My favorite hot beverage is coffee: black at breakfast, flavor-creamed at lunch, Irished before dinner, frothed with dessert, iced for the summer, spiced for Halloween, minty for Christmas, K-cupped for ease, French-pressed to show off…Starbucked to go, or homemade for savings, I love coffee!
Coffee mostly, but enjoy a cup of tea as well. And love all of Victoria Hamilton’s series. Thanks for the giveaway.
My favorite hot drink is Tea, which would go very nicely with these wonderful sounds scones
My favorite hot beverage that I drink daily is coffee. Hot chocolate is a favorite for a special treat now and then.
Coffee is my favorite hot beverage
My favorite hot beverage is coffee especially the first thing in the morning! I can’t wait to try this scone recipe!
This would be a great title to add to my cozy challenge list. Thanks for the recipe and a chance to win a copy.
YUM! Looks really good.
Tea, of course. Or got chocolate this time of year.
Tea, any day, any time, goes great with scones and clotted cream! Brit here, so suckled on tea paps with a Guiness chaser! LOl
The scons sounds good and i love cranberries. The book sounds good too.lol
Love good cup of hot coffee or tea.
GIve me a good read and great chair and I am happy.
My favorite hot beverage has to be hot chocolate. I’m sure The Grim Steeper is gonna be a great book by someone who I know is a great author (and one of my favorites, too). Thanks for the chance to win.
Thanks for the intro to this book & for giving us a chance to win!
Hot chocolate rocks on a cold day…unless of course you’re like me who lives in So. California and our high today was 90 degs.! Where did our winter go?
I know what you mean about our winter…and what happened to El Niño?!?! I was looking forward to rain not summer weather!
Hot cocoa.
Hot tea
Hot chocolate, which is especially good during the winter. Marshmallows must be added!
I love chai tea latte and hot chocolate — both go incredibly well with scones!
Favorite hot beverage? Coffee with a good creamer! Will Greek yogurt work in this recipe? I love that they seem so easy to make and I’m glad you include videos!
I made the scones twice: once with regular yogurt and once with Greek yogurt. The Greek yogurt batch came out a bit drier, but if you used it I would recommend adding maybe an extra tablespoon to the batch. I would also stress to NOT use any fat-free yogurt since the fat-free variety can curdle with high heat. Good luck!
My favorite hot drink is a Starbucks decaf vanilla latte.
Great recipe. Can’t wait to try it out. It will go great with my favorite hot beverage, coffee!
Thank you for the giveaway.
My favorite hot beverage depends on my mood and time of day. I am happy with coffee or hot chocolate.
I really enjoy scones and this looks like a great recipe to try. I usually drink coffee in the morning but I drink iced tea with lemon the rest of the day. Love the cover of this book and enjoy this series. 1
Thank you!
🙂
Drinks? Good red wine and equally good black tea (English Breakfast and Darjeeling).
The teas would go beautifully with these scones.
The recipe sounds yummy! My favorite hot beverage is hot tea, but I enjoy hot chocolate in the winter too.
I love hot English Breakfast Tea by Twinings. Thank you for the above recipe. I love scones and tea cakes with my tea out of a good English teapot. Thank you for the contest.
Marilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com
Tea or cocoa
Tea, hot or cold is airways my beverage of choice. Love this series!
Tea, hot or cold is always my beverage of choice. Love this series!
Missed the contest but still “won” the recipe, which sounds delicious!! I’m anxious to try the recipe as well as this cozy series!