Alotta Brownies Bakery: Cranberry Orange & Cherry Almond Scones

I had the extreme pleasure of visiting Alotta Brownies Bakery in Fremont, NE this past weekend after receiving an invitation from a friend to join her and some friends for a baking class. I'd been getting Facebook updates for weeks since the holidays after I'd "liked" their page after sampling some goodies my sister-in-law brought for a gathering.  Not only were they delicious, everything looked impeccable!

Here's a small sampling from her case:

I believe these were called PB Fudge Cinnamon Rolls, but for sure, the nickname I do remember: 

Butt Busters.

 Chocolate Chip Canolies

Turtle Cheesecakes

Our class was led by the owner, Michelle Kaiser.  It was so interesting to meet the personality behind the bakery and I can see why they have had such success there.  (She had let us know we were probably the last class in a good long while, because they are just too busy with upcoming wedding bookings to continue these types of offerings.)  

Michelle is a...in a word: riot and could easily beat any TV chef hands down in personality.  She hails from and went to culinary school in NYC.  While working there, she had the pleasure of making her famous carrot cake for Madonna herself.  This is also one of her favorite recipes along with their well-known white wedding cake, which was her grandmother's recipe and has been in their family for years.  Her favorite ingredient, which she says is a must, is Mexican Vanilla and one of her favorite recipes that she enjoys preparing is her canolies (pictured above). 

We had to split into 2 groups for this class.  Our group, pictured above with Michelle and our final product (Michelle is on the far left and I am standing next to her), prepared Cherry Almond Scones.  The other group prepared the Cranberry Orange.  I was surprised that the recipe was SO simple, it's definitely all in the technique.

One of the things that Michelle let us know right away is that it's easy to overwork the dough when preparing scones.  If you've ever had a dense, chewy or tough scone, that is probably the reason why.

We scooped these onto the greased pans with a large ice cream scoop, which helps with that.  It can be a bit crumbly and forming the scones by hand works well here, rather than forming into balls to cut into the traditional scone shape.

Cooling on the racks....

Pictured here are the Cranberry Orange scones that had a glaze added after cooling.

Both varieties were light, fluffy, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  More like a tea biscuit as they are intended!

Here was the whole class.  Don't we look so proud?

This was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon with friends, learning something new and enjoying yet another thing rural Nebraska has to offer.  If you find yourself in Fremont, definitely stop by!  The bakery offers a full lunch as well.  To stay up to date on the daily offerings and specials "like" Allotta Brownies Bakery on Facebook.