Gloss Find: Victorian House Scones

If you love to bake but can’t stand the heat in the kitchen during warm weather months, don’t turn on your AC just yet. Baking from scratch is gratifying and often produces better quality goods than mass-marketed mixes, but there is a happy medium out there for time-pressed home bakers.

Victorian House Scones are the next best thing you’ll get to homemade because they practically are homemade, with creator Debbie Anderson working hard to source some of the best ingredients for the mixes.

Anderson, a mother and self-taught baker had been making her signature scones for years before she began selling them into a local coffee shop.

“The popularity of these scones has everything to do with versatility,” Anderson said. “There are no preservatives or additives to the mix and the consumer controls the addition of any and all perishable ingredients.”

The mixes are not certified as “all-natural” but Anderson considers them as such and is completely transparent about what goes in the bag. The mixes all contain an unbleached spring wheat flour; non-aluminum baking powder and sugar (white, dark brown, or a blend).  Anderson even hand-measures and hand-packs each bag of mix that she sells – there is no mechanization involved.

The  mixes are available in several varieties, including Original Recipe, Original Oatmeal, Lemon Poppyseed, Indian Chai, Butter Brickle and seasonal options Gingerbread and Pumpkin Spice. Scones can also be prepared and frozen for later use – perfect for portion control. When the craving hits for something sweet with a cup of tea,  just pop one into the oven for minutes.

Because everyone knows that when it comes to baked goods, fresher is better, each bag of scones is hand-packed without any powders, substitutes or preservatives. After adding butter and buttermilk to the dry mixes, bakers can add chocolate chips, fresh or dried fruit, raisins or any ingredient of their choice for a “semi-homemade” appeal.

Victorian House Scones: $9.50, www.victorianhousescones.com.