2.10.2011

Just in time for Valentine's Day...

     I have been on a serious scone kick lately. And by lately, I mean off and on for the past year. They are so good, so quick and such a great canvas for variety! One of my absolute favorite varieties is to add about 1/2 cup of rolled oats and 1/2 of chocolate chips. YUM! Even better if you have some of those Ghiradelli Milk Chocolate Chips-- they are bigger and so good! But, we happen to have the "Sam's Club" Ginormous bag of TollHouse Semi-Sweet Morsels on hand and they work great as well. 

    A couple of weeks ago I tried Strawberry Scones (my strawberries were about to go bad) and they were delicious as well.. not to mention they were tender and had the faintest soft pink color. Perfect for a valentine's day treat!

-Strawberry Scones-

Here's my chosen basic scone recipe-- I have yet to find one I prefer to this.

Classic Scones

Preheat Oven to 425' and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper-- or leave un-greased.

Now, I make these in my food processor because they come together almost instantly and the dough is less handled by yours truly and therefore more tender. But you could also mix them by hand.. That works as well.

Whisk together:
2 cups of All Purpose Flour (I often add 1/2 cup of rolled oats for extra health benefit)
1/3 cup of Sugar
1 Tbs. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt

Drop in:
6 Tbs. cold Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces. 
Cut in the butter with 2 knives, or a pastry blender, or if you are using the food processor.. just push that little pulse button a couple of times. :)
Your mixture should be like breadcrumbs with some larger pea-size pieces.

At this point add your "good stuff." It can be any number of things but here are a few I have tried with success:
  • Diced Apples or Pears and Cinnamon (with or without pecans)
  • Fresh or Frozen Blueberries and Lemon Zest (Super delicious and Spring-y!)
  • Diced Strawberries
  • Chocolate Chips and Dried Cherries
  • Chocolate Chips or Chunks (Thank you, Court, for the original inspiration!)
  • Diced Bananas and Chocolate Chips (Chunky Monkey Style)
Another I would love to try is Shredded Coconut and Lime Zest! Maybe this summer...

Okay, now you want to add your "wet team"
 Whisk together and add all at once: 
1 large egg
1/2 cup of 1/2 and 1/2 (is that redundant or is it just me? )

Now you want to knead your dough only slightly until it all comes together.. (again if you're using that food processor, just press pulse a couple of times. Gosh, I love that machine.)
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and pat the dough into either one or two circles and cut into wedges. If they aren't perfect, don't sweat it. Scones are a beautiful food, especially when they are rustic! 

Place the wedges about 1/2 inch apart on the cookie sheet. Brush the tops with a small amount of 1/2 and 1/2 or milk and sprinkle with a smidge of sugar. I use raw sugar,--again with the rustic-- I LOVE rustic when it's tasty. 

Bake until the tops are light golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Serve warm or cool. 
*These freeze beautifully.

**Recipe adapted from The Joy of Cooking

3 comments:

  1. Cindy,
    My mom and I will definately be trying your recipe out. Brings us back to England...thanks for sharing. Sure looks delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't think my wife has found this blog yet... ;)

    ReplyDelete