Anything Scones
When I think of a bakery and coffee shop I think breakfast sandwiches, cookies, croissants, and scones. I think because scones are associated with fancy things like a coffee shop or croissants, they are thought to be super fancy and difficult to make. The reality is that with a good recipe they are super easy! Scones weren't even originally supposed to be a fancy dessert or side to coffee but they were an oat based biscuit cooked on a skillet in Scotland in the 1400s! They didn't turn into a fancy baked treat until afternoon tea became a thing in England and even then they were more similar to a simple biscuit than what we eat today. Once the scone migrated over to America that's when things really started to change! Chemical leavening, like baking powder, was introduced in the 1900s in England but in America they started to add even more leavening and sugar to make a sweet baked good rather than a savory or neutral biscuit. From there the scone continued to evolve with glazes and mix-ins like fruit and chocolate. Today scones are still a staple to a European afternoon tea or something to enjoy with a cup of tea but the options for flavors and variations are endless! From peach to pumpkins to bacon and cheddar there is a scone for everyone!
Of course since there are so many flavors of scones, I have a few of may absolute favorites that I have made over the years. So, when I was looking for my base scone recipe I was absolutely shocked to find that I had not posted a single scone recipe on my blog in the almost three years I have had it! So, here is the basic scone recipe that you can add literally anything to to make them your own. Don't worry, at the end of the post I will include a few of my favorite flavors for you to try.
To start any scone, you need cold butter. I like to toss a stick in the freezer at least thirty minutes before I start baking. Although, with how often I make scones, I tend to just keep a stick or two in my freezer so they are always ready. Before I start mixing I preheat my oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit so that once the dough is mixed it doesn't have time to reach room temperature before I bake them. This just ensures the butter melts into the dough in the oven instead of on your counter and just steams off in the oven.
Once I am ready to start mixing my dough, I cut up my butter into small/medium chunks. You don't want slivers but they should be no bigger than your thumbnail. You can either mix your dough in a blender or with a mixer. I prefer a mixer just because my blender is harder to wash but a blender will create a more uniform dough and therefore slightly prettier scones. I don't pretend to create the prettiest treats ever, just tasty, so it's not something I'm super worried about.
After my butter is all cut up, I throw it into my mixer or blender along with my flour, sugar, and baking powder, and mix it until the butter chunks are pea sized or smaller. You don't quite want a sand texture or else your scones can get a little drier than you want. If you are using a blender this will happen very fast. With the butter and dry ingredients mixed, I add in my egg, buttermilk, and vanilla (this is optional depending on your desired flavor) and mix just until there are no more super wet spots. My two main tricks to amazing scones are a ridiculous amount of baking soda and under mixing so if you are wondering if it's mixed enough, the answer is always yes.
This is the point where I add in my mix-ins. This can be fresh or frozen fruit, chocolate chips, bacon, cheese, onion, toffee, and more! Let your imagination run wild! For fruit I do recommend adding an extra 1/4 cup of flour in the beginning so that your scones don't get too wet and dense. To incorporate your special flavor, either dump out your dough and gently knead it in by hand on the counter or mix on the lowest setting possible just until they are dispersed. If you want to add something wetter like pumpkin puree check out my pumpkin scone recipe below (COMING SOON), the process is a little different because it is so wet.
When my special flavor is dispersed through my dough, I shape it on the counter into a rough 1-2 inch thick puck shape. I always make sure to touch the dough as little as humanly possible in order to avoid warming up the butter and frozen fruit if it's there. I then take a knife or a bench scraper to cut my scones into triangles. I usually do this by just cutting my giant "puck" in half and continue to work around the circle like I'm cutting a pizza. If I want smaller scones I'll just continue cutting my triangles in half to make thinner ones or I will make two smaller "pucks" if I don't want super skinny scones but I still want them to be small.
With all of my scones cut, I carefully put them on my baking sheet with about an inch between each one so that they don't touch after baking. If they do spread into each other while baking it isn't the end of the world because they are easy to separate. Depending on what flavor my scones are and whether I am going to make a glaze, I will top each scone with a sprinkling of granulated sugar for a little extra sugary crunch on top and then bake them for 20-25 minutes. I know they are done when they just start to turn golding brown around the edges and don't have any shiny wet spots. That is when I pull them out of the oven to cool a bit before glazing and displaying, sharing, or devouring!
Scones are great topped with butter, plain, or with a dollop of creme fraiche (a recently learned bougie term for whipped cream). Savory scones can also be served with butter or a dollop of sour cream depending on the flavor but personally I find them the best eaten plain.
.jpeg)
Comments
Post a Comment