Plain scones

Well, technically I guess they're raisin scones.

Plain scones (with raisins)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, diced
1 tablespoon orange zest

optional:
1/4 to 1/3 cup golden raisins
1/4 to 1/3 cup raisins

1/2 cup half and half
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or one vanilla bean, scraped
1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheets with parchment.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest and salt into large bowl. Add butter and cut in with a knife, pastry blender or your fingers until it resembles a coarse meal. Plump the raisins in a half cup of water (1 minutes in the microwave). Drain and stir into flour mixture.

Whisk cream, egg, vanilla, and honey in a small bowl until thoroughly blended. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; stir just until combined. Gather dough into ball and knead lightly. Roll out dough on floured surface to 3/4-inch thickness. Using 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out scones. Gather scraps; reroll and cut out additional scones. Place scones on prepared baking sheet, about an inch apart. (Or, divide dough into two, roll out into discs and cut into wedges.)

Bake scones until golden, about 20 minutes. Makes about 16 to 20 small scones. Serve warm with butter and honey.

Earth Day Scone

It's a semi-traditional holiday, so I made semi-traditional scones

Semi-traditional scones
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup yogurt
1/3 cup milk or half-and-half
1/3 cup honey

Optional: fresh or dried fruit

Preheat the oven to 450F/230C. Grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper.
Sift the dry ingredients, then cut the butter into it until it resembles a coarse corn meal. If you are adding dried fruit or nuts, mix them into the flour mixture now. Whisk the liquid ingredients together, than add them to the flour mixture. Dough should be malleable and slightly wet. Knead the dough on a floured board. Shape it into a disk or a rectangle about 3/4" thick and cut into desired shape (wedges, squares or rounds).

If you are adding a soft fruit like berries or diced peaches, roll it out slightly thinner, place the fruit on half of it; fold it over then reshape it before cutting it into the final shape. Soft fruits are easier to handle if they are frozen. They'll defrost just fine during the baking process.

Place the scones onto the cookie sheet and bake them for 12-15 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Yields 12. When cooled, store in an airtight container.

This is not a sweet scone, especially if you haven't added fruit, so serve hot with butter and honey!

Leftover lemon curd

I made lemon curd last week for lemon thumbprint cookies, and had a lot left over, so I made a plain scone to go with it.

Cornmeal scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Adjust a baking rack to the middle position.

Mix the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, knife or your hands until it resembles a coarse meal. Lightly beat the honey, egg, yolk, milk and sourcream together in a bowl (use the same one you used for the strawberries ), then add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Dough will be very sticky.

Using soup spoons (for large scones) or teaspoons (for small scones) spoon out 1 1/2" or 2" mounds onto the cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer the scones to a cooling rack and let them cool slightly before serving.

Serve with butter and lemon curd

I heart scones

Best of the web: traditional scones with cucumber goat cheese spread.

Sometimes it's best just to open up a cookbook. Heart shaped just because.