I love Sunday mornings. Sleeping in, good morning hugs from happy sleepy eyed kids, fresh coffee brewing, and time to make something a little more creative for breakfast.
Scones are something that have eluded me. My dad can make the best biscuits-just seems to throw them together and they always come out amazing. Scones are basically biscuit dough. So I am not sure why they have always been so hard for me.
Finally, I was watching a cooking show, and they made these yummy scones. I think I figured out why mine never quite worked so well-and this morning was my attempt, with a few added tricks that turned out to be MOST important for my recipe.
Always work the butter into the flour with fingers, and again, work the dough with hands to mix. It’s important to just barely mix, and put it out on the floured board sticky. Then pat it into a rectangle, without rolling it or mixing too much flour into it.
As always, I take the basic idea from other recipes and modify them, usually based on what things I have on hand. In this case I had a few dried apricots and pecans. I would bet dried cranberries would be amazing with the citrus as well.
Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
Pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 stick cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/2 cup dried apricots,diced small
1/2 cup pecan pieces
1 cup powdered sugar
5 teaspoons lemon juice
Directions
1. Sift/whisk flour, sugar, salt, cardamom, and baking powder together into a large bowl.
2. Add the butter and mix by hand until it resembles a coarse meal.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg, egg yolk, milk, and orange zest.
4. Add the milk/egg mixture, apricots, and pecans to the dry ingredients. Mix briefly to create cohesive gooey dough.
5. On a floured surface, press dough into a rectangle that is about 15″ x 4″ and about 1″ thick.
6. Cut into triangles and gently place scones on a baking sheet lined, lightly greased.
7. Bake the scones at 425 degrees F for 15 to 20 min. until a light golden brown.
8. When done, remove from the oven and place the scones on a cooling rack.
9. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar and lemon juice.
10. While the scones are still warm, spread the lemon icing on top of them.
The Inquisitive Chef 