Delicious Scones (Not Just For Breakfast)

Apologies for the extended hiatus.  Our grandmother passed away last week.  Unlike our mother, who has many wonderful qualities, but cooking is not among them, our grandmother was a terrific cook.  Perhaps cooking skill skips a generation or something, but some of our fondest memories include spending time with our grandmother as she cooked Thanksgiving dinner (while refusing to let anyone else help).  She was also an avid gardener and there were always fruits and veggies in the house that she had picked from her garden.  She will be tremendously missed by her many friends and family.


I tried to think of what I had baked recently that would be an appropriate tribute to our grandmother.  However, I don't really remember her baking too much.  The thing that I do remember is that times at her house were always special and these scones are certainly something that you might serve if you wanted a breakfast to be extra special.  


These scones are super easy to make.  All you need is a bowl, a fork and your fingers and you can make something really delicious.  I often think of scones as dry and not very appealing to eat, but these are flakey and they melt in your mouth.  Dorie's original recipe calls for currants, but I used chocolate chips instead.  These would be really good with any kind of dried fruit or mini chocolate chips or nuts or whatever you can think of.  You can whip up a batch any time you want to, because they are so easy.  You can also freeze the dough and bake them straight from the freezer or freeze the completed scones and warm them in the oven.  See...very versatile.   


Happy Scone-ing!


Recipe is after the jump...

Cream Scones
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

1 large egg

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tbs granulated sugar

1 Tbs baking powder

¼ tsp salt

5 Tbs unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled

¾ cup moist, plump currants (I used chocolate chips)

 Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

 Stir the egg and cream together.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly. Add currants and toss a few times to integrate.

Pour the egg and cream over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork just until the dough, which will be wet and sticky, come together. Don’t overdo it. Still in the bowl, gently knead the dough by hand, or turn it with a rubber spatula 8 to 10 times.  Add the chocolate chips.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Divide it in half. Working with one piece at a time, pat the dough into a rough circle that’s about 5 inches in diameter, cut it into 6 wedges and place it on the baking sheet. (At this point, the scones can be frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight. Don’t defrost before baking- just add about 2 minutes to the baking time.)

Bake the scones for 20 to 22 minutes, or until their tops are golden and firmish. Transfer them to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving, or wait for them to cool to room temperature.