About Scones

On Sundays we often have scones for breakfast.  Here is a photo of today's scones.  They're all gone now because my granddaughters were here for breakfast.

Scones are like a cross between shortbread and biscuits.  My basic recipe for scones is this:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup shortening

3 t baking powder

2 T sugar

1/4 t salt

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup dried cranberries and/or raisins

When I say "my basic recipe" it's because I belong to a long line of cooks who preface every recipe they share with "Here is the recipe, but that's not what I do."

My namesake niece Sara Katharine, who left us too many years ago now, struggled for months trying to duplicate my mother's famous barbecue from the recipe Mom gave her.  She recorded the episode in a delightful blog - I have the link to it on another computer and will see if I can access it for a re-post, but Windows 10 has invaded that computer, so it's a project for another day.

Here's what I do with scones.  First I combine a mixture of flours to make up about two cups of flour.  Today's scones had about a cup of oat flour, about a cup of prairie golden wheat flour, and about 1/2 cup of almond meal flour.  I like to use oat flour because it seems Scottish to me.  Then I add the baking powder, salt, and sugar.  Today I used raw sugar.  If you don't want to use sugar at all, you can leave it out.  If you want sweeter scones, add more sugar or wait until you get to the liquid part of the recipe and then add a liquid sweetener (sometimes I use maple syrup or honey).  

The next step is to add the shortening.  Today I used salted butter.  If you use unsalted butter, you may want to increase the amount of salt in the recipe.  I buy butter when it's on sale and keep it in the freezer, so if it's not soft enough to work in to the flour mixture, as it wasn't today, I use a grater and grate the butter into the flour.  Then I work it in thoroughly with my hands until the mixture looks like corn meal.  Now add the dried fruit. 

Now add the milk and work it until it makes a nice dough that sticks together and can be kneaded.  Knead it until it feels right. (This is where experience comes in handy.  Here's where you may need to add more flour or more liquid in order to get the right texture. )  For smaller scones, divide the dough in half, flatten each half into a circle about 1/2 inch thick on a floured board, cut in to six pieces, place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees.  They should be a little brown on the bottom and not gooey on the inside.

There are so many variations you can use to make scones.  Most of the recipes I've tried work.  I just like mine the best.  Some people add a beaten egg, which should make the scones rise higher.  I haven't tried coconut oil instead of butter, but I expect it would work just fine.  You could also use coconut milk instead of dairy milk. Sometimes I use sour cream or yogurt for the liquid, adjusting the quantity so I still achieve the proper texture.

Experiment with using different kinds of flour and nut meals, using frozen blueberries or chopped up apples instead of dried fruit, adding vanilla or almond extract, orange or lemon peal for additional flavor,  For supper scones I sometimes add grated cheese and leave out the fruit.