SASSY FRUIT AND NUT SCONES
This is an altered recipe I adapted from a seasonal Gold Medal Let's Bake winter issue a few years ago. The egg makes the scones "caky". I prefer a much drier scone, so I always omit the egg and increase the cream by a tablespoon or so. The original recipe called for allspice instead of nutmeg, less cream and sugar, and no vanilla flavoring or nuts. My version is sweeter and I think, more interesting.
1 and three fourths cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cold butter, sliced into cubes
4 tablespoons sugar
2 and one half teaspoons baking powder
one fourth teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten and mixed with one teaspoon vanilla flavoring
5 tablespoons heavy cream
one fourth cup chopped raisins or other dried fruit
one fourth cup chopped pecans (optional)
three fourths teaspoon ground cinnamon
one eighth teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg beaten plus 4 tablespoons milk
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, dried fruit, and nuts in a large bowl. Mix the cold butter cubes with the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
2. Add egg and cream. Mix until they are just barely combined with the coarse flour-butter mixture and the dough forms a loose ball.
3. Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Gently pat it flat and roll out with a rolling pin until it's a half-inch thick. Don't over work the dough or the scones will be tough. Cut dough into rounds with a floured cookie cutter to prevent sticking; or cut with a knife into shapes like triangles or squares.
4. Place scones on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush lightly with egg-milk mixture. Sprinkle with extra sugar if desired and bake twelve to fifteen minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately remove from cookie sheet and cool to room temperature.
Note: if pecans are omitted, simply double the amount of dried fruit to one half cup.
CREAM SCONES
These aren't very sweet. However, they're a great substitute for biscuits at dinner time or breakfast. From Reader's Digest:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoons salt
½ stick of butter, cut up
2 eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
2. In a medium sized bowl, beat eggs and cream with a fork until well blended. Gently stir in egg mixture into dry ingredients until just combined. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons cream to make dough soft if needed.
3. Turn dough onto floured work surface and knead gently 5 or 6 times.
4. Roll dough to one half inch thickness. Cut into rounds with a floured biscuit cutter. Reroll scraps, but don't reknead. You'll end up with tough scones.
5. Arrange scones on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve hot. Excellent alternative to biscuits for fried chicken and pork chops.
CHEDDAR SCONES
From Reader's Digest:
Prepare as directed for cream scones. Add ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese to dry ingredients after cutting in the butter.
Try some of my ideas to perk up cream and cheddar scones:
* Add a ½ teaspoon rosemary
* Use blue cheese chunks or fresh Parmesan
* Add bacon bits to cheddar or cream scones
* Add 1 teaspoon freshly racked black pepper or cayenne pepper
* Add chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder for a southwestern flair. Serve with chili.
BRANDIED CHERRY SCONES
If you love cherries and pecans then this is the scone for you. I developed this recipe a few years ago because I had too many bags of dried cherries left over after a luncheon. The cherry brandy can be purchased in many package stores which sell liquor and wines. Substitute dried apricots and rum or apricot brandy for another remarkable taste sensation.
Traditionally, scones should be subtly sweet, but I inherited a sweet tooth of magnificent proportions from my grandfather. As a result, I tend to be heavy on the sugar. You don't have to sprinkle sugar over the scones before you bake them. But, you will miss out. The oven heat carmelizes the sugar and leaves behind a wonderfully crispy, sweet layer that's simply delicious.
Make the same way as Sassy Fruit ans Nut scones. Make these changes:
add one fourth cup chopped dried cherries soaked in cherry brandy and sugar overnight
add one fourth cup chopped pecans
use 5 tablespoons sugar
use 5 tablespoons heavy cream
Prepare and bake the same way as Sassy scones.