These dense, rich scones can be made with a variety of flavors, and they are SO good!
One month ago I could say that I had never even tasted a scone before, much less made one. Today I made nearly 80 of them and they are one of my new favorite treats!
About a month ago, I offered to help with a baby shower for my friend Heather. I asked if they needed help with food, thinking cake or cupcakes or fancy cookies- typical shower requests. Heather’s mom Sharla explained that they were having an English tea for Heather and could I please make scones?
Scones…? I agreed and started to read up on scones. They sounded difficult. They sounded dry and crumbly and b-o-o-o-ring…. yawn.
I started with a basic recipe for chocolate chip scones. I won’t tell you where I got it, because it wasn’t very good. At the time, I thought it must just be how scones are supposed to be (since I’d never tasted one before). Yuck.
I was explaining my dislike for scones in a group of friends one night, and one family started protesting that they make the best scones ever. The mom (my friend Beth), got the recipe from her mother-in-law, who sold them in a tea shop she ran years ago.
It sounded promising, and Beth sent me home armed with the recipe, tips and two scone pans (I didn’t even know those existed, but I LOVE them!).
I started with Apricot White Chocolate Scones, and the rest is history. I love them. They are easier than cookies and so much yummier!
Here is how to make them: (printable recipe)
You really need to have a pastry cutter
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 4 teaspoons of baking powder (fresh!)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup of dried fruit, chocolate chips, nuts, or any combination of those three
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) of cold butter
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- 3/4 cup of whipping cream
- Milk (as needed)
- Sugar/ Cinnamon to sprinkle on top.
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, and spray pan (or sheet) liberally with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Add stick of butter and cut into crumb-like pieces using the pastry cutter.
- Add nuts or chips (if using) and toss together with dry mixture until coated.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together whipping cream and eggs until well combined.
- Add dried fruit (if using) and toss together with wet mixture until coated.
- Make a “well” in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it.
- Combine and then gently knead with hands until it holds together in a ball. Add milk if mixture is too dry (this is most often the case when no fruit is added). Don’t over-knead this dough (you’ll melt all those little pieces of butter with the heat of your hands!)
- If using a scone pan, set aside about 1/4 of the dough to bake in a second batch. I overfilled my pan and they rose too high (as you can see in my pictures). When I made them for the shower, I used less dough and it was perfect!
- Press remaining dough into a square on a floured counter and cut into triangles as shown (I used a pizza cutter and a knife- both worked fine).
- Set into pan (or on cookie sheet) and brush tops with milk. Sprinkle with sugar (I used cinnamon and sugar).
- Bake at 400 degrees F for 12-15 minutes.
- Allow them to cool in pan for about 5 minutes and pop out with forks.
- Enjoy!!!
My thoughts: Goodness…this sounds complicated, doesn’t it? I thought so too, but now that I’ve made a bunch of them I really do think they are easier than cookies! Today for the shower I made 4 kinds. I added white chocolate chips and apricots to the first (I cut the dried apricots into smaller pieces using kitchen scissors). I added dried berried (cherries, blueberries and cranberries) to the second. I added mini chocolate chips to the third, and I added Hershey’s cinnamon chips to the fourth.
Here’s Heather, the beautiful mom-to-be at her English tea baby shower- SO much fun! Enjoy!!~r
Other fun shower desserts here at Easybaked (click on a photo to see the recipe):
EASYBAKED 