Scones

I have a philosophy about treats.  I think that it's perfectly okay to indulge, even daily, as long as you limit yourself to one tasty bite.  And since it's only going to be one small thing, it had better be extra, super good.  So I indulge in the best ingredients, and I continue tweaking recipes until one bite is really satisfying.  And I freeze them after one serving, so the quality stays high while we eat our way through the "Treat drawer."  I like to change flavors up a bit, so there's usually something very chocolate-y, something with butter, nuts and chocolate, and something with citrus, for example.  Then every night after dinner, Steve, Mom and I have the moment of truth when we have to choose.  We usually each choose something different, which makes it more interesting.

I have another theory.  You have a much better chance of working off calories that you eat in the morning.  So a calorie intense treat (of a reasonably small size) is okay.  Don't you just love these rules?

So now to today's recipes:  Scones, my favorite breakfast treat.  At first I used King Arthur flour mixes, which only require that you add an egg, butter, milk, and a little salt.  But once I discovered the recipe for chocolate chip-cherry scones in David Leibowitz's The Great Book of Chocolate, I have developed a taste for this type of scone (Thank you, Ben, for the gift ).  In fact, scones do not have eggs in them.  That makes them more of a cake, when it is their nature to want to be a biscuit.  I have fooled around with a lot of recipes, and will give you my personal favorite here.  As you know, I am always tweaking recipes, so what you see here will be slightly different than the original.

For example, I love using Boyajian's citrus oils, and have been giving little samples away ever since I accidentally ordered 3x the amount I thought I did last Christmas.  Whenever a recipe calls for lemon, lime or orange, I throw in 1/2 teaspoon of the appropriate oil, even if I am also adding juice or zest.  It just punches up the flavor.  And if I don't happen to have an orange or lemon hanging around to zest, I use 1 teaspoon of the oil.  The oil is distilled from the rind, which is the strongest flavor in the fruit, so it works. 

When I first started making scones, I was kind of scared of them, because every cookbook cautions against overworking the butter, keeping it cold, not letting it melt.  Plus, as soon as you add liquid to flour, you have to worry about gluten forming, making things gooey and chewy rather than light and flaky.  But while that is true, these recipes are pretty forgiving.  One reason is that I freeze the butter, which keeps it from melting into the dough (Thank you, Nigella), and buttermilk is acidic, which helps keep the gluten from forming.  Still, you want to work as quickly as possible, and frankly, it doesn't take very long.  So have no fear!

A few words about equipment:  After spending far too much on cookie sheets over the years, I am now using a simple Nordicware half-sheet pan I picked up from Wegmans, lined with parchment.  I actually have six or seven half-sheet pans because you can use them for everything.  I used to use rolls of parchment, but since discovering the half-sheets at King Arthur Flour, I keep those on hand.  They absolutely protect the pan, aren't all curly and unruly, and I often don't even need to wash the pan.  And the baked goods never stick.

I am also a fan of Microplane graters.  They are wicked sharp, so I have recently gotten their glove (I found it at Williams-Sonoma, but I'm sure it's available elsewhere), which eliminates the risk of inconvenient (and unsightly) kitchen grating accidents.  Here is a photo of the two microplanes I use, the one on the left is for grated fruit zest (or rind as we say it in the non-chef world), and the other for grating the butter.   Along side them is my bench scraper, which is handy for cutting scones and for scraping flour up from the cutting board.  (By the way, the easiest way to clean up when using flour is to use the bench scraper to scoop the flour directly into the trash.  If you empty the flour into the sink and try to use water you make...wait for it...paste!)

CHERRY-CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONE RECIPE

1 cup AP flour

1 cup cake flour (such as King Arthur's Queen Guinevere)

1/4 cup superfine sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest (if you have an orange)

4 oz (1 stick) butter, frozen at least 30 minutes

1/2 cup shaken buttermilk, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon orange oil (if you have the zest) or 1 teaspoon if you don't
1/2 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup dried Morello cherries

3 Tablespoons superfine sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (Penzey's Vietnamese or Chinese Cassia are my favorites)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Place a piece of parchment paper in a quarter sheet baking pan.

In a large bowl, whisk flours, sugar, baking powder, soda, salt, and orange zest (if using).  Using a large microplane grater, grate the butter over the dry ingredients, mixing occasionally with a fork.  (You can see photos of what this will look like below in the Lemon Blueberry recipe).  Add orange oil to the buttermilk, pouring it into a well in the center of the flour/butter mixture, and stir until the dough holds together.  Add chocolate chips and cherries.  It will still seem somewhat dry, but don't worry about that.

Turn the dough out onto the parchment paper (saves on the cleanup), and knead just until you can shape it into a thick disk, about 7" in diameter.  Using a bench knife or other sharp knife, cut the circle into 8 pieces, and separate them from one another so they don't get too cozy during baking. After you have found a home for them on the pan, flatten them a little with the palm of your hand.  Mix cinnamon into sugar and sprinkle over the tops.

Bake 14-16 minutes.

A word here about the add-ins.  Fresh fruit does not do well in scones because the pastry is too stiff (unlike muffins, which are softer).  I have a wonderful source of dried fruit, Meduri, which is mail-order.  I particularly like their Harvest peaches, blueberries, and Morello cherries.  But feel free to experiment with other dried fruits.  Chocolate chips and toasted nuts (pecans, walnuts or almonds) are good too.

Another note about buttermilk.  It definitely makes a difference in the tenderness of the scone.  In a pinch I have tried "emergency substitutions," like 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in milk, but I have to say it does not have the same effect.  So try to get the buttermilk.

LEMON-BLUEBERRY:

Note:   Meyer lemons are an interesting cross-breed of citrus that tastes strongly of lemon without being sour.  Tart, but not sour.

1 cup AP flour

1 cup cake flour (such as King Arthur's Queen Guinevere)

1/4 cup superfine sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Finely grated zest of one Meyer lemon

4 oz (1 stick) butter, frozen at least 30 minutes
1 cup dried blueberries

1/2 cup shaken buttermilk, room temperature
1 teaspoon lemon oil

Sparkling sugar
       or
Lemon Glaze:
       Finely grated zest and juice of one Meyer lemon, plus 1/2 teaspoon lemon oil
       1 cup Confectioner's sugar or enough to make a smooth glaze (you want to drizzle it)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Place a piece of parchment paper in a quarter sheet baking pan.

In a large bowl, whisk flours, sugar, baking powder, soda, salt, and lemon zest.  Using a large microplane grater, grate the butter over the dry ingredients, mixing occasionally with a fork.  I always appreciate knowing what this is supposed to look like, so Steve took these excellent step-by-step photos:

Add lemon oil to the buttermilk, pouring it into a well in the center of the flour/butter mixture, and stir until the dough holds together.  Then stir in the blueberries.  It may still seem somewhat dry, but don't worry about that.  It will look approximately like this:

Dump the dough out onto the parchment paper (saves on the cleanup), like this:

and knead just until you can shape it into a thick disk, about 7" in diameter.

Using a bench knife or other sharp knife, cut the circle into 8 pieces,

and separate them from one another so they don't get too cozy during baking. After you have found a home for them on the pan, flatten them a little with the palm of your hand.  You'll notice that some of these have been flattened and some are still standing tall.

If you are using Sparkling sugar, sprinkle it on now.

Bake 14-16 minutes.

If you are using the Lemon Glaze (much more intense lemon flavor if you do), wait until the scones have cooled about 5 minutes, then drizzle the glaze over them.

I made glaze for these:

CHEDDAR-BACON:  

2 cups AP flour

1 Tablespoon superfine sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 oz (1 stick) butter, frozen at least 30 minutes

1/2 cup shaken buttermilk, room temperature
1 cup cooked bacon, cut into 3/4" pieces
4 oz Cheddar cheese, cut into cubes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Place a piece of parchment paper in a quarter sheet baking pan.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt.  Using a large microplane grater, grate the butter over the dry ingredients, mixing occasionally with a fork.  Add the buttermilk, pouring it into a well in the center of the flour/butter mixture, and stir until the dough holds together.  Add bacon and Cheddar cheese.  It will still seem somewhat dry, but don't worry about that.

Turn the dough out onto the parchment paper (saves on the cleanup), and knead just until you can shape it into a thick disk, about 7" in diameter.  Using a bench knife or other sharp knife, cut the circle into 8 pieces, and separate them from one another so they don't get too cozy during baking. After you have found a home for them on the pan, flatten them a little with the palm of your hand.  

Bake 16-18 minutes.

See how yummy the cheddar looks when it oozes out and bakes:

As you can tell, scones are very versatile and you are only limited by what you decide to toss in.  I got some dried apricots, and I'm thinking I'll combine them with toasted pecans.  I will probably put orange oil in with that which will actually emphasize the apricot flavor.

A note on shapes.  The classic scone shape is a wedge from a circle, but you can also make them into circles if you have a large cookie cutter, or make drop scones using a 1/4 cup cookie (or ice cream) scoop.  I suppose they could even be squares.

The scones are wonderful just out of the oven, then pop them into a freezer bag (I date them so I use up the older ones first).  To reheat, put them in the microwave for 18 seconds, then into a cold toaster oven set at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes (in my toaster oven that's about how long it takes the oven to reach temperature).  Your goal is to get them heated through with a little crispness on the crust.