By now you’ve probably made biscuits dozens of times, and while they are delicious, you’ve probably thought to yourself, “self, how could these be better?” The answer is scones.
The next step in our development is to work in some additions to the basic biscuit method, which really just involves a little sugar, an egg, and what ever fillings/flavourings you can imagine.
Blueberry Scones:
- 1 cup self rising flour (or 1 cup AP flour with 2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 egg, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
Continuing from the biscuit lesson, we start by blending the dry ingredients with the butter. Note that this time we have added sugar to make a sweeter scone. Pulse this a few times until it looks like course sand.
Next, in a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Start with milk, some vanilla, and this will sound weird, but we’re going to add about half an egg. It’s hard to buy half an egg, so simply remove about a teaspoon. That second half will be used to brush the top of the scones after they are formed. I’m using my Amaretto vanilla for a little extra humph, but regular vanilla will work just fine. I would also strongly recommend adding some lemon or orange zest, if you have those on hand.
Add the flour mixture and the blueberries to the wet mixture then stir until the whole mess starts to pull together. Pour this out onto a baking sheet, lined with lightly greased parchment paper. Use your hands or a spatula to press the batter into a large disk. This is easier if you lightly spray your hands with pan spray. Then, using a greased knife, cut the disk into six wedges, and move them apart slightly so they have room to grow.
Brush to the tops of the scones with the beaten egg (you did save half an egg right?) and sprinkle with sugar. This step is completely optional, but now that you’ve mastered the basics, why not add a little flair? Lastly, bake at 400F for 30-35min or until golden brown. Cool on a rack, then enjoy with butter and jam.
Fun fact, if we melted the butter and mixed it in with the milk and eggs, then added the dry ingredients, we’d have a muffin. Just like that. Cutting the butter into the flour helps prevent gluten formation, and causes the flaky nature of the scone, whereas a muffin has a more cake like crumb.