Basic Cream Scones

southern chef in louisiana's Note:

This is a cream scone. From this bacis recipe, you can make many different varieties of scones (Chocolate Lavender Scones, Ginger Peach Scones, Lemon Poppyseed Scones, Maple Pecan Scones, Mini Scones, and Round Scones are included below).

• Total Time: 22 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 12 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter , cut into 6 pieces
• 2⁄3; cup heavy cream
• 2 eggs , beaten
• coarse white decorator sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Fit food processor with steel blade. Place flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in work bowl. Pulse on/off to mix. Add butter; process 10 seconds or until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Transfer to large bowl.
3. Combine heavy cream and eggs; reserve 1 tablespoon. Pour remaining cream mixture over flour mixture. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened and dough is soft.
4. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface. Shape into ball; pat into 8-inch circle. Cut into 8 wedges; place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Brush reserved cream mixture over tops; sprinkle with coarse sugar.
5. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.
6. Chocolate Lavender Scones: Add 1 teaspoon dried lavender to dry ingredients. Stir 1/2 cup coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate into dough before shaping.
7. Ginger Peach Scones: Stir 1 tablespoon finely chopped crystallized ginger and 1/3 cup chopped dried peaches into dough before shaping.
8. Lemon Poppyseed Scones: Stir grated peel of 1 lemon (about 3-1/2 teaspoons) and 1 tablespoon poppy seeds into dough before shaping. Omit coarse sugar topping. When scones have cooled slightly, drizzle with lemon icing made from 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice (add up to 1-1/2 teaspoons more lemon juice, if necessary, for desired consistency).
9. Maple Pecan Scones: Stir 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans into dough before shaping. Omit coarse sugar topping. When scones have cooled slightly, drizzle with maple icing made from 3/4 cup powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons maple syrup.
10. Mini Scones: Divide dough into 2 balls before shaping into rounds and cutting into wedges. Makes 16
11. Round Scones: Cut dough into rounds using lightly floured cookie or biscuit cutter.

Reviews

[Bakerwgb]

COMPLETELY EASY! TOTALLY DELICIOUS! I've made this recipe 3 times, using whatever dried fruit I had on hand at the time, i.e., dried cranberries with orange zest, apricots and crystallized ginger, and dried peaches. All excellent. I love the crisp bottoms. Because the 1/8th piece servings are fairly large, I decided to cut the 8" ball into 12ths - each serving piece was still plenty big. Great recipe.