Bed & Breakfast Scones

Debber's Note:

Started making these years ago; when oldest daughter was in high school, she'd request these whenever a friend stayed over for the weekend. Serve with Devonshire Cream for Scones, Devonshire Cream for Skinny Scones, Essence of Summer * Raspberry-Honey or your favorite jam with butter. TIME-SAVING TIP: Line up several zip-top, quart-size bags (I do 10 at a time [10 bags = 10 recipes]), then pour in the dry ingredients, then label and store in a cool, dark spot in the pantry. At meal-time, dump one bag into mixing bowl and proceed. This works for pancakes, cornbread and pizza, too! Easy for the kids to whip a batch together, too!

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4-8

Yield: 2.0 disks

Basic Scones

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar (or more)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter (room temp)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs

Optional Add Ins (up to a cup)

• 1/2 cup dried apricot, chopped (optional)
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chip (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
• 1/2 cup grated cheese (optional)
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 1/3 cup dried currant (optional)
• 1 cup craisins (optional)
• 1 tablespoon orange peel, coarsely chopped (optional)
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest (optional)
• 1 tablespoon poppy seed (optional)

Flavoring of choice (discretion)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon banana extract
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 1 teaspoon brandy

Topping of Choice (just one)

• 2 teaspoons brown sugar (holiday or seasonal) or 2 teaspoons white sugar (holiday or seasonal) or 2 teaspoons sugar crystals (holiday or seasonal) or 2 teaspoons candy sprinkles (holiday or seasonal)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400; set aside a lightly greased baking stone or cookie sheet.
2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients; cut in butter to resemble coarse crumbs; select one or more Optional Add-In from the list above (equalling about 1 cup total); make well in the center.
3. In a measuring cup, mix milk and eggs, pour into well in flour mixture EXCEPT -- reserve about 1 tablespoon of egg-milk; add flavoring of choice.
4. Stir flour-milk mixture with a fork, it will be slightly dry and rather stiff (add a bit extra milk if it appears "too" dry).
5. Dump dough onto a floured surface, incorporating any dry crumbs from the bottom of the bowl; knead several times but DO NOT OVERWORK the dough.
6. Divide into two balls; place one on either end of the baking stone or cookie sheet; pat into an 8-inch disk, about half-inch thick.
7. Using a pastry brush, spread the reserved egg-milk over the tops of both disks; sprinkle with Topping of Choice covering thoroughly.
8. With a pizza cutter or big knife, cut each cake into wedges (four large or six small), LEAVE IN PLACE.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes (tops will be golden brown); separate wedges and check that dough is "dry" -- if not, pop back in oven & give it 2-3 more minutes; then serve immediately.
10. SERVE WITH: Zesty Candied Bacon or Low Stress Baked Eggs.
11. LEFTOVER SCONES: as if -- but okay IF you have leftovers, cut horizontally, spread with butter and toast lightly.
12. GREAT COMBINATIONS:.
13. chocolate chips with cranberries & brown sugar topping.
14. chocolate chips with orange zest & orange flavoring.
15. cranberries with walnuts.
16. cranberries with apricots.
17. apricots with nuts.
18. poppyseeds with lemon flavoring & zest.
19. cheese with nuts or chocolate chips.

Reviews

[MA Blossom]

Made a double batch of these without any optional add ins, flavourings or toppings. I accidentally added 1 tablespoon of cream of tartar (I keep it in the same type of jar as my baking powder and didn't catch my error until I'd already added it to the dry ingredients). Still the scones turned out really tasty and with a lovely texture. Served them at a tea party along with butter, cheese slices and a few jars of jam. All the guests really enjoyed them. Thanks, Debber. I'll be making these again.

[CaramelPie]

Great scone recipe! I used a combo of whole wheat flour & whole wheat pastry flour. Thanks.

[cookiedog]

Not sure what happened, but for some reason my scones did not rise very much. Maybe it was because I was afraid to overmix the dough? They were kind of lumpy. They did have a good flavor though. I used craisins, white chocolate, and vanilla. I also liked the idea of bagging the scone dry ingredients ahead of time so I'll be using that idea in the future! Thanks Debber!