Chow's Cream Scones

Buster's friend's Note:

Those folks at www.Chow.com have got it going on. May need to whip up a batch of these for my b-day!. Thanks Chow hounds!

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

Ingredients:

Yield: 12 scones

• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour , plus more for dusting
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter , frozen (1/2 stick)
• ¾ cup heavy cream (plus 1 tablespoon)
• 1 large egg

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 450°F and arrange rack in middle. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and whisk ingredients to aerate and break up any lumps; set aside.
2. Grate frozen butter through large holes on a box grater; add to flour mixture and toss until well combined. Whisk together 3/4 cup of the heavy cream and the egg in a small bowl until egg is broken up. Pour into flour mixture, and mix briefly with your hands or a wooden spoon, until dough just comes together, about 2 minutes.
3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and, with lightly floured hands, shape into a circle. Use a rolling pin to roll dough to about 1/2-inch thickness. Dip a 2-1/2-inch biscuit cutter in some extra flour, tap off excess, and stamp out as many scones as possible. Reroll and stamp until you have a total of 12.
4. Place scones at least 1/2-inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush tops of scones with remaining 1 tablespoon cream. Bake until they are puffed and tops are golden and flecked with brown, 10 to 12 minutes. (If scones on one side of the pan begin to get too dark, rotate the pan to ensure even cooking.) Remove scones to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.