Sunday, November 22, 2009

Scones


Scones are a quick (especially if you have a food processor) and easy treat. When my niece was visiting last weekend, she asked for my recipe so I decided to fix some for dessert.

As luck would have it, the oven in the kitchen was not working and it was too warm to fire up the wood stove. So I decided to cook them on the gas grill.

I put the wedges into a heavy iron skillet and heated the grill to 400.

They did pretty well -- a little overdone on the bottom but still delicious. The recipe is below.

Your family and friends will thank you if you make these.



SCONES

(From The Gourmet Cookbook)

(I changed various ingredients to match what I had on hand)

1 2/3 c. all-purpose flour (I used bread flour)

6 Tbs. sugar (plus more for sprinkling)

1 Tbs. baking powder

¾ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 1/3 c. old fashioned rolled oats (I used quick cooking)

11/2 sticks (12 Tbs.) cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons (plus a little more for the top) (I used salted butter & reduced the salt above)

Freshly grated zest of two large navel oranges (omitted due to a total lack of oranges – but it sure sounds good)

2/3 cup butter milk (I used half and half, replacing about a tablespoon of it with cider vinegar to sour it.)

½ c. finely chopped dried apricots (I used dried cranberries -- some pecans would have been a nice addition.)

Preheat oven to 425. Put rack in middle. Butter a large baking sheet.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt in food processor. (Or in a bowl if you don’t have a processor). Add oats and pulse to mix. Or just mix). Add butter and pulse (or cut in with pastry cutter or two knives) till mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea sized lumps. Transfer to large bowl and stir in dried fruit.

In small bowl, combine buttermilk and zest, then stir in to flour mixture with a fork, stirring just till a sticky dough forms.

Turn out to lightly floured surface; and knead six times. Pat into a 1 inch thick round, dusting surface with more flour if needed.

Cut into eight wedges and transfer to buttered baking sheet. Melt a little more butter and brush the tops of the scones with it, then sprinkle with sugar. Bake till golden-brown, 15-18 minutes.

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16 comments:

Martin said...

Vicki

Sometimes, using what you have at hand produces surprisingly good results, don't you find?

The scones look delicious, by the way.

Pat in east TN said...

I love when you share recipes and scones are simply the best! Soooo yummy! Thanks for sharing. I'll be making some this week for my company and when asked where this recipe came from, I will say, "compliments of Vicki". Most have enjoyed several of your recipes already!

Kathryn Stripling Byer said...

Hi Vicki, I should send you some S. Ga. pecans from my grandfather's orchard. The best.
I'm getting ready to try a rich-sounding pumpkin cheesecake. Maybe I'll do a post on that.

tipper said...

Sounds so yummy : )

Vicki Lane said...

Thanks, Martin! I'm keen to try the original recipe too.

You're gonna love these, Pat!

Georgia pecans are wonderful, indeed, Kay! My brother was just here from Alabama and he has a pecan tree in his yard but he said there were almost no nuts this year. He did bring us something called a Peco Pie -- a kind of taco shell made out of peanut brittle. He meant it as a joke but it was delicious. One of the cats was seriously attracted to it and crunched away.

Pumpkin cheesecake sounds wonderful!

Carol Murdock said...

I've never made scones but this recipe makes me want too! I'm LOL at your additions! You're a bit of a comic ole girl! :)

NCmountainwoman said...

I love your ingenuity...alter the recipe to match what you have on hand. And if the oven doesn't work? Use the gas grill. I'll try the recipe for a Sunday morning (the only day I ever cook breakfast).

Amelia said...

How funny! I literally just got off the phone with Ruth and during the course of the conversation she mentioned that she was making your AMAZING scones this morning for breakfast (now brunch, I'm afraid) and I asked her to forward the recipe that you sent her so that we could have some on hand to nibble on for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. YUM! Thanks for posting this! :)

Also, friends of mine had pumpkin cheesecake for their Autumn wedding, and it was incredible, I'll see if I can find that recipe.

Vicki Lane said...

All this talk of scones is giving me a sincere desire to go make some right now . . .

Stella Jones said...

Those scones look delicious Vicki. I've never seen them done in a skillet before. By the way, do you say scons or scones? in your part of the world.
Blessings, Star

Vicki Lane said...

I say skahns -- that being the way I heard it pronounced when I first encountered scones in the UK. They weren't a part of my childhood -- I think probably coffee shops have popularized them over here. Most people around here pronounce the word with an oh sound.

Lesley King said...

I had a ginger cinnamon scone the other day that I can still taste, yumm. They used the crystalized ginger. Call me when they are ready :)

Vicki Lane said...

Hey, Leslie! Sounds great!(Note to self: crystallized ginger on shopping list!)

Darla said...

Can't remember how I found this post! LOL But now I'm craving scones...I never liked them until this past year during my Ayurvedic training at Kripalu in Massachusetts -- the chef there makes awesome ginger walnut scones, so I'm going to try YOUR recipe with adding ginger walnut...and I like the idea of making them in a cast iron skillet...very 'down home'... I live in Maine but was raised in the Ozarks of Missouri so have always enjoyed cast iron skillet foods like cornbread, fried okra, etc... Thanks!

Vicki Lane said...

Can't cook without my cast iron skillets! THE best!

Darla said...

Grandma always cooked with cast iron, and much of Mom's cooking is that way as well. As for me, well, I sheepishly confess that I'm 49 and only started 'cooking' for real a couple years ago. Mom sent me one of Grandma's cast iron skillets and I've been learning as I go... :-)