Simple Scones

Simple Scones

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Yield: 16 scones

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar (scant)
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, frozen
• 1/2 cup raisins, cherries, chocolate, etc
• 1/2 cup sour cream or heavy cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp almond extract

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers or a pastry blender to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal).
3. In a small bowl, whisk cream and egg until smooth. Add vanilla or almond extract if desired.
4. Using a fork, stir egg/cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form.  Stir in raisins, cherries, chocolate, etc.  Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)  The less you handle the dough the better!
5. Place half on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 8-9 inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place TOUCHING on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper). Bake until golden, about 14-15 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

notes

• Cranberry-Orange Scones - add a generous teaspoon of finely grated orange rind (zest) to the dry ingredients and substituting dried cranberries for the raisins.
• Lemon-Blueberry Scones - add a generous teaspoon of finely grated lemon rind (zest) to the dry ingredients and substituting dried blueberries for the raisins.
• Cherry-Almond Scones - add 1 tsp. almond extract to the sour cream mixture and substituting dried cherries for the raisins.
• Chocolate Chip Scones – add 1 tsp vanilla and substituting chocolate chips for the raisins
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