Blueberry Scones

Scones have become my new favorite breakfast treat to make.  Over the summer, during peak season – I bought a massive quantity of blueberries for my freezer.  Besides throwing them into my yogurt or into pancakes – I haven’t done much else with them.  Well, not until making these scones.  Oh my – are these amazing or what?!  They are tender, flaky and the perfect contrast to the juicy sweet blueberry.  It’s like a little bite of summer in the midst of winter.

Can’t wait to make these again!  YUM!

Ingredients

• 8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, frozen whole
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Adjust an oven rack to middle position and preheat to 425˚ F. 

2. Grate the frozen butter on the holes of a large box grater. 

3. Whisk together the milk and sour cream in a medium bowl; refrigerate until needed. 

4. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest in a medium mixing bowl.  Whisk to combine. 

5. Add the grated butter to the flour mixture and toss with fingers until thoroughly coated.

6. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and fold with a spatula just until combined. 

7. Transfer the dough to a generously floured work surface.  Dust the top of the dough with flour, and knead with well floured hands, 6-8 times, just until the dough holds together in a ragged ball.  Add small amounts of flour as needed to prevent sticking.

8. Roll the dough into a 12-inch square.  Fold the dough into thirds like a business letter (a dough scraper really helps with these steps).  Fold the short ends of the dough into the center in thirds, to form an approximate 4-inch square.  Transfer the dough to a plate lightly dusted with flour and chill in the freezer for 5 minutes.

9. Return the dough to the floured work surface and roll into an approximately 12-inch square again.  Sprinkle the blueberries evenly over the surface of the dough, and gently press down so that they are slightly embedded in the dough surface.  Using a dough scraper, roll the dough up to form a tight log.  Lay the log seam side down and press the the log into a 12 by 4-inch rectangle. 

10. Using a sharp, floured knife, cut the rectangle crosswise into 4 equal rectangles.  Cut each rectangle diagonally to form 2 triangles.  Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.

11. Brush the tops of the scones with melted butter and sprinkle lightly with sugar. 

12. Bake until the tops and bottoms are golden brown, 18-25 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Source: Cooks Illustrated via Annie’s Eats

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Chocolate chip Scones

I know they look like chocolate chip cookies – not scones.  But trust me – they have the scone texture with the chocolately deliciousness of cookies.   And they were super-duper simple to make – you could not get any easier than this recipe.  You basically mix everything together and drop on a baking sheet (you can also form into a rectangle and cut into triangles to get your typical scone shape).  Either way – they were the perfect pick me up in the morning before a long day at the office – or whip them up to treat your coworkers to something extra special! :)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
• Additional coarse sugar for sprinkling

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375˚ F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. 

2. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; stir to combine.  Toss in the chocolate chips and stir to blend. 

3. Add the heavy cream to the flour mixture, stirring just until a dough forms and the dry ingredients are incorporated.  Knead the dough very briefly with well floured hands to ensure even mixing.

4. Using a large dough scoop, drop rounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheet.  Brush lightly with melted butter and sprinkle with additional sugar.

5. Bake 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned.

Source: Annie’s Eats

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Peach Jam Scones

This is my weekly summer peach recipe – I added these to my baking list immediately after seeing them on so many blogs a few weeks ago as part of project pastry queen.  They looked so delicious – I had to try them right away.  I also made my own vanilla bean - peach jam last summer (pre-blog so no recipe to share!) and I still had a jar of it – that was perfect for this recipe.  

I made 2/3 of the original recipe and it still gave me 12 large scones!  I ended up freezing the 8 scones that I didn’t immediately cook – so I can make them for an easy breakfast treat anytime!  I’ve been freezing so many things lately, I feel like I need an second freezer just to keep up.   Enjoy!

Ingredients

(this is the full recipe – it will make HUGE scones – so it may be best to halve or make 2/3 of this recipe)

• 6 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup high quality peach jam
• 3 fresh peaches, pitted & sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (if baking immediately).

2. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process the flour, 1 cup of sugar, the baking powder and salt for about 30 seconds.

3. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and add it to the flour mixture. Pulse about 15 times, until the butter-flour mixture is crumbly.

4. With the processor running, slowly pour 1 1/2 cups buttermilk through the feed tube. Stop the processor as soon as the buttermilk has been added. If the dough has begun to stick together in a ball, remove it. Otherwise, add buttermilk one Tablespoon at a time and pulse until dough begins to clump up and form a ball.

5. Place the dough on a lightly floured flat surface. Pat dough into a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle, about 12×10 inches.

6. Spread a thin layer of jam length-wise over half the dough and arrange the peach slices in a single layer on top of the jam.

7. Fold the plain dough over the peaches making a 12 by 5-inch rectangle with the jam & peaches inside. Cut into 8-16 triangles and sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar.

8. Bake on an ungreased baking sheet for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

note: if freezing – shape and cut dough – then place on baking sheets in the freezer until solid frozen. Then store in freezer bags.  When ready to bake – preheat oven to 425 degrees F and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. 

Source: The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather, as seen on Delish

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