Tasty Scones

I went to a baby shower this evening; they asked us to bring a dessert. I have some blackberries in my freezer that I've been meaning to use, so I decided to make some scones. They were delicious! And they were no more difficult than biscuits or cookies! In the process of finding a recipe for the scones, I discovered this wonderful site, The Joy of Baking, which in addition to having a whole mess of yummy-looking scone recipes, had some general tips on making scones, along with a whole lot of yummy-looking pictures. So they turned out delicious on the first try, which is always nice. Turns out that scones need similar treatment to pie crust: don't over mix; don't over handle. But that's not too hard to do. We did skirt disaster when I forgot to put the butter in. Fortunately, although I put in the berries and chocolate, I hadn't put in the wet ingredients yet, so I just fished out the berries and most of the chocolate, did the butter, and continued on my merry way. The scones were just fine. My scones were based on the Raspberry Chocolate Scones, but of course I can't make it according to the recipe like to be creative, so I'll post what I actually did:

Lemon Chocolate Blackberry Scones
2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

2 ounces plain dark chocolate chunks (about 1/2 cup) (This is a little less than the 3.5 ounce bars I found. Don't worry: I took care of the "extra" chocolate.)

3/4 cup fresh or frozen blackberries

1/2 cup yoplait original lemon yogurt

1 1/2 t pure vanilla extract

1 small slosh lemon extract. (Sorry, that's what I did. It wasn't very much. It should have been more, because they didn't come out very lemony.)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Egg mixture for brushing tops of scones:

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 tbs 2% milk

If you're using frozen blackberries, put them in a single layer on a plate, sandwiched between two layers of paper towel to thaw on the counter for a bit before you actually start cooking. The towels will help absorb any extra liquid as they thaw. When I do this I always end up with berries as beautiful as they were before they were frozen. Unfortunately my photo didn't turn out at all.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pull out your pizza stone and enjoy the fact that it requires no special preparations. Or, if you don't have one, the original recipe called for a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. These things did stick a bit, even on a pizza stone, so don't skip the paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chunks (chips) and raspberries. In a small measuring cup whisk together the yogurt, vanilla extract, and egg. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently four or five times. (My dough wasn't even fully mixed when I moved to this step because it wasn't wanting to come together in the bowl, but it did nicely on the counter, without mashing my berries too much.) Pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round (a little bigger than my hand with the fingers somewhat stretched out) and about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut the dough into eight triangles, like the wedges of a pie. Place the scones on the baking sheet. Make an egg wash of one well-beaten egg mixed with 1 tablespoon milk and brush the tops of the scones with this mixture.

Bake for about 16 to 18 minutes (this is less than the original recipe, but they looked almost too brown anyway) or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and then turn your broiler on high. Sprinkle confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar over the tops of the scones and place them under the broiler. Don't let it get too thick, dab it out with a finger to break up any clumps and spread it out a bit. Broil for just a few seconds, turning the pan as necessary, until the sugar has melted and turns golden brown. Make sure to watch the scones carefully as the sugar will burn very quickly. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.



You remember the part where I said that I couldn't follow a recipe like to be creative? Well, the other half of my scones were a bit different, though mostly the same:

Chocolate Mint Blackberry Scones
2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

2 ounces dark chocolate Mintchunks (about 1/2 cup) (I took care of the "extra" chocolate here too. It was yummy!!)

3/4 cup fresh or frozen blackberries

1/2 cup yoplait original vanilla yogurt

1 1/2 t pure vanilla extract

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Egg mixture for brushing tops of scones:

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 tbs 2% milk

Make the same way you would the first recipe.