When I want something for breakfast, but not the same old thing I have during the week (which is sometimes NOTHING), these scones are quick and easy to whip up on a weekend when you want to make your morning a little more special and take some extra time with your coffee to linger and relax!
My roommate from graduate school would make these and I would get these wafting aromas from the kitchen of warm bread in the oven and buttery goodness. I jotted down her recipe, which I have been using since then (25 years and counting!) but I don’t know what her original source was.
Her recipe called for a 1/3 cup of butter (which is 5-1/3 TBSP) so I have rounded up the amount to 6 TBSP. The basic recipe is as seen below, then I have added a few optional ingredients. Really, the possibilities are endless. Berries, almonds, apples, lemon zest, the list goes on and is as big as your imagination!
Normally, I make the basic recipe and add currants or raisins, but this time I added the cinnamon which adds a nice warmth of flavor, subtle and not overpowering but you know it’s there. I have not made many variations just for the mere fact that they are so good when keeping to the original recipe. These freeze really well too so you can have this special goodness for many weekends to come!
simple and easy to make, these are delicious with some butter and jelly on their own or make a nice addition to a full-on english style breakfast.
- 6 TBSP unsalted butter, room temp
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 TBSP baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 TBSP sugar
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup milk (I used half and half) almond, soy, buttermilk, whatever you have will work
- 1/2 cup currants or raisins more or less to your taste
- 1 tsp cinnamon
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Preheat oven to 425 deg. Line a cookie sheet pan with parchment paper.
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Using large mixing bowl, add butter, sliced into 1/2 TBSP slices or cubed which makes it easier to blend into flour
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Using a fork or pastry cutter, combine butter with all the dry ingredients until it has a pebbly texture. If there are visible balls of butter, this is OK.
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Add the cinnamon and currants to the dry ingredients, if using.
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Mix the egg and milk together in a separate bowl until combined.
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Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the milk/egg mixture.
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Using a fork, start pulling the flour mixture into the egg mixture turning the bowl as you go until a dough forms. Toward the end, use your hands to combine completely or pour onto a floured counter surface to completely blend. Knead a few more times to fully incorporate to form a ball of dough.
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You can use a cookie cutter or do free form shaped scones. For today’s version I used a round 3″ scalloped edge cutter.
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Cookie-cutter version: Using your hands press dough until it is about 1/2 thick. Use the cookie cutter to cut out the shapes. I get about 6 from the first round, then I repeat and get another 4, then I free-formed the last two into a ball and pressed into flat disks.
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Free-form version: You can divide dough in half, make two disks and divide each into 6 triangles.
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Place on the lined sheet pan, about 1-2″ apart, bake for 12-15 min until golden brown.
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Let cool on pan, but not for too long, as these are so delicious when warm with a gentle slather of butter and a dollop of jelly.
- these freeze very well, place in air-tight container or in plastic bag
- delicious eaten fresh out of the oven but equally amazing when toasted the next day
