I forgot how the subject of scones came up while at a beach house in Florida two weeks ago. but as soon as we got home I looked for recipes. Clayton’s
Complete Book of Breads, which is pretty old, had five of them but Yockelson had two nicer ones. From one, I tossed out the banana, substituted dried apricots and then goosed the coconut a bit. So here we have:
Scones
See Abbreviations, if needed
Yield: about 16 small pie-shaped scones or 8 big ones
2 1/2 C AP flour
2 3/4 t baking powder
1/4 t cream of tartar
1/2 t salt
1/3 C 10X sugar
6 T unsalted butter, cold and small cubed
2 large eggs
6 T heavy cream
1 t vanilla extract
1 C finely diced dried apricots
3/4 C semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 C sweetened coconut flakes
1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. In a large SSB, whisk together flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, salt and 10X
3. Add the cold cubed butter and cut it into the flour with a rounded dough blade or fork to
reduce the cubes into large pea-sized bits
4. In a smaller SSB, whisk eggs, cream and vanilla together
5. Empty the wet SSB into the dry SSB, add the diced apricots, chocolate chips and coconut
6. Fold and knead to form a dough (if too dry add a little more cream)
7. Turn out on floured surface and knead briefly
8. Roll out dough into a 9-10 inch disk and cut eight wedges with a chef’s knife
9. Transfer scones to a sheet pan, lined with a silicone pad or parchment paper
10. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes
11. Remove from the fridge and (optional) remove each wedge to a cutting board and
cut each wedge in two to make 16 scones
12. Return scones to sheet pan and bake at 400F for about 16 minutes (or about 12 minutes
convection). Scones are done when they start to brown and/or interior temp is +185F
Optional: Prior to baking, top each scone with a few chocolate chips or sprinkles
Note: Next time I make these, I will add the zest from one lemon. I think it would help.
Awhile back, our friends in Knoxville gave us a cocoa pot, complete with a fitted battery powered mixer. The idea being to toss in the cocoa powder, pour in the milk and then zap it with the mixer before and after heating it all in the microwave. It works.
Here is my peanut butter cookie with the addition of coconut flakes, which serve both as a binder and added texture surprise, and Hearth Bar bits in the cookie and on the top, along with one strategically placed peanut half. The coconut flakes are unsweetened but sweetened would be OK. (Since I prefer unsweetened coconut for all savory recipes there is always some in the pantry.) Whole Foods carries it.
Two dozen cookies on one rack baked in 18 minutes. That’s production! This is the third batch of cookies done in our Blue Star oven. We’ve found that the oven blower should be used and that the big sheet pan should be rotated half way through the baking cycle.