Now, even though I live in the Midsouth; the HOME of great biscuits, I can't made biscuits worth a darn. I'm a Yankee born and raised, and biscuit making isn't in our genes.
BUT... ah, can I make good scones. They have always been a lot of work, and normally I only go to the effort when I have fresh strawberries and heavy cream. Strawberry Shortcake is WORTH the effort.
Recently came across this recipe...and found it one of the fastest and easiest, and BEST I've tried. (and I season them with Orange Oil so that makes them suitable for an aromatherapy blog.)!)
You should own a food processor to make these. They are "do-able" with nothing but a grater, a bowl and a fork, but in the processor they are done faster than my oven can heat up.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and you might want to grease a cookie sheet while you are at it.
Then... with the grating blade of your food processor grate ONE 4 oz stick of FROZEN butter.
(Plan ahead...I always have butter in the freezer.)
Switch to the 'regular' blade and dump in
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Process these until you have a crumbly mess.
Break in one large egg
To 1/2 Cup sour cream add 4 drops of organic orange oil. Add to the processor bowl. (The original called for beating the egg and sour cream together, and adding the grated rind of one large orange. The changes I made work beautifully.)
Process "on and off" until well mixed. You will have a sticky mess on your hands.
Toss in 1/2 cup of raisins, or currants, or "Craisins" (dried cranberries) or dried Cherries (bliss!)
Pulse just two or three times to mix the dried fruit into the dough.
Scrape the contents onto a cutting board, form into a 7 or 8 inch circle that should be about 3/4 inch high. At this point you can sprinkle them with granulated sugar, raw sugar would be even better.
Cut into 8 wedges, place about an inch apart on that greased cookie sheet. Bake in the 400 degree oven for 15 to 17 minutes, until lightly golden. (Mine took 18 minutes.)
These were amazing. Hot with butter. I suspect they'd be very good cold, as well, but there were none left to get cold.
Other suggested combinations.
use Lemon Oil instead of the orange, and add dried blueberries.
Use Almond Flavoring with the dried cherries.
Use Vanilla Extract (one teaspoon?) and chocolate chips.
Please note, the 4 drops of Orange oil gave a subtle flavour, definitely not an "in your face" Orange taste. You could add another two drops..especially if using dried cranberries.
Whenever I go to my favorite bakery, I'm more apt to bring home a couple of scones to heat for breakfast or a bed time snack than some of their richer desserts. I can make a batch of 8 of these faster than I can drive to the bakery, and they surely don't cost $2.00 apiece!
BUT... ah, can I make good scones. They have always been a lot of work, and normally I only go to the effort when I have fresh strawberries and heavy cream. Strawberry Shortcake is WORTH the effort.
Recently came across this recipe...and found it one of the fastest and easiest, and BEST I've tried. (and I season them with Orange Oil so that makes them suitable for an aromatherapy blog.)!)
You should own a food processor to make these. They are "do-able" with nothing but a grater, a bowl and a fork, but in the processor they are done faster than my oven can heat up.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and you might want to grease a cookie sheet while you are at it.
Then... with the grating blade of your food processor grate ONE 4 oz stick of FROZEN butter.
(Plan ahead...I always have butter in the freezer.)
Switch to the 'regular' blade and dump in
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Process these until you have a crumbly mess.
Break in one large egg
To 1/2 Cup sour cream add 4 drops of organic orange oil. Add to the processor bowl. (The original called for beating the egg and sour cream together, and adding the grated rind of one large orange. The changes I made work beautifully.)
Process "on and off" until well mixed. You will have a sticky mess on your hands.
Toss in 1/2 cup of raisins, or currants, or "Craisins" (dried cranberries) or dried Cherries (bliss!)
Pulse just two or three times to mix the dried fruit into the dough.
Scrape the contents onto a cutting board, form into a 7 or 8 inch circle that should be about 3/4 inch high. At this point you can sprinkle them with granulated sugar, raw sugar would be even better.
Cut into 8 wedges, place about an inch apart on that greased cookie sheet. Bake in the 400 degree oven for 15 to 17 minutes, until lightly golden. (Mine took 18 minutes.)
These were amazing. Hot with butter. I suspect they'd be very good cold, as well, but there were none left to get cold.
Other suggested combinations.
use Lemon Oil instead of the orange, and add dried blueberries.
Use Almond Flavoring with the dried cherries.
Use Vanilla Extract (one teaspoon?) and chocolate chips.
Please note, the 4 drops of Orange oil gave a subtle flavour, definitely not an "in your face" Orange taste. You could add another two drops..especially if using dried cranberries.
Whenever I go to my favorite bakery, I'm more apt to bring home a couple of scones to heat for breakfast or a bed time snack than some of their richer desserts. I can make a batch of 8 of these faster than I can drive to the bakery, and they surely don't cost $2.00 apiece!
2 comments:
Oh man, these sound so delicious. I love making scones, and I am going to have to try this recipe. And wouldn't you know it, I have dried cranberries and organic orange EO lying around too. ;)
They are truly as good as any bakery storebought I've ever had. and, with the processor, SO easy and fast.
In theory, if you don't have a processor, you could grate the frozen butter with a coarse cheese grater, sift together the dry ingredients, work them together, beat together the egg and sour cream and orange eo.. and mix them with a fork or your hands.
But that's WORK. ;)
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