A Scone...A What?

Friends,

Let me invite you into the kitchen for another adventure in baking. In case you are not familar with a scone, a scone is a harder, drier biscuit like baked good. For a quick history lesson...you might be interested to know that scones were probably created in Scotland. When they were first made though, the ingredients were slightly different than the ones pictures below. Scones were originally an unleaven bread made with oats and put on the griddle (much like our stoves today).

As you can see, today we don't use oats...we use flour and leavening. The scones I made included dried cranberries. You can add lots of things to scones...Almonds, anyone? Blueberries? How about some chocolate chips? (Is your mouth watering yet?)

One of my favorite parts of baking scones is cutting the butter into the flour mixture. Normally you use a pastry cutter, but I didn't have one those today. So, a potato masher was my substitute...It worked out well :)

They look slightly like pizza slices, don't they? Scones come in all shapes and sizes.

They are beautiful and oh, so good out of the oven. I love that they aren't too sweet, so I don't feel guilty eating more than one...maybe three...or four :)
Here is a great starter recipe...add your favorite star ingredient and enjoy!

Buttermilk Scones
-Combine:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
-Cut 6 Tablespoons of chilled butter into the flour mixture.
-In a separate bowl combine:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
-Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Stir well (I use a big wooden spoon to mix).
-Add any additional yummy things that you would like: chocolate chips, almonds, cranberries, blueberries, etc. (add about 2/3 cup or however much looks good to you).
-Flour your hands. Pat dough into a 1" circle. Cut into 8 wedges and arrange on an ungreased cookie sheet.
-Bake at 325 for about 20 mintues or until the top is slightly browned. Cool on rack.
Makes 8 big scones.