Honey Scones

Photo: flickr user danoxster

Ingredients

cup Flour Unbleached

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

2 teaspoons Cream Of Tartar

Salt To Taste

4 tablespoons Butter (½ Stick)

cup Milk

cup orange juice

2 tablespoons honey

zest of one lemon

1 tablespoon chopped walnuts

Preparation

I have a wonderful scone recipe that came from a book titled "From Celtic Hearths" by Deborah Krasner. It was a Christmas gift about 10 years ago and I have used it OVER and OVER again. The author credits the recipe to "Scottish Cookery" by Catherine Brown Glenfiddich. The recipe below is for Sweet Milk Scones which I basically use as a starting point and then add whatever we are in the mood for. Most often we eat Parsley and Onion Honey Scones - Using the basic recipe for Sweet Milk Scones, substitute 1/4 Cup orange juice and 1/2 Cup milk for the 3/4 Cup milk, and add 2 Tablespoons honey, the grated zest of 1 lemon, and 1 Tablespoon chopped walnuts to the dough before rolling it out.

Preheat oven to 450F. Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside. Sift together the flour, soda, cream of tartar and salt. Using a pastry blender or your hands, cut in the butter (or pulse in a food processor) until the mixture looks like coarse, grainy crumbs.

Pour the milk in a well in the center and mix until a soft elastic dough is formed. Knead the dough lightly on a floured surface until smooth. Roll or press the dough out until it is 3/4 inch thick. (If the dough is too thin the scone won't rise properly.)

Cut into 2 1/2 or 3-inch rounds with a cookie cutter or a glass and bake on prepared sheet for about 10 minutes or until they rise and are golden.

The book lists the yield as 8 scones, I usually get 10 or 12 using the full 3 cups of flour.

To make parsley and onion scones add about 2 Tablespoons dried minced onion and 1 or 2 Tablespoons dried parsley flakes with the dry ingredients. These amounts are VERY approximate, I used to measure but now I just dump in the onion flakes and parsley until it looks "right".

There are other variations listed in the with the recipe, if there is an interest I can post the variations listed for things like honey, jam, fruit etc.