I have a love/hate relationship with scones. Most of the scones I tried were tough and tasteless, essentially food hockey puts. Needless to say, I didn’t like them.
But I really, really wanted to love them. The romantic notion of afternoon teas with scones and devonshire cream kept me searching for that elusive tender scone I dreamt about. On a trip to Washington DC with a friend, I found them at our hotel coffee shop—a tender, moist blueberry scone. I ate one every morning.
But the dream ended when I couldn’t find another shop or bakery with a decent imitation. I held tight to my memories of those lovely scones and moved on. One day I went to one of my favorite blogs, Circle-B Kitchen, and found myself staring at the most beautiful scone ever.
They looked so luscious and I immediately bookmarked the page. I frequently revisited the page to admire them but was hesitant to whip up a batch, worried they wouldn’t live up to their gorgeous picture. Finally I tried them and instantly berated myself for not making them sooner.
They are amazing. Light as a feather with a rich distinctive buttermilk flavor. They are great on their own and over the top with a scoop of strawberry rhubarb jam.
Buttermilk Scones
Recipe from Circle B Kitchen
Ingredients:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, very cold and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 cup buttermilk (or more if needed)
- 1/4 cup each buttermilk and raw sugar for finishing
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Put dry ingredients in food processor, pulse to mix or in a medium bowl and whisk together.
- Add butter, pulse until butter is in pieces about the size of a hazelnut or cut in butter until the size of a hazelnut.
- Dump into a mixing bowl. Pour in buttermilk and mix with a fork until a shaggy mass forms. Add a little more buttermilk if need to bring the dough together. Cut in half.
- Form each half into a disk about 1 1/2 inches high, and cut into 8ths.
- Place on a parchment lined sheet pan and freeze for 20 minutes.
- Remove from freezer, brush tops with a little buttermilk and sprinkle liberally with the raw sugar.
- Bake for about 12 minutes. Cool slightly on wire racks and serve warm.
Special Notes:
I admit that I forgot to put these in the freezer and they still turned out awesome! They taste best warm from the oven.
Enjoy!
Tanya
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