Friday, September 30, 2011

Lemon Scones

Last night I had the opportunity to do two things I absolutely adore: spending time with my sweet sister, Christina, and baking lemon scones. Lemon scones are kind of my "thing"-- there's just something delightful about a recipe that is so simple and satisfying.  The scones I remember from my youth were so dense they could have doubled as door stops, but these are light and fluffy with a fresh lemon flavor!

 The recipe below is one that I created as a hybrid of 3 different recipes when making a huge quantity of scones for Christina's baby shower about a year and a half ago. Last night, we got together to make six (yes, SIX) batches of lemon scones for her sister-in-law Carolyn's bridal shower. We had a great time, and got the six batches done in record time (especially considering that there was plenty of chatting and some wine sipping involved)!

 This is a ridiculously easy recipe that takes about 30 minutes from start to finish, including baking. And best of all, you probably already have most of the ingredients in your kitchen!

Recipe

Ingredients

Scones:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter , chilled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1.5-2 teaspoons fresh grated lemon peel
1 cup heavy cream

Glaze:
2/3 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice


Instructions


1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.


2. Place flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in large bowl and whisk together


3. Place the small butter pieces in the bowl of dry ingredients and "squish" the butter pieces into the dry ingredients. Continue until the butter is almost fully incorporated into the dry ingredients- a few small lumps are okay, but do your best to work the butter into the dry ingredients.


4. Stir in heavy cream and grated lemon peel with rubber spatula or fork until dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.


5. Transfer dough and all dry, floury bits to countertop and knead dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, slightly sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Press the dough into a long, thin rectangular shape. The dough should be about 1/2 inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into triangular-shaped wedges. Place wedges on ungreased baking sheet. I actually lined my baking sheet with parchment paper, which made clean up super easy.


6. Bake until scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes.


7. Mix together confectioner's sugar and lemon juice for the glaze.


8. Apply glaze to scones by either dipping the tops of the scones into the glaze or by spreading the glaze on the tops of the scones using a knife or small spatula/spreader.


9. Allow glaze to dry and enjoy!

Mixing up the dry ingredients

Mixing the dry and wet ingredients

Our little helper, Hudson, made sure he was present to supervise.

Voila! Glazed lemon scones!
Nom nom nom nom...

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