One way to pass time during a pandemic
Saturday morning, the first weekend of COVID lockdown, I decided to bake some scones. Turns out pandemics take a while to get through, and I've baked a lot of scones since then.
The first batch was ham / cheese / spinach... they were okay, but I've never gone back for a repeat effort.
The top three family favorites are probably date, orange / cranberry, and lemon / chocolate chip.
Instructions, which are just a slight variation of something I found on AllRecipes:
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Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C) and lightly grease a baking sheet.
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In a large bowl, combine:
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Flour, 3 cups
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Sugar, 1/4 cup
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Baking powder, 5 teaspoons
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Salt, 1/2 teaspoon
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Cut in 3/4 cup of butter. (I normally just use sticks straight out of the freezer and chop them into smaaaaall pieces.)
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(This is the fun bit, and where you can get creative. Add chopped dried fruit, lemon or orange zest, nuts, cheese, meats, whatever flavors float your boat.)
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Mix 1 egg and milk, 1 cup, in a small bowl then stir into the dry mixture until moistened.
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Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead it briefly. Roll it out into two disks, ~half an inch thick. Cut each disk into eight wedges, and place on baking sheet.
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Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.
Enjoy the scones, best fresh out of the oven and paired with Kenji's really good scrambled eggs...