raspberry scone recipe

whitney made these scones for me while i was visiting her in norman, oklahoma a couple weekends ago. they were heavenly! i made them this morning for breakfast, since wednesdays are jason's day off. again, there were heavenly! they are so yummy, in fact, that i decided you all needed this recipe to try for yourself.

they even got jason's stamp of approval... which is definitely a feat for me to manage from my super-picky husband! :-)

i halved the recipe, since i didn't know if jason would like it or not, but if you make the whole batch, you could save some scones to eat for a quick treat with coffee in the morning.

i also used raspberry preserves, but you could use any flavor you'd like. the chunkier the better!

Raspberry Mega Scones Recipe

This particular scone recipe lends itself to endless combinations. I used raspberry jam (or preserves) here because of its color and flavor, but use whatever you have on hand - the chunkier the better. If you can't be bothered with making the glaze, just sprinkle some coarse raw sugar over the scone before baking, after brushing with a bit of cream.

Ingredients:

4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or unbleached all-purpose flour)

3 tablespoons aluminum-free baking powder

1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt (or regular salt)

1 stick unsalted butter (4 oz), chilled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups half-and-half (or you can also use heavy cream or whole milk)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (i added a little extra vanilla)

zest of one lemon

2/3 cup raspberry preserve (or preserves of your choice)

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

zest of one lemon

preheat oven to 375. line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. using a food processor, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles little pebbles in a beach of sandy flour (about 20 quick pulses). you can also cut the butter in using a knife and fork. pulse in the sugar. now add the half-and-half, vanilla extract, and lemon zest. pulse (or mix) until dough just comes together - don't over mix, but if the batter is too dry, add more cream a bit at a time.

turn out onto a floured piece of parchment paper or Silpat mat, divide into two equal sized pieces of dough and set aside. (if you are halving this recipe, you will only be making one mega scone, so you won't need to divide the dough.) take the first piece of dough and roll-out into (roughly) a 9x9-inch square, 1/2-inch thick. you want to keep the dough from sticking to the mat/paper if possible, so sprinkle with more flour, if needed. slather the slab of dough with the jam/preserves and fold the left side of the dough in toward the center. (to discourage the dough from breaking or falling apart, i fold it in by folding the Silpat in and then peeling the Silpat back, afterwards.) fold the other side in using the same technique (if i'm not making sense, see the photo above). slide onto prepared baking sheet. repeat with the other piece of dough. the two scones will fit on one baking sheet, but give them a few inches between each other so they don't bake into one another. brush with a bit of cream (optional), and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden where the scones touch the pan.

while the scones are baking, prepare the glaze. combine the powdered sugar, lemon juices and lemon zest in a small bowl. stir until well combined, and set aside. when the scones come out of the oven, brush them generously with the glaze and let cool. slice into pieces as big or small as you like.

enjoy! (goes great with your favorite coffee or hot tea.)

makes two mega scones.

from heidi swanson at 101cookbooks.com