Scones!! (have no fear)

I've never had a good scone. 

Dry and crumbly; they make me think the bakery scraped their board off into

triangle portions to trick us into paying $3.25 for it's equivalent of spam.   

Until this week.

I had clipped a recipe from Southern Living from December 2010 promising

"Easy and Irrestible Scones".

The recipe had a basic recipe with 4 sweet variations.  The subtext said that

"a buttery-rich scone is nothing more than a glorified biscuit". 

What?  Well, what were those things in the lit cabinets then? 

I guess they are doorstops, b/c I haven't found a better use for them.

So, my friends, let me heartily recommend this recipe to you, as foolproof.  Proven by a fool.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/ 2 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes

1 cup whipping cream

(this variation includes dried cherries and dark chocolate- meticulously measured)

(um... grabbed by the handful)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt in a large bowl.  Cut butter into mixture with a pastry blender until crumbly and resembles small peas.  Freeze bowl and contents for 5 minutes.  Add most of cream and stir just until the mixture is completely moistened.

Note:  I added a little extra cream to make sure it was cohesive

 and easy to work with- I don't like "shaggy" dough. 

Turn dough out on a non-stick surface (wax paper, cutting board, countertop...whatever)

Pat into a smallish circle, about the size of a pie pan, and cut into 8 wedges. 

Place them a little apart on a cookie sheet, and brush with any remaining cream.

Add a little turbinado sugar if you like the bling. 

Bake for 13-15 minutes at 450 until golden. 

Convice your husband not to leave well enough alone. 

 He will whip out the immersion blender and take cream, powdered sugar, vanilla,

 and beat into a frothy frenzy.

Congratulate him on his initiative.  Offer to be a taster.

PS.  The other 3 variations? 

• Dried apricot and crystallized ginger (yes, it is awesome),
• cranberry and pistachio, 
• brown sugar and pecan

Meticulously measured of course.