Scones

::Scones::

(Original Recipe, with changes I made in Notes below)

2 cups flour

1 T baking powder

2 T sugar

1/2 t salt

6 T butter

1/2 cup buttermilk

lightly beaten egg

Mix dry ingredients.  Cut in cold butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.  Make a well in the center and pour in buttermilk.  If you don't have buttermilk, use regular milk.  Mix until dough clings together and is a bit sticky- do not overmix.  Turn out dough onto a floured surface and shape into a 6-8 inch round about 1 1/2 inches thick.  Quickly cut into pie wedges or use a large round biscuit cutter to cut circles.  The secret of tender scones is a minimum of handling.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet, being sure the sides of the scones don't touch each other.  Brush with egg for a shiny, beautiful brown scone.  Bake at 435 degrees F for 10-20 minutes, or until light brown.

Notes:

- To make buttermilk, take 1 cup of regular milk and stir in 1 T lemon juice- I use 1% milk

- Dried fruit and nuts can be added to the mixture before adding the buttermilk.  I used toasted hazelnuts and dried cranberries in mine.

- Instead of the white flour, I used 7/8 cup of wheat flour per 1 cup of white flour.  Since wheat flour makes for a denser product, I sifted the flour twice after measuring it out, and I added a bit of baking powder (probably about 1/4-1/3 teaspoon).  I have heard that you can also purchase whole wheat pastry flour, which is lighter as far as density.

- I am still trying to think of a substitute for at least part of the butter, but because it needs to be solid, I haven't thought of something yet.