I am a beginner baker and wanted to try making scones. Though the project seemed a little daunting at first, I ended up with a really good result. I used The Joy of Baking recipe because it promised to be easy. It is really customizable, and I was proud that on my first time around I was able to make two different versions of it.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 1¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- ½ cup semi-sweet, bittersweet, or milk chocolate chips or other mix-ins
- ½ cup dried cherries or cranberries or other dried fruit
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup cold buttermilk (I used ⅔ cup milk and 1 teaspoon white vinegar instead)
I started my scone-making journey by putting together all the dry ingredients in a bowl. This included the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Then I cut up cold butter into very small pieces and put it in the bowl. I used a pastry cutter (image #3) to then cut the butter into even smaller bits while mixing the butter into the dry ingredients. The butter was the hardest part of the scone-making process and that is because you want the butter to still be cold when the dough is placed in the oven. The butter needs to be cold because when the dough cooks it creates little air pockets so the scones are light.
I then poured the buttermilk and vanilla into the mixture. I did not have buttermilk, so my mother suggested replacing it with ⅔ of milk and a teaspoon of white vinegar, which worked just fine. Then I added the chocolate chips, laid the dough out, and cut it into eight sections.
I also added raspberries and blueberries to some of the scones for fun to see if it would work. Lastly, I laid the scones on a pan and sprinkled sparkling sugar on top. I know that there are special pans for baking scones, but I just used a regular sheet pan with good results.
The scones bake for about 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees or until lightly golden brown. Of course, my alarm that I set did not go off so they baked for 3 extra minutes, but not to worry, they were still fine.
I think the addition of the raspberries and blueberries was very nice. The recipe is adaptable, so you can customize the flavor of your scones in all sorts of ways. The flavor was sweet but not too sweet because of the salt added in the mixture.
All in all, I recommend making your own scones at home because they are the best I’ve ever had. Seriously, It was quite an eye-opening morning for me, knowing that I’ve made the best scone I’ve ever eaten. I am an amateur baker, so this is definitely a good recipe for beginners. I will definitely be making these scones again.
