From the age of 24 until about 28, whenever I was hungover I would wake up with a burst of denial fueled energy, bake a tray of scones, start to feel the consequences of the night before, go back to sleep, and wake up a second time feeling much better and ready to eat a scone.
I tried all sorts of flavors - blueberry lemon, earl grey, dark chocolate cherry, garlic scapes, maple bacon… the savory ones are my favorites!
A small farm stand in Maine reminded me how much I love fresh scones. As far as baking goes, they’re very easy to make and customize. This recipe uses chives and green onion - I didn’t have enough of either so I ended up adding 2 tablespoons of diced arugula and it was a great peppery addition.
Half-baked opinion: I think biscuits and scones are basically the same thing just treated differently. I could probably call these biscuits but because they have things mixed in and are not deliberately layered, I call them scones.
You’ll need
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon of your favorite every day seasoning blend - like a garlic salt + pepper blend. Trader Joe’s Onion Salt works great. I used Penzey’s Shallot Pepper seasoning.
8 tablespoons of butter (1 stick), frozen for at least 10 minutes
2/3 cup heavy cream, + 1 tablespoon for brushing
1 egg, yolk and white will be separated
1 cup freshly grated white cheddar - I like using a really sharp one!
2 tablespoons diced chives
2 tablespoons diced green onion
1 small jalapeño, finely diced, about 2 tablespoons
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. If your butter has not been sitting in the freezer, toss it in their for 10 minutes. While you wait - mise en place - collect, measure, and chop your ingredients.
Add flour, sugar, baking powder, and seasoning blend to a large mixing bowl and whisk. Using the largest size of a box grater, grate your stick of butter (this only works well if you’ve frozen it). Use your hands to mix and press the butter into the flour, you should reach a wet sand crumbly texture.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg YOLK and heavy cream. Keep the egg white in a small bowl for later.
Add in the heavy cream + egg yolk mix, chives, scallions, cheddar, jalapeño. Use a fork to mix, once the milk is mixed into the flour use your hands to start pressing it together gently. If the dough is wet, add a tablespoon of flour. This is a dry dough - it should be shaggy!
For round scones, grab about a cup of dough and form it into a mound. It should hold on its own - let it stay a bit shaggy, avoid the urge to knead it into a homogenous ball. For triangle shaped scones, gently roll the dough onto a clean flat surface and work it into a disk about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut that into 6 slices.
Place your scones on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. They should have a couple inches of space between them.
Whisk the egg whites with a tablespoon of heavy cream. Brush this egg wash on top of each scone, this helps it get that beautiful golden color on top!
Bake for 18-25 minutes. It will depend on the size of your scones! If you’ve made 5 or 6, it will take closer to 25 minutes. If you’ve made 8 or more smaller scones, it will take about 18. They should be golden brown and look dry/ baked around the edges.
Remove from the oven! Serve fresh with salted butter. These are great with soft scrambled eggs, sausage, and a bowl of fruit.
