Buttery Scone Ring Food

SCONE RECIPE: THE BEST SCONES EVER

Steps:

• Kick the tires & light the fires to 350 degrees.
• Take your bowl with your cup of sour cream, and mix in the baking soda.
• Whisk together the flour, sugar,baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.
• Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or two knives in a criss-cross fashion, until the butter is broken into pea sized morsels in the flour.
• Beat the egg and mix in into the sour cream.
• Add the sour cream mixture into the dry mixture, working it in.
• The dough can be a bit dry, but if you use your hands to combine it, it will be perfect. If needed add milk until it's combined. The secret to a good scone is a drier dough, not gluey.
• When the dough is combined, mix in the fruit. I fold in delicate berries by hand.
• Divide into three equal circles, patting each into a circle that is one inch thick (width ranges from 6-7 inches). Cut each circle into six equal triangles.
• Bake on a well greased or parchment lined baking sheet for 15-20 minutes, until the scones are browned nicely on the bottom and slightly on the top. Watch them carefully!
• Serve and enjoy!

ULTRA-BUTTERY IRISH SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Whisk milk, granulated sugar, and kosher salt in a medium bowl until sugar and salt dissolve. Whisk flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Cut 10 Tbsp. butter into 1/2" cubes, add to flour mixture, and blend with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until pea-size pieces form with some larger chunks remaining. Add milk mixture and stir with a fork until large clumps form. Gently knead in the bowl until dough just comes together. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface.
• With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out dough to a 14x8" rectangle, with long side facing you. Heat 2 Tbsp. butter in a small, microwave-proof bowl in the microwave until softened but not melted, about 20 seconds. Spread evenly over dough with fingertips, then sprinkle currants evenly on top and press to adhere. Fold up bottom third of dough over center, then fold down top third to meet bottom edge, as if folding a letter. Fold in half crosswise, then, using a rolling pin, gently flatten into an 8x4" rectangle.
• Cut dough in half lengthwise and in quarters crosswise to form 8 even squares. Transfer to prepared pan, spacing 2" apart. Sprinkle tops generously with demerara sugar and lightly with flaky sea salt.
• Bake until scones are golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Meanwhile, melt remaining 4 Tbsp. butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. When butter bubbles, remove from heat and skim off foam from surface. As soon as the scones come out of the oven, lightly brush tops with clarified butter, leaving behind white solids in bottom of saucepan. Cool scones on sheet on a wire rack and serve hot, warm, or room temperature.

THE BEST SCONES

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Whisk the cream, egg and milk powder in a liquid measuring cup. Pulse the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor until combined. Add the butter and pulse only until pea-size pieces remain. Transfer to a large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and mix with a fork, incorporating the dry ingredients a little at a time until a shaggy dough forms (it's okay if the dough looks a little dry, just don't overwork it). Lightly knead the dough in the bowl until it just comes together.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a 1-inch-thick rectangle (about 9 by 7 inches). Cut in half lengthwise, then cut in half again crosswise; you should have 4 equal rectangles. Cut each piece in half from corner to corner making 8 triangular wedges. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and freeze for 10 minutes.
• Brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Bake the scones until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool for 15 more minutes. Serve warm with softened butter and jam.

SCONES WITH HONEY BUTTER

Steps:

• For the buttermilk and honey butter: combine the first 4 ingredients in a food processor and turn on high. The liquid will slosh, whip, and then separate after 4 minutes. When the mixture separates, stop processing and strain out the buttermilk--there should be exactly 3/4 cup, which is what you need for the scones. Strain out the butter and squeeze dry.
• For the scones: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• In a food processor bowl add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Add cold butter cubes and pulse until you have a texture of coarse bread crumbs.
• Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Toss berries (which have been washed and dried thoroughly) in a small amount of flour and add them to the mixture.
• Add the buttermilk and either toss with a fork or fold with a spatula to incorporate the berries without smashing them. Mix to combine, but don't over mix.
• Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Using a pastry brush, paint the tops of each scone lightly with buttermilk or a bit of milk and sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake until golden brown, and nice and puffy, about 10-15 minutes.
• Serve warm with orange honey butter.
• Notes: if you are making a scone with juice, add that after you do the buttermilk step. When I use fresh fruit juice, I don't put any sugar in the dough recipe because I think it makes it too sweet. You want to stick with small to medium scones here. Large ones will be too dark outside and under cooked inside.