Lindas Fantabulous Overnight Buttermilk Scones Food

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.

BUTTERMILK SCONES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the buttermilk, raisins and lemon peel until a soft dough forms. , Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead gently 5-6 times or until no longer sticky. On a lightly greased baking sheet, pat dough into a 5-in. circle about 3/4 in. thick. Score the top, making six wedges. , Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar; sprinkle over the top. Bake at 375° for 23-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to a wire rack. Break into wedges. Serve warm.

BUTTERMILK SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add butter and buttermilk; stir until a soft dough is formed.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press dough into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick and 4 inches wide. Cut into 8 even sized pieces.
• Place the scones on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

CHEF JOHN'S SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Whisk flour, white sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in butter with a knife or pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Stir together 1/2 cup milk, sour cream, and currants in a small bowl; stir into flour mixture with a fork until just moistened and holding together.
• Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and pat into rectangle.
• Fold the rectangle in thirds. Turn dough a half turn, gather any crumbs, flatten back into a rectangle, and repeat. Cut into eight pieces and place each scone on a silicone baking mat.
• Whisk egg and 1 tablespoon milk together in a small bowl; brush mixture on top of each scone.
• Bake scones in the preheated oven until risen and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove and transfer to cooling rack.

BASIC BUTTERMILK SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7/fan 200C. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl. Add the butter, cut into small pieces and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Tip in the buttermilk and mix lightly and quickly to form a soft dough. Knead very briefly, then roll out to 2cm thickness and cut into sixteen 5cm rounds.
• Put on a baking sheet (no need to grease) a little apart, and bake for 12-15 minutes, until risen and pale golden.

BUTTERMILK SCONES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Put the flour, salt and butter into a food processor and pulse until you can't feel any lumps of butter (or rub in butter with fingers). Pulse in the sugar.
• Gently warm the buttermilk (don't throw away the pot) and vanilla in a microwave or pan. Using your largest bowl, quickly tip in some of the flour mix, followed by some of the buttermilk mix, repeating until everything is in the bowl. Use a knife to quickly mix together to form a dough - don't over-mix it.
• Tip onto a floured surface and lightly bring together with your hands a couple of times. Press out gently to about 4cm thick and stamp out rounds with a 6cm or 7cm cutter. Re-shape trimmings, until all the dough is used. Spread out on a lightly floured baking sheet or two. Add a splash of milk into the buttermilk pot, then use to glaze the top of each scone. Bake for 10-12 mins until golden and well risen.

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.

LINDA'S FANTABULOUS OVERNIGHT BUTTERMILK SCONES

Steps:

• Whiz flour, white sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in the food processor.
• Add the butter and shortening and pulse a few times to get pea sized chunks of fat.
• Add one cup of buttermilk and pulse about 5 times.
• At this time you may add 1/3 cup of add-ins such as rasins or chopped dates or what you like in any combination. Try not to add more than 1/2 cup of add-ins or the dough may not want to co-operate.
• Turn out onto a nonstick (such as a silpat) and very lightly floured surface, bring the dough together and form into a disc. Try not to handle too much. When your disc is formed it should be about 1 1/2 inches high.
• Cut into 8 pieces and place on a parchment lined half - sheet pan making sure they do not touch.
• Cover with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator overnight.
• In the morning: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• When the oven is hot, beat egg yolk and one tablespoon buttermilk together and brush tops of scones. Dust with a little superfine sugar if you like.
• Bake for about 15 minutes. This is a convection bake time so you may need to add a minute or two for a conventional oven.
• I won't put the endless combinations of add-ins here but you get the idea - add what you like and enjoy!
• Honey butter: one cup of butter and 1/4 cup of your favorite honey mixed well and spread on a warm scone is yummy. I also use this on my Yankee corn bread. For honey butter variations you can skip the honey and add in fruit preserves for something different. Apricot or Lemon marmalade are super.

BUTTERMILK SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl. Add butter and mix with your fingertips to a coarse meal. Add buttermilk and mix just until combined. Add currants, if desired.
• Transfer dough to a floured board and divide into 2 parts. Roll each to 3/4 inch thick rounds. Cut each round into 8 wedges and place slightly separated on a greased baking sheet. Brush the tops with the cream, and bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve warm, split in half with butter and marmalade.

THE BEST SCONES RECIPE

Steps:

• Dry ingredients: In a large bowl, combine 2 and 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar**, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 and 1/2 tablespoons baking powder.
• Wet ingredients: In another medium bowl, add 1 egg, 2 teaspoons vanilla (omit for savory scones), 1/3 cup cream and 1/3 cup sour cream. Whisk it together. Set aside.
• Cut in butter: Now back to the dry ingredients. Use a pastry cutter to cut in the COLD or frozen butter. You can also grate the butter using a cheese grater and mix it in that way. Cut the butter in until it is incorporated and there are still pieces of butter about the size of a pea. Don't overdo it! See photos.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon to stir it together until it forms a shaggy dough.
• Coat your hands with flour and finish kneading the dough in as few strokes as possible. (Overworking the dough makes for a tough scone.) Use your hands to fold the dough on top of itself, creating more and more layers until it has come together and all the flour is incorporated. You can add a tablespoon or two of ice cold water if you think it's necessary. I try to get the dough to come together in 5-8 folds. Do your best and remember that you will get better with practice!
• Mix-ins: At this point add in any mix ins you plan to use. (If you want to add cream cheese like you can see in the photos, chop an 8 ounce block of cream cheese into 1/2 inch chunks. Coat with 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl, making sure all the cream cheese is coated. Carefully fold into the dough.)
• Prepare a work space with plenty of flour. I like to use a pastry cloth. Transfer the dough to the work place and use your hands to shape the dough into a 6 to 8 inch circle. I like really thick, tall scones. The thicker your circle of dough is, the taller your scones will be. If you added mix ins, your circle will be a bit larger.
• Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut the circle in half. Cut each half into 3 equal triangles.
• Place on a baking sheet that has been lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Place the scones at least 3 inches apart from each other.
• Freeze for 30 minutes.*** If you don't have room in your freezer, you can put them in the fridge for 45 minutes. If you don't have room to chill a whole baking sheet, place the scones on a plate and then transfer to the baking sheet when they are frozen/cold.
• 15 minutes before the scones are done freezing, turn your oven on to 400 degrees F.
• Place the cold scones on a baking sheet if you haven't done so yet.
• Brush the top of each scone with cream. This will make the scones get nice and brown. Top each scone with coarse sugar if you like, or a bit of salt if you are doing savory scones.
• Bake: Put the scones in the oven and bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.
• Turn the heat down to 375 without opening the oven.**** Bake for another 8-15 minutes, until the tops are golden brown. DO NOT OVER BAKE. This is where the magic happens, so stay nearby. If you over bake your scones, they will be dry even if you did everything else right. If you are not sure, use a spatula to lift up one of the scones. If they are a nice golden brown on the bottom, they are done.
• Remove from the oven and let set up on the pan for 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Make the glaze: in a small bowl, whisk or use an electric beater to cream 2 tablespoons of very soft butter. Add 1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 tablespoon milk. Whisk together and add more milk until you have a consistency you like. Drizzle over the tops of the scones and let harden (it usually takes 20-30 minutes.)
• Top your scones with butter and jam! They are great reheated in the microwave.
• Store scones covered on the counter for 2-4 days. They are best eaten on day 1 so that you can get those crispy edges. After storing for a while it's hard to avoid a bit of sogginess. (Starbucks solves this problem but leaving them out in the air, but then eventually the center gets dried out. So, pick your poison. Or just eat all 6 scones single handedly on day 1. No judgment here.)

BEST BUTTERMILK RAISIN SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• In large bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt.
• Cut in margarine with pastry cutter till crumbly.
• Add buttermilk and raisins and mix. Batter should be stiff but not dry.
• Drop by large rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle tops of scones with sugar.
• Bake 15 minutes till golden brown.
• Serve with strawberry jam and devonshire cream.
• Recipe may be doubled.