Scones

English scones are something I have started to enjoy making. The first time I made them a long time ago, they turned out like rocks. I later found out that one should not overwork the dough while making scones. If the dough is overworked, the scones become hard and tough. This is the kind of baking that I love - simple ingredients, minimal kneading or mixing.

I once made them early morning. Woke up on a weekend to find that we didn't have any bread, and no eggs for pancakes and I was in no mood to roll Roshi. So scones were the one that popped into my head. So had a breakfast of warm scones and jam.

The first step is rubbing the butter into the flour. The recipe I found in Delia Smith's website used self-raising flour and since I didn't have any I used flour and some baking powder. After sifting both ingredients, the butter is rubbed into the flour the fingertips. I used to love doing this when I was small when I first tried making pastry.  The end result will look like breadcrumbs or something like it.

Mix in sugar and then the milk is added a little at a time. I used a small metal spoon to mix in and once it starts to come together, I used my hand to make a ball. A rough ball, not a smooth dough.

Then flour a work surface or board, lightly flour. Then roll out the dough. According to Delia Smith, you have to roll it gently not like put your whole weight on the rolling pin kind of rolling.

 I rolled till about half-inch thick then since I didn't have a pastry cutter I used a simple drinking glass to cut the scones out.

The scraps can be put back together gently and again used to cut more scones. This is a small amount, made about 8 scones, enough for the boys to enjoy in the late afternoon.

Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper or a light butter baking sheet if you don't have any baking paper.  Brush with some lightly beaten egg to give a nice golden color. It looks nice even without it even so if you don't have any eggs when making, just leave that step out and pop into the oven.

Bake in a preheated oven at 220 Degrees C for 20 minutes. For me, it took around that much time for the scones to be lightly golden. So timing really depends on the type of oven you have.

Recipe from Delia Smith's website.

Yield: 8 scones

Author: Nammi

Scones

prep time: 20 mins cook time: 20 mins total time: 40 mins

ingredients:

• 225g Plain flour 
• 1 level teaspoon of baking powder
• 40g butter
• 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
• pinch of salt
• 125ml milk
• 1 egg  (optional)

instructions:

How to cook Scones

1. Preheat oven to  220 degree C. 
2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.
3. Add butter, cut into cubes. Using your fingertips,  rub the butter into the flour ,  until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
4. Add milk, a little at a time. Use a spoon to mix it in. You can see it coming together. Once it starts to clump up, stop adding the milk.  
5. Now using the hands bring the mixture into a rough ball. If you feel its too dry, add a little more milk. 
6. DO NOT OVER KNEAD.  Just mix until you have a nice ball.
7. Dust a work surface with a little flour and roll the dough gently into about 1/2  inch thickness. 
8. Using a regular drinking glass, dip it in dry flour and press down onto the dough. 
9. Place each cutout disc onto a buttered baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with baking paper. 
10. With the remaining scraps, bring it to gether to the centre of te work surface. And make a rough ball and roll again. Try not to add flour when rolling as it will make the dough tougher.  Cut more scones. 
11. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes. 
12. Serve warm with jam and a nice hot cup of tea.

Created using The Recipes Generator