This weekend I visited my parents in Los Angeles and when I awoke Saturday morning, my amazing mom greeted me with these delicious scones and some Kenyan black tea. My mom, who has been making scones for 14 years in very large batches (think scone production for 500 people!) at her church, is quite a scone expert. She excitedly told me that she stumbled upon this new scone recipe from Cooks Illustrated that is even better than her previous one. How was that possible? She said the magazine correctly pointed out that American made scones resemble dry biscuits rather than the moist cake-like scones made across the pond.
After biting into one scone, I understood what she meant! This scone was incredibly rich,and yet the texture is soft and moist. Usually, I find traditional scone recipes to be very dry. These are the best scones I have ever had! My mom says what makes these scones unique is the following:
- Best tasting scone and best in appearance
- Moist, cake-like texture
- Easy to make using food processor. If you don’t have one, use the pastry cutter or your fingers!
- To maximize the rise of the scone, oven is first turned to 500 degrees and then lowered to 425 degrees just as you put the scones in to bake. This creates a condition known in baking as “oven spring”.
Scones are meant to be shared, especially delicious ones. So I asked my mom to share this recipe with you all and she kindly agreed. Enough about what makes these scones so delicious, here is the recipe:
British-Style Currant Scones: Makes 12 Scones
- 3 cups (15 oz.) all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (2 1/3 oz.) sugar
- 2 T. baking powder
- 1⁄2 t. salt
- 8 T unsalted butter (1 stick), cut into 1/2 – inch pieces and softened
- 3⁄4 cup dried currants
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 large eggs
1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees. Line rimmed baking
sheet with parchment paper. Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in food processor until
combined, about 5 pulses. Add butter and pulse until fully incorporated and mixture looks like
very fine crumbs with no visible butter, about 20 pulses. Transfer mixture to large bowl and stir
in currants.
2. Whisk milk and eggs together in second bowl. Set aside 2 T. milk mixture. Add remaining milk mixture to flour mixture and, using rubber spatula, fold together until almost no dry bits of flour remain.
3. Transfer dough to well-floured counter and gather into ball. With floured hands, knead until
surface is smooth and free of cracks, 25 to 30 times. Press gently to form disk. Using floured
rolling pin, roll disk into 9-inch round, about 1 inch thick. Using floured 2 1/2 –inch round cutter,
stamp out 8 rounds, recoating cutter with flour if it begins to stick. Arrange scones on prepared
sheet. Gather dough scraps, form into ball, and knead gently until surface is smooth. Roll dough to 1-inch thickness and stamp out 4 rounds. Discard remaining dough.
4. Brush tops of scones with reserved milk mixture. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake scones until risen and golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through
baking. Transfer scones to wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve scones warm or at room temperature.
You know what pairs delightfully with these delicious scones? Our Rose Earl Grey Tea Drops. Add a dash of cream to this blissful blend for a true British style tea experience.
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