Lemon Scones, Revisited

As a lovely weekend draws to a close, I'm taking a few minutes to share a slightly-revised recipe for lemon-filled scones. This batch was the prize for Sarah, the winner of a recent monthly comment contest on this blog (details to the right!). The basics are all the same as the scones I've previously posted (a great foundational recipe for every scone I make) but I did make a few adjustments. To make these scones even more lemony, I grated lemon peel for both the dough and also the glaze. To make them a little less decadent, I reduced the butter by one third (not even noticeable). To sour the milk to make my own buttermilk, I switched acids from vinegar to fresh lemon juice, to be consistent with the flavor theme.

The tried and true steps of my scone making remain consistent and simple. Butter is cut into a mixture of flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, but this time I added about a tablespoon of freshly grated lemon peel.To that is added the soured milk mixed with beaten eggs as well as some vanilla and lemon extract. It's tossed together lightly with a fork to create what I think of as a "shaggy mess" and then the dough spends a few minutes in the freezer to make sure the butter pieces stay whole and cold when the dough is shaped into scones.

This is a wonderful and very adaptable recipe, and can be customized for whatever flavors and additions inspire you. If you want to make a savory dinner scone, just leave out the sugar and add cheese, or crumbled bacon, or fresh herbs -- whatever you think of that will make it your own.

Here's the recipe, followed by step-by-step photos illustrating the process. It may seem long and complicated, but it is neither. Once you try this scone recipe, you'll make it again and again!  I was able to make it with these little wise-guys hanging around...

My grandsons Henry and Peter, happy little dudes!

LEMON-FILLED SCONES
Preheated 375-degree F oven

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon peel
1/2 cup buttermilk or a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice with enough milk added to equal 1/2 cup
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Lemon curd - about 2 generous tablespoons (I like Dickinson's)

Additional beaten egg for egg wash

Glaze:
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
enough water to make a thick but drizzle-able glaze (it might be a word!), a few drops at a time

Directions in pictures:

Grate some lemon peel, a generous tablespoon plus a little more...

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Add butter and lemon rind.

Found this at an annual antique sale in Warren County!
It's one of my favorite things (for another blog post!)

Cut butter into flour mixture until butter particles are pea-sized.

Like this...

Mix buttermilk or soured milk with two beaten eggs and extracts.

Mix buttermilk mixture into flour mixture, tossing lightly with a fork until it's a "shaggy mess" like this...
Put in freezer for 10 minutes.  Take out and form into a loaf on a lightly floured surface.

Flatten the loaf and knead, gently folding it over itself and pressing into new "loaf" about 8-10 times.
Add more flour as necessary to keep from sticking to your surface.
Divide into 2 portions and flatten each into an 8-inch disk.

Like this...

Drop a generous tablespoon of lemon curd on top of each disk.

Spread to within 1/2-inch of the edges.

Roll up jelly roll style, and...

Tuck ends under and flatten into new disks.

Cut disks into 6 wedges each.

Place triangles on parchment-paper lined cookie sheet and brush with egg wash
(if you don't have a pastry brush, mop the egg wash on with a wadded up paper towel). 

Bake at 375 degrees Farenheit for 20 minutes or until the scones look like this,
with a gentle browning to the tops.

Mix glaze ingredients adding enough water, just a few drops at a time, until it flows off the fork like this...
Drizzle over hot scones.  Glaze will dry as scones cool.

Your scones are done!

 Well, that's it! Try this recipe, and follow the photos to get it just right!

Thank you for reading. I look forward to your comments (perhaps prize-winning comments!).

Have a great week!

Lemon-Filled Scones

Hello ADK Baker followers!  Please forgive me ~ it's been almost a week since I've posted, which is attributed to the busiest week of the year at work in an Admissions office.  We still notify applicants the old-fashioned way, so yesterday we mailed over 6000 letters, which was very exciting, but also meant that the weeks leading up to such an important day were incredibly full with lots of activity.  But, the letters are on their way, and I am back in the baking/blogging saddle, once again.

Which brings me to scones...(can anyone ever get tired of scones?).  In my quest to develop new and interesting flavors for scones and muffins, I've begun "filling" my trusty scone dough with jams and jellies.  I was looking in the fridge at the collection of jams -- strawberry, raspberry, raspberry red currant, apricot --and realized I had one of the best candidates, staring me right in the face!  Lemon curd!  That beautiful, rich, thick essence of lemon is a perfect compliment to the buttery, flaky scone, so I gave it a try, and the results are outstanding!  The brand I have on  hand is Dickinson's, and the jar is beautiful (which is probably why I bought it!) but what's inside has a charm all its own.

Here's the recipe for a new and delicious scone!

LEMON-FILLED SCONES
400-degrees Farenheit
Makes 1 dozen large scones (or 2 dozen mini)

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons very cold butter, grated
1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk and 1 tablespoon vinegar, combined, let sit for 5 minutes)
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
4 tablespoons lemon curd

Directions:
In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Grate very cold (ice cold - frozen is fine) butter into the same bowl, tossing grated butter with the flour mixture as you go (so it doesn't all stick together).  Put bowl in freezer for 10 minutes to make sure the butter stays cold and intact.   You don't want it to blend with the flour - the separate, cold butter pieces insure a flaky scone.

In separate bowl, combine beaten egg with buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon extracts.  Make a well in the flour mixture and pour egg/milk mixture into center.  With fork, toss the dry into the wet until it is all combined but not overly mixed.  Just make sure you have grabbed all the dry mixture and incorporated it into the wet.  Put the bowl back in the freezer for 10 minutes.

On well-floured surface, divide dough into 2 equal portions.  Knead each round about 6-8 times, to create multiple layers of dough, adding more flour as needed to keep it from sticking.  Form each portion into a round about 1/2-inch thick.  Spread each round with about 2 tablespoons lemon curd.  Gently roll each round into a log, jelly-roll style.  Tuck ends under and pat each round into a 6-inch circle.  Place rounds on parchment-lined cookie sheet and return to freezer for 10 minutes.

Remove from freezer and cut each round into 6 wedges.  I use a fluted vegetable cutter, but a sharp knife is fine.  Separate wedges on cookie sheet and brush with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tsp. water).

Bake at 400 degrees Farenheit for about 20 minutes OR until the tops have begun to take on a golden brown color.

Remove from oven and drizzle with lemon glaze.

Lemon glaze:

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
drops of water, a little at a time

With a fork, mix confectioners sugar, extract, and water, a little at a time, until the consistency of white glue.  You don't want it watery but you don't want it so thick it won't drizzle.  You need a nice, opaque consistency that flows slowly off a fork. Be very careful adding water.  Even the tiniest too much, and your glaze turns to soup!

So that's the latest scone recipe.

Thought you might like to see some recent photos of life in Middle Grove, New York, especially after this past summer-like first week of spring!

First Week of Spring in Middle Grove, New York
(click to enlarge)