Elliott Rose SIMPLY PERFECT SCONES

[joco51]

Simply Perfect Scones Elliot Rose Guesthouse
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly flour the baking stone (preferred) or cookie sheet.

2 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

Stir together with fork. Add:

1 stick COLD butter, cut into chunks

Cut butter into flour mixture using pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. Hint: wire whip attachment on Kitchen Aid or similar stand mixer at speed 2 will accomplish this task easily.

½ to ¾ cup dried fruit
½ cup chopped nuts (if desired)
Zest of 1 orange, lemon, or lime (if desired)
1 Tablespoon or so of citrus juice squeezed from zested fruit
Spices to complement fruit/nut combination – cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.

Stir together so flour mixture coats fruit to keep from sticking together.

1 large egg
2/3 cup lowfat Greek plain or vanilla yogurt
1 Tablespoon juice from zested fruit (or few drops of flavoring oil can be used to enhance fruit flavor)

Whisk together in small bowl until well blended. Make a well in flour mixture, add egg/yogurt mixture, then combine with fork until evenly moist. In winter you may need to add a bit more yogurt or milk (sometimes as much as 1/8th cup), in summer may need a bit more flour. Dough should be slightly sticky. Form dough into ball, place in middle of baking stone. Shape into a square approximately 7 to 8” across. Pat to an even thickness. Sprinklewith demarara or other coarse sugar, cinnamon and/or nutmeg if desired. Using pizza cutter, cut a cross, then an x, then diagonally across each corner to make 16 triangles. Separate triangles so they are about ½ to 1” apart on all sides. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, then rotate baking stone 180 degrees for more even browning. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes more – watch carefully, sometimes 15 minutes is all that’s needed. Scones should be lightly browned on the edges and barely brown on top. Remove from oven, let stand a minute or two on baking stone.

Arrange on serving platter. Wonderful served warm. These scones are also delicious the next day if kept covered – flavors will mingle, scones stay moist.

Some suggested flavor combos:

Kiwi-Lime-Pineapple-Coconut
Cranberry-Orange-Walnut
Blueberry-Lemon-Poppyseed
Apricot-Mango-Orange
Cherry-Pineapple-Pecan
Cherry-Chocolate Chip
Pomegranate (flavored Craisins)-Plum (PlumAmazins)-Pecan
Apricot-Pineapple-Orange

Have fun with flavors – be inspired by the dried fruits you can find, add spices and nuts to complement.

Please enjoy this recipe with my compliments! It is the result of many years of practice and refinement in collaboration with my daughter. My only request is that it not be reprinted or reproduced without permission, or used for any commercial purposes, including baking contests.

If you live in a high altitude baking zone, you may have to experiment to get the perfect results.

Kindest Regards,

Diana Bauer
Elliot Rose Guesthouse
814 S. Clinton St.
Defiance, OH 43512
419-956-9979
diana@elliotroseguesthouse.com
www.eliotroseguesthouse.com

[dewittycdw1]

These are simply yummy! TY for Posting Joco.