Christmas Scones

I’m getting a head start on one of my New Year’s resolutions—using my kitchen more. It’s sort of an all-inclusive way of saying cooking more, eating healthier, saving some cash, and eating less fast-food. It seems I may finally embrace country life! One of the ways I hope to accomplish this goal is to spend an afternoon each week preparing several meals for that week. That way if I have a meeting or something, I can grab a quick bite to eat from my freezer rather than Taco Bell. To keep with the randomness of my blog, I thought I would share my scone baking adventure with you..

A few months ago, I discovered King Arthur Flour. Established in 1790, it’s now an employee-owned business in Norwich, Vermont that clearly takes great pride in their craftsmanship. I’m certainly not a connoisseur of flour, but I do recognize high quality when I see it (and in this case, feel it and taste it!) After browsing through the recipe section of their website, I was inspired to bake some scones to give as Christmas presents. I spent a good portion of Sunday afternoon and evening whipping up multiple batches of the basic Scone Recipe. Other than accidentally leaving out the butter from two of the batches, the scones turned out wonderfully delicious (the butter-free batches were pretty tasty too!)

Here’s a photographic documentary of my first scone baking adventure. “Recipe courtesy of King Arthur Flour.” (I share only portions of the recipe below. The full recipe can be found here.)


I began by pouring flour from the bag into a bowl, which helps fluff it a bit. Ideally flour should be sprinkled into a measuring cup, so it’s much easier to do this by using a bowl.


The flour is measured and placed in a bowl, as are sugar, salt, and baking soda.


The dry ingredients are then whisked together.


Butter is then worked into the mixture, creating a crumbly texture. I thoroughly enjoyed using my hands for this task! How I failed to do this awesome step for two batches escapes me.


1-2 cups of dried fruit, chips, or nuts may be added to the mixture at this point. I used about 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1/3-1/2 cup white chocolate chips and the same of Andes® Crème-de-Menthe chips.


The eggs, vanilla, and Half-and-Half are gathered. Note the use of an antique PYREX measuring cup, indicated by the use of US customary system on both sides.


The wet ingredients are then whisked together.


The liquid mix is then stirred into the dry mix.


Once everything is thoroughly mixed, the ball of dough is transferred to a parchment lined baking sheet, cut in two, and shaped into two “cookies”.


Milk is then brushed on, followed by a generous sprinkling of Sparkling White Sugar.


The circles are then cut into 6 wedges, separated a bit, and placed in the freezer for 30 minutes.


The pan then goes directly into the oven, where the scones bake for about 25 minutes. Once they’re golden brown, out of the oven they come, and are then allowed to cool on the sheet.


I then transferred them to a platter. One came up missing in the transfer. (It being a new recipe and all, it was my duty to practice quality control!)

Thus far, the scones have met with rave reviews. Even the “misfit” ones have been well received. I’m looking forward to trying some more King Arthur Flour recipes. If anyone hasn’t finished their Christmas shopping for me yet, I’d love a scone pan from their online shop.