Something Old: Scones

It's been a year since I was in Oxford studying and making new friends. (Can you believe it, girls?!) When we were over there, we had some amazing scones at The Rose, and I think we all became pretty hooked. Melanie, our professor, shared a scone recipe with us, and within a week of being back in the states, I had made a batch of scones.

They are so tasty! I thought the one year anniversary of our Oxford adventure would be the perfect time to reshare this tasty little recipe. I hope it brings back happy memories to all my Oxford girls (botanical gardens, secret gardens, bike tours, tower climbing, late night kebabs and dancing).

And to everyone, happy cooking!

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Scones August 8, 2009

I haven't cooked or baked in awhile (darn that Oxford!), but after enjoying great tea and scones in England, I felt I had to try my hand at it. Melanie was nice enough to supply a recipe to us. Having nothing else to do this afternoon, with Chase off at B&N reading about motorcycle PhDs, I decided to bake.

Ingredients

2 cups flour

¼ cup white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

½ cup whipping cream, plus 2 Tbsp

⅓ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3. Cut in the butter with a two knives or a pastry cutter. The mixture should look like course crumbs.

4. In a small bowl, combine half cup whipping cream, beaten egg, and vanilla. Add this to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

5. Knead the dough on a floured surface, until the dough is smooth (about 10 kneads).

6. Roll or pat the dough out until the dough is about half an inch to an inch thick. Cut out scones into 2-3 inch diameter rounds.

7. Place rounds on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops of the rounds with the extra whipping cream.

8. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until nicely browned.

9. Serve with cream and your favorite jam.

Bonus: I made my own whipped cream using the remainder of the whipping cream. Combine 1 cup whipping cream with 2 tablespoons of sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and whip with a hand mixer until it forms "soft peaks." Basically until it's Cool Whip consistency, but tastier!

Eggs, vanilla and cream, ready to meet the flour.

All the ingredients together.

Kneaded until smooth and ready for cutting.

Brushed with cream.

Baked to perfection.

Happy cooking!