Tea and Scones, Anyone?

Yesterday morning, I made scones for breakfast. I have a recipe I found many years ago, and have since been tweaking here and there, making my own variations.

Golden Tippy Black Tea

I really love scones.  They seem to come in different types; some being quite dry and others a bit more moist.  I am not British, so I have no claim to what they "should" be like, but I like them either way. I don't like the oven quite so hot, and for my recipe variations, I use a temperature about 375. Some time ago I found cinnamon chips from the Bakers' Catalogue and made up a recipe using those chips.  They are not the type of cinnamon chips in a bag at the grocery with all the other chocolate chips, but look more like little hamster pellets, and have a better, clearer cinnamon taste.  To me, these are superior, in the scones.

I have had white chocolate scones before, so I assembled my ingredients.  I had a Ghirardelli White Chocolate bar on hand.  They are 4 ounce bars, so I just roughly chopped the whole bar.  Possibly this was too much, though they were mighty good, regardless.  If you prefer, 2 or 3 ounces would work fine.  I mixed up the scones, using the same basic recipe for the Cinnamon Chip Scones, but found I needed a bit more flour, as the batter was just too wet to handle.  I was really hungry yesterday, also, so I made six scones out of the recipe, rather than the usual eight, and they were large.  It took a little longer in the oven to bake, and I noted that in the recipe. They were so very good, so I know this one is a "keeper," as my husband says.  I present to you:

White Chocolate and Craisin Scones

White Chocolate and Craisin Scones

makes 6 - 8 scones


1 stick cold butter
2¼ cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup craisins (raspberry flavored would be excellent)
2 - 4 ounces white chocolate, chopped coarsely
1 cup buttermilk or soured milk (1 cup milk with 1 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice)
Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees, or 350 if using convection. Using a larger holed grater, grate the cold butter into a bowl. Sift or whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour this into the bowl with the butter. Using a pastry cutter, cut the flour and butter together until it is in coarse crumbs. Add in the craisins and the white chocolate and toss to combine.

Add the buttermilk and toss the mixture with a fork until mostly combined. Gather up the dough and place onto a generously floured surface. Fold the dough gently over onto itself about 6 times, patting out between each fold. Form into about an 8-inch circle. With a long bladed knife, cut across the circle either three times (yielding 6 scones) or 4 times (yielding 8 scones). Place these onto a greased baking sheet, with about 1 inch of space between. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes for 8 smaller scones, or 18 to 20 minutes for 6 larger scones, or until golden. 

Mmm-mmm good. Grab a nice cup of your favorite tea and sit back to enjoy.

My passion is to teach people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and help pass along my love and joy of food, both simple and exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things weekly. Join me at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook and Pinterest.