I am in a scone season of life right now. Maybe it is the slippery slope to middle age, maybe it is the fact I could access a garden centre easily on crutches that time I buggered my ankle, maybe it was the beige comfort I found in them when pregnant, maybe it is generosity with which they dole out butter (three pats are standard, at Hillside in Monkstown you get unfettered access to butter, and some jazzy dancing monkeys on the way out), but I am definitely in a scone season of life.
And while garden centre scones reign supreme, unless you are going the the Bay Tree in Holywood for a cinnamon number OBVIOUSLY, a scone is a very useful thing to be able to make yourself. A scone jazzes up a soup lunch, fills a gap when you have run out of bread and is very, very easy to make.
Do give it a go, and if you can’t be arsed, I’ll see you at a garden centre. Cherry for me, please.
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Heat that oven to the grand old temperature of 180°. I have figured out how to do the degree symbol while typing this and I am ALL BIZ.
It is going to save me so much time, not having to type the word degree.
Except it probably won’t, because I’ll have to google it every time just to be sure to be sure so maybe I should just type it out?
I don’t know.
If you’ve read all this, the oven is probably hot by now.
Grab some flour…
And some baking powder.
Cut some butter into little chunks. Snazzier recipes probably would say cubes, I am here for lazy girl instructions, and I suspect you are too.
Throw the whole lot into a food processor. If you don’t have one, you can rub the butter into the flour with your fingers.
Pulse it up until it is the consistency of breadcrumbs.
Grab some milk…
And add it slowly, until you have a fairly loose dough. The crumblier the dough, the crumblier the resulting scones, so be sure not to add too much milk. You might not even need it all.
I say roll the dough out, and using a rolling pin makes me feel all domestic goddess, but the be completely honest, you can just press the dough out onto a floured surface. You want it to be about two fingers thick.
Cut the dough into circles. You can use a glass, but a cutter fall into the domestic goddess category for me, and therefore I go full crinkle cut edges and I am not even a little sorry.
Brush with a little more milk. You can beat an egg and do an egg wash for an even more golden topping, but a bit of milk is way easier in my eyes, and, as I keep saying, lazy girl way will always win round here.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Serve and enjoy.
Simple scones
Ingredients
- 225g plain flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 50g butter
- 120ml milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°.
- Put the flour and baking powder into a food processor.
- Cut the butter into small chunks.Add the butter to the flour mixture, and pulse until it is the consistency of breadcrumbs. If you don’t have a processor, you can rub the butter in using your hands.
- Add the milk slowly, until a dough forms. You might not need it all.
- Roll the dough out until it is 2 fingers thick.
- Cut the dough into circles.
- Place the scones on a baking tray and brush with a little milk.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Serve and enjoy.
