lavender scones redux
They are were delicious. I do believe they are still romantic.
But, I made them significantly better this time and so it seemed appropriate to document the update. While I loved the first batch of scones, they weren't super light. They were also a bit flat. These scones were the opposite of all that.
Can scones have volume? If so, these have volume.
I did some research on what I could do to improve my chances at better scones. Key tips:
- Use cold butter.
- The more you knead the dough, the "worse" it is for the dough.
- When kneading, use the least amount of flour as possible.
Previously, I would have been concerned if I saw a small chunk o' butter in the scone dough... but one recipe I looked at said that was actually the goal. You want these little gems of butter to be whole and then essentially melt during the cooking process. I have no idea what this does scientifically but it was a win.
Additionally, I was a little concerned about keeping the scones "light and fresh" despite making them a day before the brunch. Go ahead and chalk up another win for this recipe because even 2 days after cooking the scone was amazingly fresh. I made the scones on Friday at 4 in the afternoon (holla for a vacation day) and on Sunday morning I would still describe them as heavenly.
Disclosure... I didn't really "document" this attempt via pictures since I honestly didn't expect them to turn out measurably better than the original go at lavender scones. All I can offer you are two pictures and a whole bunch of words. So you will quite literally just have to take my word for it as to how to make these.
Here we go.
(Step 1) Whisk 3 cups flour and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add butter in little chunks to the mixture. I essentially just kept the stand mixer on while I slowly added in the butter in little cubes. Total success.
(Step 2) Whisk 1 cup buttermilk, zest, and vanilla in a small bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir until a dough ball forms. I did switch the attachment on my stand mixer from the whisk to the paddle.
(Step 3) Given my new knowledge about scone science, I quite literally dumped the dough from the bowl on a lightly floured board. Then using my hands gently flattened and molded the dough into a rectangle (about 10x6").
(Step 4) Cut the dough any way your heart moves you. I went with cutting into into thirds. Then cutting each third into 3 squares... then the squares into 2 triangles. If you managed to follow that you are much smarter than I am.
(Step 5) Transfer your fancy biscuits to parchment covered cooking sheets and brush with 2 Tbsp. buttermilk. Sprinkle with sugar if your spirit moves you. The spirit moved me, so I sprinkled.
(Step 6) Bake until scones are a lovely golden shade.... which is about 13 minutes at 425 F.
Last step? Devour with some lemon curd or whatever makes your heart go pitter patter.
Shopping List (based on this recipe from Bon Appetit)
3 cups all-purpose flour plus more for surface
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon dried lavender buds
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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