raising the scone bar
It's been about a lifetime since I wrote something up.
While it's been a busy couple of weeks, I honestly think part of the reason is that my computer is dying. Ugh. It's hard to want to write things when sentences take twice as long to write... and not because I'm distracted. Either way, I'll try to do a quick picture recap soon. It'll mainly be pictures of the snow because it's currently endless. ENDLESS.
For Christmas this year, my grandfather gave me a copy of the America's Test Kitchen Cookbook. I was flipping through it a couple of weeks ago for some inspiration... and came upon the harsh reality that I've been making scones ALL WRONG. I mean, I felt like they tasted great. Nobody complained but after looking at the step by step directions I was about 5 miles off. There was almost nothing that was the same except the use of flour. After I realized this, I relayed it to my grandfather and he insisted I get right on whipping out a batch of improved scones. Then I proceeded to not get it done for weeks... until the most recent blizzard kept me indoors today.
I was pretty skeptical about whether all the work would be worth it. As a point of comparison, it essentially is the difference between making brownies from a box... to from scratch. That being said, it is completely worth it... especially the grated off the butter and the purposeful folding of the dough. After a bit of research in the past, I know that the secret to good scones is cold butter. This recipe absolutely gives you that times ten.
Here's how it goes.
(Step 1) Unwrap a stick of frozen butter and grate it like cheese ... obviously. Once you are done, set it aside in your freezer.
(Step 2) Combine the sour cream and milk ... and set aside. I know you have used more bowls that you are happy about but trust me it's worth it.
(Step 3) Whisk together the flour, sugar, and baking soda. Add in the frozen grated butter. Give it some gentle mixing so that all the butter is equally distributed. Then add in the milk mixture. Give it a gentle mix together. I felt like I needed a little more milk to get the dough to the right consistency. Essentially, you want it to just come together so you can need it.
(Step 4) Dump the dough onto a generously floured surface. Knead it until you get a bit of a dough ball. As a friendly note, the dough will not feel as solid as pizza, bread or pie dough... it always feels a bit loose. You can feel the little grated bits of butter pretty clearly.
(Step 5) Once you have your dough baby, roll it out into a 12x12 -ish square. I'm never precise. Then, fold it up like a business letter. Put it in the freezer for 5 minutes.
(Step 6) Roll out your dough once last time into a larger rectangle kind of like before. Then evenly distribute the frozen blueberries on the dough and kind of gently press them into the dough.
(Step 7) We are almost done... now roll your decorated dough up like a cinnamon roll. Once you have the roll, then using the palms of your hands kind of gently flatten it down a bit. Using a sharp knife cut the dough into squares... then triangles. Lay those baby triangles on a parchment covered cookie sheet.
(Step 8) Brush the tops of each scone with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Since the dough is still very cold from the freezer, the butter will actually harden on top of the scones. Don't freak out.
(Step 9) Bake for 20ish minutes at 425F. While I would normally eat them right from the oven, you kind of want to let them rest for 5 minutes.
Shopping List
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar (+ more)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 stick of butter (+ more)
1 - 1 1/2 cup blueberries
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