Description
These scones are the perfect compliment to any holiday breakfast or high tea!
Ingredients
Scale
Scones:
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar or cane sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon zest (equivalent to the zest of 1 medium to large lemon)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Egg mixture for brushing tops:
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 Tbsp milk or cream
Lemon glaze:
- 1/2 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
- 1.5 Tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
To make the scones:
- Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 400 F. Prepare your baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. Or, use a well-seasoned pizza stone or clay baking sheet. (I use my large pizza stone and they always bake up perfectly!)
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest together.
- Cut the cold butter into small pieces and blend it into the flour mixture using a hand-held pastry blender. After a few minutes, the mixture should look like coarse crumbs.
- Add the buttermilk and fresh lemon juice to the flour mixture and stir only until the dough starts to come together. Don’t over mix!
- Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and knead gently 4-5 times, adding a light dusting of flour if needed. Then pat or roll the dough into a circle about 18 cm or 7 inches wide and about 3.5 cm (or 1.5 inches) thick. Cut the circle in half, then cut each half into 3 equal sections to give you 6 triangle-shaped scones.
- Place scones on baking sheet. Make the egg wash and brush the tops of the scones before placing in the oven.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- While the scones are baking, make the icing by whisking the powdered sugar and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Drizzle over the warm scones.
Notes
- Leftover scones keep well at room temperatures for about 2-3 days or in the fridge for 5 days. However, I’ve never had any issues with having an abundance of leftover scones! 🙂
- You can make these in a variety of sizes and shapes as you like. I’ve used a small circular cookie cutter to shape them into circles for high tea. Smaller scones may bake faster so keep your eye on the oven!
- If you’d prefer to enjoy a plain scone without the lemon flavour, simply do not add any of the lemon ingredients and they will still turn our smashingly well!
