Sweet Spot: Scrumptious Scones

Hello friends! This is the first of the recipe series I'll be doing here, aptly named "Sweet Spot." Our first endeavor is scones. I'll be giving the basic recipe (I can't take credit here, it's a great Pinterest recipe I found and will link somewhere in this post), some photos during the process, as well as what I put in these delightful little treats.

The Lineup:
     1 cup sour cream
     1 tsp. baking soda
     4 cups flour
     1 cup granulated sugar
     2 tsp. baking powder
     1 tsp. salt
     1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into small cubes
     1 egg
     2 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)
     1 cup mix-ins



The Play-by-Play:
     1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line baking sheets with parchment
         paper.
     2. In a small bowl, combine sour cream and baking soda. Set aside.
     3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
     4. Incorporate cold, cubed butter into flour mixture using pastry cutter (or 2 knives)
         until the butter is broken down into pea-sized pieces in the flour.
     5. Beat the egg and vanilla into the sour cream mixture.
     6. Mix the sour cream mixture into the flour mixture (you may want to use your
         hands). Add milk if the dough is dry, but you don't want it be too liquidy. Mine came
         out to be moist and slightly tacky, but still held its shape.
     7. Add desired mix-ins, folding gently with hands.
     8. Divide dough into 3 circles, cutting each circle into 6 triangles (I do 8 triangles, as I
         tend to be  heavy-handed with my knife).

 

 

 



     9. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top and bottom. Be careful- they
         go from golden to burnt very quickly!
    10. Serve and enjoy!

Alternates:

• Blueberries
• Dried cherries, cranberries, or raisins
• Chocolate chips
• Canned pumpkin (start with 1/2 cup and add as desired) and pumpkin pie spice (1/2 tsp.)
• White chocolate chips and cranberries
• Orange or lemon zest
• Pumpkin pie spice (1/2 tsp.) and walnuts or pecans (I used this in half my batter)
• Cranberries and orange zest
• Dried cherries, pistachios, and almond extract (1/2 tsp.) (I used this in the other half of my batter)

Quick Play: This recipe halves beautifully, but keep the egg at 1 whole egg- makes the scones extra fluffy! (Perhaps try 2 in a whole batch...?)

Pro Tip: I also tried freezing the batter after I cut it into triangles (the pictures on the pans are what they looked like pre-freeze, so if you're going straight to baking you'll want to spread them out more.)

The Playmaker: http://www.thekitchenmagpie.com/the-best-scones-ever/

I wish you all the best,
Erin