Everyone should know how to make a great scone. These are rich and flavorful and freeze well. This recipe specifies apricots and pecans, but you can substitute other dried fruit and nuts.
Ingredients:
2 cups of all purpose flour plus more for rolling out dough
5 tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
10 T unsalted butter
½ pint heavy cream
½ cup chopped apricots (you can substitute currants, cherries, cranberries or other dried fruit)
½ cup chopped toasted pecans (you can substitute walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts or other nuts)
1 egg yolk beaten with a bit of water for glaze
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Combine dry ingredients.
Work in the butter with your fingertips until it is distributed throughout (freezing then grating the butter is a good trick, or you can use your food processor).
Add the heavy cream and mix well.
Chop the nuts and dried fruit and add to mixture. Use your fingertips to mix thoroughly. (If the dough is too damp, add a bit more flour. The dough should be moist but not wet.)
Roll out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about ¾ of an inch and place in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Remove dough disc from the fridge and cut scones out using either a biscuit cutter or by simply making triangle of diamond shapes with a knife. This recipe should yield between 12 -16 scones, depending on how big you want them.
Place scones on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, near each other but not touching.
Lightly brush with a small bit of egg wash.
Bake in preheated oven until lightly browned and a tester comes out clean, approximately 15 - 20 minutes (depending on size). Try not to eat them all in one sitting....
