As with any pastry, the trick here is to keep the diced butter cold, which makes for light scones, the only sort of scones to have. I like to cut these into triangles, but rounds are lovely, too. My favorite is cranberry scones. The rich red color of the cranberries against the pale golden scones makes me wish they could just sit out on my counter all day long wrapped loosely in a kitchen towel. But once you and your family experience the moist flakiness of these lightly sweet scones, you'll know why they never seem to brighten your kitchen counter for very long.
Berry Scones
On a shoestring: 42¢ per scone
If you bought it: $1.75 per scone (frozen)
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 8 Scones
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
1. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.
Step 2
2. Combine the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Transfer a few tablespoons of this dry ingredient mixture to a small bowl and add the frozen berries. Toss to coat the berries and set aside the small bowl.
Step 3
3. To the large bowl with the dry ingredients, add the diced butter. Cut it in until the butter resembles pea-size chunks covered in flour. You can either use a pastry cutter or two knives and pretend like you're cutting steak with them over and over.
Step 4
4. Add the milk to the dry ingredient/butter mixture and stir to combine. The dough will come together. Once the dough has come together, add the berries to the dough and gently fold them in until they are evenly distributed throughout. Handling it as little as possible to keep the butter from melting in your hands, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.
Step 5
5. Cut the dough into 8 triangles. Transfer the triangles to baking sheets lined with parchment paper, a couple of inches apart. Brush with a bit of milk and sprinkle with a tiny bit of sugar, if you like.
Step 6
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the scones are puffed up and slightly brown around the edges. Serve immediately.
