Yesterday was a grey and awful day. The kind where I still have fleeting second thoughts about leaving the California sunshine for England and her dreich weather. (Dreich is a wonderful Scottish word that I picked up from my good friend Andy. It means bleak & dreary and is fun to say.)
Dreich days call for a sweet treat and a cup of something hot. These Simple Scones don’t use any fancy ingredients and come together really quickly. The hardest part is not eating them too-fresh out of the oven. You really do need to wait about 10 minutes or you’ll burn your tongue. If you don’t eat the whole batch right away (and you probably shouldn’t) they reheat well with about 20 seconds in the microwave or a few minutes in foil in a medium oven.
Being American, I don’t feel particularly strongly about which goes first: jam or cream. My husband is in the jam-first camp, so that’s what we do at our house. You do you, baby.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
-
Combine milk, lemon juice and vanilla. Set aside. It's going to curdle and look a little gross- don't panic!
-
Add all dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Chop butter into cubes and add into your dry ingredients
-
Using your fingertips (or a pastry blender if you have hot hands), rub butter into flour until it resembles breadcrumbs (also kinda looks like parmesan cheese powder).
- Put prepared baking tray into oven to preheat.
-
Add milk mixture into flour mixture. Stir until it starts to form a sticky-yet-cohesive ball of dough. Gently pat out onto a floured surface until it's about 1" thick.
-
Use a 2" round cutter to stamp out scones. Brush with your a teeny bit of milk, place onto your hot baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, until just starting to turn golden on top.
-
Let cool for about 10 minutes. Serve with jam, cream, and your favorite cuppa.
