Happy International Tea Day! (Actually, it’s been changed to May 21 as of December 21, 2019… But I already had this written when I found out 😂) And also 10 days until Christmas! I love scones! It’s the highlight of any fancy tea date I go to. However, I’ve been nervous to make them since I hear they are hard. This is absolutely true, (especially when you are home alone with an infant) but I did it! It does get easier the more you make it though.
There are so many good scone recipes out there and many that friends sent me. However, I went with this option since it’s flexible and allows you to add your preferred main ingredient.
There are 8 countries represented in this International Tea Day photo. Can you name them all?
I’ll start you off: I’m drinking Shui Xian Oolong Tea (tastes better with honey) in a tea cup I bought in Granada, Spain. Have fun with your International delights today 😊
Any Flavor Scones
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, frozen
- 1/2 cup heavy cream or buttermilk + 2 Tbsp for brushing (I made 1 cup by mixing 1/4 cup melted butter and 3/4 cup warm milk. Added a teaspoon of flour to thicken since I had low fat milk)
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1–1.5 cups your choice of add-ins such as chocolate chips, berries, nuts, fruit, etc. (I used 1 cup pistachios and 1 cup dried cranberries)
- Optional: 1/2 – 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, granulated sugar, and toppings such as vanilla icing, lemon icing, maple icing, orange icing, caramel, lemon curd, dusting of confectioners’ sugar, etc.
- Whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a large bowl. Grate and add the frozen butter to the flour mixture using your fingers until the mixture comes together in pea-sized crumbs. Place in the refrigerator or freezer as you mix the wet ingredients together.
- Whisk 1/2 cup heavy cream, egg, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Drizzle over the flour mixture, add the add-ins, then gently mix together until everything appears moistened.
- With floured hands, work dough into a ball as best you can. Dough will be sticky. Put into triangle wedges.
- Brush scones with remaining heavy cream and for extra crunch, sprinkle with coarse sugar.
- Place scones on a baking sheet that has cooking spray or parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- After refrigerating, arrange scones 2-3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 18-26 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and lightly browned on top. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes before topping with optional toppings listed in the ingredients.
P.S. I used this recipe to make raspberry and chocolate chip scones and they turned out great!
Rory, Tea & Me 