Breakfast with Shlomo and Dorie- Fluffy Scones

So our family has been on a roller coaster ride of emotions lately.  My beloved father in law passed away, and albeit at the ripe old age of 99, that finality is something that hits you in the heart and takes time to absorb.  Then a joyous event, our niece had a baby boy during the shiva and just days afterwards we had the name of my FIL given to her baby.  It was intense and poignant and brought tears to our eyes.  Thanks to Adina and Tuvia for naming the baby after him!!

Next my niece Chayli- my brother’s and sister in law’s daughter got married to Yinon.  So we’ve had highs and lows but most important, family bonding time.  Not surprisingly, this sorta made it impossible to blog but I’m back again and of course, food is always involved in these matters.

My brother Shlomo and SIL Dorie added to the joy by staying with us for two weeks to be with us for our niece’s wedding.  They’ve been running all over the place to see relatives and sites and have been having a great time.  I was smart enough to book them for a breakfast or I knew I’d lose out on some of their time and I love having the chance to host them.  Since I don’t get to do this everyday, I went with a nice spread (no, no cold cereal and milk 🙂 ) with cheeses and yogurts, pancakes and quiche and NOT scones but biscuits.  Well, yeah, kinda scones-shhhhhh!

DH has some pet peeves and I try to accommodate him whenever possible.  Once in a while, there’s a food I really like and he is either meh about  or out and out on the warpath about.  For some reason, scones are on his hit list.  I actually do know why, in Florida they have them in two restaurants we like but they are so massive (and frankly not so pretty looking) that he once called them a “hunk of carbohydrate” (I LOVE his quotable quotes) and so, they are associated with something negative in his mind.  Hence, I feel that in order not to set off a negative reaction to a perfectly yummy food, you simply give it a different name and see what happens.  So, this is not a recipe for scones 🤭😜 but rather for biscuits (hey! it’s really close).

Fresh baked Scones

I’ve made scones before but was not so happy with the results.  They didn’t puff up sufficiently and in general didn’t do what I wanted.  So I scoured books and the internet for recipes and techniques and also didn’t want to use real cream but rather buttermilk (or yogurt whisked with milk) for a healthier and equally delicious version.  Yay! I found it and was deeply pleased.  Lightly sweetened, moist inside and a little crispy outside, they are perfect for breakfast and make a great sandwich if you split them in half for lunch as well.

Credit where credit is due, I found this excellent recipe here – https://somethingsweetsomethingsavoury.com/a-really-good-scone-recipe-and-the-great-british-bake-off/.  It’s originally a Paul Hollywood recipe.  Of course, I fiddled with it a bit 😀

Fluffy Scones

500 grams flour (4 cups)

80 grams butter (1/3 cup) or margarine – chilled, not softened!

80 grams sugar (1/3 cup + approximately 2 tablespoons)

5 teaspoons baking powder (you need it for the lift)

2 large eggs

250 ml milk (1 cup plus 1 and 1/2 tablespoons approximately) I used 150 ml of low fat yogurt and added the rest in milk to produce a buttermilk like consistency and a richer dough without cream.

You may substitute buttermilk or soy milk for the regular milk – a quick note – buttermilk is thicker and therefore heavier than regular milk and by weight you only need one cup of buttermilk.  I did this and didn’t need to add more liquid.

A beaten egg for brushing on the prepared scones for browning in the oven.  You can skip this but your scones will be pale, be warned!

The trick with scones is not to overhandle the dough and VERY important, to roll out or pat out the dough very little.  Once I watched a bunch of videos, I saw where I’d made my mistake in the past.  You will only get skyscraper scones if the dough starts out very thick and high to begin with – at least 2.5 inches tall.  I used a floured glass to cut out the dough but you can use biscuit cutters as well, of course.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Wait patiently for it to really get to that temp.  It is part of what makes the dough lift off spectacularly.  For this I pulled out my dairy food processor since I am by nature less patient with certain things and using your hands to rub butter or marg into dough when you have a perfect implement to do it properly in a tenth of the time boggles my mind.  If you don’t have one, you can use a mixer, but don’t overmix! That said, put all the dry ingredients into the bowl of the processor. Whirl them together till mixed.  Take your chilled butter or marg and cut into cubes.  The idea is when you toss it into the flour mixture, it should incorporate quickly without it becoming too warm.  Open the lid of the processor and try to evenly distribute the cubes.  Pulse in short bursts just till small crumbs are formed.  Add eggs and milk all at once and process in bursts just until combined.  Really, no longer. The dough will be fairly moist.  DON’T add more flour. Trust me here.  I then take a piece of parchment paper and sprinkle a bit of flour on it so the dough won’t stick.  Alternatively, if you wish to have a sweeter scone, you can sprinkle the paper with confectioner’s sugar.  Just add enough to render the dough workable and no more.  Fold in half, turn and fold in half and turn.  Don’t do this more than 3 times, just enough so that the dough is fully incorporated.  Pat the dough into a high mass, nearly as tall as you want the results to be.  Then whip out your glass or biscuit cutter, dip in flour and cut out rounds.  Take remaining scraps, pat together and finish up. You should have about 12 scones.  If you choose to make them smaller, bake them for less time approximately 12 minutes.  Slid the parchment paper with the prepared scones on it onto a baking sheet.  Bake in hot oven of 425 degrees (preheated, yes it matters!) for approximately 15 minutes (peek to see if browned but not more than golden brown).

They are totally yum.  You can eat as is or split with jam, butter or any spread you like.  I’ve split them and put in cheese or avocado as sandwiches and DH and I  happily gobbled them up.