Scones

I am a girl who likes routine.  Years ago, when I worked in Manhattan, my routine included a morning train ride from Westchester, a workout, and a stop on the way to the office at my favorite coffee shop.  The coffee was good, but what I craved were the delicious mixed berry scones.  I ate one every morning for over a year.  Thank goodness for the workout! The coffee shop was one of a small chain.  I can’t remember the name and based some internet searching, I think it may not exist anymore.  Pity, because it’s been years and I still think about those scones. Over the years, I have searched for a similar recipe and have yet to find one.  This sounds like it’s gearing up to be a story about how Martha finally led me to realize my dream scone, doesn’t it?  Unfortunately, no, but Martha’s are pretty darn good too.

I made the rich cream scones http://www.marthastewart.com/874310/rich-cream-scones for Sunday breakfast when my mom visited.  When she heard what I was making her eyes lit up as she declared her love of scones. This made me nervous.  My mom is a great cook and I didn’t want to let her down, especially when she seemed so excited.  No worries though, Martha and I came through.  The scones were divine.  Light and airy, just as Martha described, and just the right amount of sweetness thanks to the crunchy sugar crust on top.  

They were easy to make as well, a necessity, I think, for breakfast fare.  I made big scones and we each ate two right out of the oven.  My husband and kids loved them as well.  There had to have been about 12 scones and they were all gone by the end of breakfast on Monday.  I have already made them again for a brunch party we were invited to and they were a hit there as well.  Making them to take somewhere else is definitely the way to go so I don’t eat so many myself! 

The oatmeal scones http://www.marthastewart.com/874312/apple-and-oat-scones-cinnamon-and-nutmeg were pretty good, but not the same caliber as the rich cream scones.   They were just not sweet enough for my taste, and I usually like things on the less sweet side.  The recipe called for ¼ cup of brown sugar and extra sugar on top.  If I made this again I would add more sugar, but I don’t think these were worth the trouble, especially when the others were so good.  For both scone recipes I used a food processor to cut in the butter which worked well and was much easier than incorporating cold butter by hand.

After making the rich cream scones the second time, I thought they might work as a base to try to recreate the mixed berry scones I loved so much.  I'm going to try that at some point.  If it doesn’t work out though, I would be perfectly happy to make the plain rich cream scones part of my new routine.

-Jacqui