Sunday Morning + Berry Scones

It's official - nothing beats a lazy Sunday and some fresh baked goods to go along with it. I woke up this past Sunday ready to bake! I had been thinking about what to try next all week and decided on scones. Why, I have no idea, especially considering that I do not even LIKE scones! Or, at least I thought I didn't like them.

In my mind scones are big, dry crumbly things that make my mouth very unhappy and my shirt very dirty. No thanks. And yet, they are at nearly every coffee shop you visit these days so I figured there must be something there that I was missing. I decided to stick with the angel on my shoulder and try out a recipe I found on weightwatchers.com. Three Berry Scones. Very simple. I can do this!

Here are the players:
2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp table salt
2 Tbsp butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 cup(s) buttermilk (I used 1 cup of skim milk with 1 tablespoon of vinegar...let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes or so before using. Mine sat in the fridge overnight)
1 1/2 cup(s) frozen unsweetened mixed berries
2 serving(s) butter-flavor cooking spray


Here are the oh so simple instructions:
* Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
* In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix in butter until mixture is size of fine crumbs. Stir in buttermilk and then stir in berries.
* Shape dough into two 7-inch circles on prepared baking sheet. Cut each circle into 6 wedges and coat with cooking spray.
* Bake until cooked through and golden, about 20 minutes. Yields one wedge per serving.


I decided to use my hands this time since it was still early and I was feeling too lazy to clean the stand mixer. Not a good idea...this was a DENSE dough. Once the flour came in to the equation the whisk was utterly useless. I ended up folding it with my hands which was awful because it was so sticky! Plus, the frozen berries started to melt from the warmth caused by handling. I'm sure the chilled and small pieces of butter also did not like my hands - they're always saying on the Food Network that cold butter is the key to successful pastry. Next time I'll use the mixer, I promise.

Also, next time I won't bake from a Weight Watchers recipe. They really don't explain things enough. I had to dust some flour on the dough to work with it in order to form it in to the discs...I just can't see that it would have been possible otherwise. When it came time to cut in to 6 wedges each I kept thinking...am I meant to separate these wedges or leave them together? Due to the fact that everything was so sticky I left them together. Fail. They baked in to two large discs...NOT 12 lovely wedges. Doh. I had to slice them immediately after removing from the oven to make the wedges which wasn't a huge deal but a more detailed recipe could have prevented this.


Somehow in the end everything worked out. In fact, it more than worked out since I previously thought I hated scones and I still can't stop munching on these. They were not dry at all and though the berries mostly fell to the bottom of each wedge they offered a great tart contrast. They remind me of biscuits actually...not wedges of chalk which is what scones always were in my mind. In fact, I just did some research online and discovered that it's mainly in the US that scones are dry...in the UK and other such places apparently they are more like what I created. GOOD TO KNOW! Give them a try if you were as tricked by Starbucks as I have been!

BIG week coming up as far as baking goes. It's my dad's birthday and instead of buying him useless junk that he doesn't need I'm going to clog his arteries with sweets. That's real love. <3