The first scone I ever ate came from the first batch I ever baked. It’s true. Up to that point, my appetite for morning treats was limited to the usual suspects: bagels, donuts, muffins, maybe the occasional croissant. Several years ago, when I was first learning to bake, I offered to bring some baked goods to a family brunch. I opened Williams-Sonoma’s Essentials of Baking and looked for the least intimidating recipe I could find. Scones looked like a reasonable challenge…once I discovered where to find currants at the grocery store. That first batch set a new personal standard, and it was made clear to me that henceforth the price of admission to any family brunch was at least one batch of scones.

Since then, I’ve become a bit of a scone snob. I don’t want any part of those sickly-sweet, glazed lumps they sell at certain coffee shops. I want something that is rich and buttery, slightly sweet, and just a bit dry and crumbly.

This is my recipe for a traditional cream scone. They have a tender crumb and not-too-sweet flavor that allows the lemon and butter to come through. I spent a few weeks working through several variations before I arrived at this recipe. While they are traditionally considered a breakfast treat, enjoy these anytime with a cup of coffee or tea.

It is always a good idea to read the recipe top to bottom before getting started.

Yield

8 scones

Ingredients

3 cups (15 oz) all purpose flour

1/2 cup (4 oz) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons lemon zest

3/4 cup (6 oz) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch bits

1 cup heavy cream

For Dusting: 2 tablespoons powdered (confectioner’s) sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 400 F. Move rack to the middle position.

Line a cookie sheet or half-sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone liner.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Stir to combine.

Add the butter to the dry ingredients. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles large crumbs.

Pour the cream over the mixture and mix with a rubber spatula until combined. Don’t over mix.

Press the mixture into a solid mass and then turn it out on a lightly-floured work surface.

Shape the dough into a square, roughly 7×7 inches. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces: first cut along the diagonals, then then cut each triangle in half.

Transfer the wedges to the baking sheet and space evenly.

Bake for 15-17 minutes; until golden brown.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Dust the cooled scones with powdered sugar (not too much). A fine-mesh sieve works well for this.

Eat. Smile. Repeat.

Some Helpful Tips

If you are not familiar with the process of cutting butter into dry ingredients, be patient and go a little longer than you think is necessary.

Some recipes suggest using two knifes to cut butter into dry ingredients. I have no idea if this works, but it sounds like insanity to me. Spend $10 on pastry blender and never look back.

This is a relatively dry dough, which can make it frustrating to work with at first. To help: 1) make sure the butter is thoroughly cut into the dry ingredients, and 2) press the dough firmly into shape before cutting. If you’re still having trouble, you can increase the cream to 1 1/4 cups, but you’ll have to deal with a stickier dough and softer scone.

As always, use fresh, high-quality ingredients. This really does make a difference in the final product.

Tags: breakfast, lemon, scone

My interest in baking began back in the fall of 1992. I was a sophomore at San Marin High School (go Mustangs!), dating a cute girl from my English class. She was the daughter of a minister. I was nervous.

One afternoon as the holidays neared, I went over to her house for some parent-approved cookie baking. Just the kind of thing that a girlfriend’s mother loves. I had baked chocolate chip cookies before, always carefully following the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip package. So I was struck by the fact that my girlfriend and her mother were deviating from the time-tested wisdom of Toll House. Nothing dramatic–mind you–just a bit more flour and a bit less time in the oven for softer cookies. The results were delicious, I’m sure the word “awesome” was used.

I brought some cookies to school the following week. I shared a few with my buddies and classmates. They gobbled ‘em up and asked for more. I started taking orders. I made enough money over the course of two weeks to cover Christmas shopping that year. I’m pretty sure I was the only guy on the football team with a side business as a baker.

The experience opened my mind to the idea that it was OK create, to try something new. The relationship only lasted 3 months, but I’ve been tweaking the recipe for the past 16 years. It shares much in common with the Original Toll House recipe, but there are enough changes that I now call it my own.

These cookies are chocolate-heavy and very soft. Use the best ingredients you can find–it makes a real difference in the final product. I hope you’ll enjoy.

Yield

About 2 dozen cookies. This recipe is just begging to be doubled.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups (2.5 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs at room temperature

2 cups (12 oz. package) semi-sweet chocolate chips

4 ounces semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate (grated)

Method

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

Mix butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl.

Add eggs to butter/sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Gradually beat in flour mixture.

Mix in grated chocolate.

Stir in chocolate chips. At this point, the dough is very thick. Get in there with your (clean) hands to work in the chips.

Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes. Keep dough in refrigerator between batches.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Adjust rack to middle position.

Roll dough into golf ball-sized balls, and space well on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (about 6 per sheet).

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes. They should look a bit undercooked.

Slide parchment paper and cookies directly onto cooling racks. The cookies are very soft and can fall apart quite easily when warm.

Let the cookies cool for minimum 20 minutes before gorging yourself.

This fourth-generation recipe originated with my Great Grandmother, Williamina Bain McLeod Black. She emigrated from Glasgow, Scotland with her husband and son around 1911. The family settled in San Francisco, where my grandmother, Helen Black Garden was born. Wee Willy, as she was known by those close to her, stood only five feet tall, but had a personality that could fill the room. Of course she claimed this simple recipe as her own, but those who knew her thought it entirely possible that it came from a random issue of Redbook or Better Homes & Gardens.

My mother, Mary Margaret Garden Pritchard, has always held this recipe close to her heart and baked countless batches of shortbread every Christmas, filling the Pritchard household of my youth with the scent of sweet, buttery goodness. Enjoy this recipe and remember to enjoy a nip of the Glenfiddich while you bake, raising your glass on occasion to the memory of Williamena and Helen.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup unsalted butter (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

Method

Preheat oven to 325.

Sift the flour once, then sift it again with the sugar and salt.

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter, until it starts to form a ball. Use hands to finish mixing.

Press the dough evenly into a 9-inch shortbread pan or tart pan. If using the tart pan, you can add a decorative pattern with a fork and score the dough (maybe 1/8 inch deep) into 12 equal wedges before baking.

Bake at 325 for about 45 minutes or until golden on top.