Proper English Scones

Recipe courtesy of Rock Recipes.

Yield: 18 1 1/2 inch scones

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp white sugar
• pinch table salt table salt
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
• 1 egg

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a food processor add the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Pulse to mix together well. (You can just mix the ingredients in a bowl if you prefer the manual method)
3. Pulse in the butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. (or just use your fingertips to rub the butter through the dry ingredients until the same texture is achieved.)
4. Whisk together the milk, egg and vanilla. Reserve a few teaspoons of the liquid to brush on top of the scones. This helps them brown nicely)
5. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and stir in quickly with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. It should be a little sticky. Don’t over work the dough or your scones will get tough and not rise well.
6. Turn the dough out onto a well floured board or counter top.
7. Lightly sprinkle the top of the dough with flour and just using your hands, form the dough into a round about 3/4 of an inch thick.
8. Using a 1 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, cut out your scones and place them about 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.
9. Re-roll the scraps and cut out the rest of the scones. Brush the tops of all the scones with the reserved milk and egg liquid.
10. Pop the scones into the hot oven for about 12-15 minutes or until the tops of the scones are evenly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
11. Serve with thick or clotted cream and your favorite jam.