Recipe: Blueberry Scones

Scones are one of my favorite pastries, and something I rarely have the opportunity to eat. I found a recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook a couple of years ago and got up the courage to give it a try. To my surprise, the scones turned out amazing and I'm pretty sure we finished that first batch in one day. 

We bought some blueberries the other day and I knew I had to put them in a batch of scones. I hadn't made them in over a year. The recipe uses half-and-half, something I buy specifically for this recipe, and I rarely think of it ahead of time. This time, I put it on the grocery list and got a package of the individual packets you find down the coffee aisle so I could have some in the cabinet instead of watching it expire in the fridge. lol 

Okay, enough about that. Here's the recipe so you can make some scones for yourself: 

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (I leave this out)
1/3 cup firm butter or stick margarine
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup raisins, blueberries, strawberries, etc. 
4 to 6 tablespoons half-and-half
Additional half-and-half
Coarse sugar crystals (I use raw sugar)

~ Heat oven to 400'

~ Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter. You can use a pastry blender, crisscrossing 2 knives, or I just use my hands. Stir in the egg, fruit, and just enough of the 4-6 tablespoons half-and-half so dough leaves the side of the bowl. For me, that means 6 tablespoons, usually. 

~ Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and gently roll it in flour to coat. Knead it lightly 10 times. At this point, I put a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Put the dough on the parchment paper and pat it into an 8-inch circle. 

~ Use a knife dipped in flour to cut the circle into 8 wedges. I also use a pizza slicer and that works nicely. 

~ Brush the top with additional half-and-half then sprinkle the coarse sugar crystals over the top. 

~ Bake 15-18 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the cookie sheet and carefully separate the wedges. Serve warm or keep in a covered container. 

​If you want to try cinnamon, I used 3/4 teaspoons of it and that seemed to be about right. 

What other kinds of scones would you try? I've eaten orange cranberry, but I haven't made it myself. Cinnamon raisin sounds good, too.  If you try something different, come back and share. I'd love to hear about it and get new ideas!