When I saw that Sally had set scone baking as the May challenge, I was both excited and disappointed at the the same time. Excited because I love scones! And so does my family, which means I have baked a lot of scones over the years. I don’t find them to be that difficult, mainly due to all the practice I have had 😂
So I was not expecting this to be much of a challenge. But then I took a closer look at Sally’s recipe. Her method of cutting in the butter (a crucial component to scone baking) was one that I have seen before, but have never tried. More on that later!
The first task was to choose which flavor to make my scones. Sally has quite a large variety from which to select! She has savory recipes as well as the more common, sweet options. We were having house guests this month, so I selected the tried and true, blueberry, which would please all of us for breakfast during their stay.
The first step was to combine the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar.
Then I chose to mix the wet ingredients and keep it in the fridge, while I cut in the butter. Keeping everything as cold as possible, for as long as possible is crucial to getting fluffy and light scones. Not an easy job in a hot Tucson kitchen 😆
I mixed the heavy cream, vanilla and egg in a 2 cup measure with a spout. I added another ingredient, not specified by Sally’s recipe: Lemon zest 🍋 I love lemon and blueberries together, so you will see the zest in the picture.
This was whisked up, and placed in the refrigerator for later.
Now comes the new part, for me anyway. Normally, I will cube the cold butter into smallish pieces and use a pastry cutter to work the small cubes into smaller, pea sized pieces. And, that has always worked well! But Sally, and others that I have seen, will use frozen butter and a box grater.
I admit that this has always struck me as messy and time consuming. And, if you are making more than just 8 scones, it is a lot of butter to deal with! In this recipe, there is only 1/2 cup, or 1 stick. So I decided to give it a go.
This was added to the dry ingredients and cut into the mix, which did not take long given how small the butter pieces were from the grating process.
The cold, wet mixture was then added..
as were the blueberries.
The batter was stirred until the components came together in a loose ball. This was turned out onto a heavily floured counter, and molded into an 8″ circle. As I mentioned before, this was cut into 8 triangles.
I put these on a tray and left them overnight in the fridge, as I wanted to bake them off, fresh in the morning, for our guests.
The next morning, the scones were brushed with cream and dusted with course sugar. They were baked at 400F for some amount of time (I forgot to set the timer 😉)
Until golden brown 😋
Then it was time to chow down!
So, was it really necessary to grate the butter?
These scones were delicious! No doubt about it! But they were just as tasty as recipes where I just cut up the butter into very small cubes. I would say, if there is a small amount of butter needed, then grating would be fine. But for those recipes where you are making more than just 8 or 12 scones, and you like to cube the butter, then go right ahead. That will be my plan moving forward.
Do try Sally’s scone recipes! I love her flavor combos ❤️
I love scenes and they look delicious!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Now I want scones. Lol. I’m going to try the keeping cold for as long as possible and I really like them more on the flakier side!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Cold is the way to go! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
They do look delicious and I approve your little rebel attitude and creativity. 🙂 Love lemon too!
LikeLiked by 3 people
😂that’s me! The rebel without a cause 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
Scones and blueberries are a great combination! They look so good!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you Diane🙏they didn’t last long around here😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m sure they wouldn’t here either!
LikeLiked by 1 person
😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sally’s recipe had a few new elements for me too, even after years of making scones. They turned out great though and I’m looking forward to making some berry scones as my first ones were cinnamon raisin
LikeLiked by 1 person
These look gorgeous! I’ve never used grated butter in scones before but I must say it does make sense, and is easy to do.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Easy, but messy! 😂
LikeLike
Lemon and blueberry make the perfect burst of flavor. These look absolutely divine! 💕
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you Lisa🌟
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love scones and lemon/blueberry are one of my favourites. I have never grated the butter, but seen it often. I will have to make some this week. Great post.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you Carla🙏 let me know if you like them!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mmmm you take the best foodie photos! I’ve never tried ‘cutting in butter’ before either (didn’t actually have a clue what it meant) so I’ve learned something new! xx
LikeLiked by 2 people
I am glad you liked it! Hope you give it a try, does make for tasty scones and biscuits 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
OOOH! Scones! These sound and look great!
At my old workplace the lady who ran the site cafe made fresh scones every morning for coffee break. I was always first in line! My faves were apple scones and treacle & walnut scones.
LikeLiked by 4 people
One day I hope to make some for you my friend!! Safe travels to Montreal 💕
LikeLiked by 2 people
These look absolutely divine!❤️
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you Richa💕
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love scones!!! These look delish!!
LikeLiked by 2 people
😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Looks yummy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Delicious my friend 😇🙏👌💙
LikeLike