Lemon Rosemary Scones

I like baking with whole wheat as much as possible to try and sneak in as many nutrients as I can for myself and for my kids.  Pastry flour lightens the scone a bit but you still need the all purpose flour for the body of the scone.

I was truly inspired by my yard to find a recipe for the abundance of lemons

and rosemary.

Lemon Rosemary Scones Recipe

Barely adapted from Ree Drummond

Ingredients

SCONES
1 1/2cup All-purpose Flour

1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2/3 cups Sugar
5 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 sticks (1/2 Pound) Unsalted Butter, Chilled And Cut Into Pieces
1 whole Large Egg
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 Tablespoon Finely Minced Fresh Rosemary
Zest Of 1 Lemon

GLAZE
5 cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted
1/2 cup Whole Milk, More If Needed For Thinning
Zest And Juice From 1 Lemon
1 teaspoon Finely Minced Fresh Rosemary
Dash Of Salt
Preparation Instructions


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Mix cream with egg, lemon zest and rosemary and allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes to steep.

Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter pieces into the flour. Keep going until mixture resembles crumbs. Mix wet mixture with flour mixture; stir gently with a fork until combined. Mix should be crumbly, but if it's too crumbly to work with, splash in a small amount of heavy cream.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and lightly press it together until it forms a rough rectangle. Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick. Use your hands to help with the forming if necessary. Final rectangle should be about 18 inches by about 10 inches.

(This is where my hands got too messy to snap pictures.)


Use a knife to trim into a symmetrical rectangle, then cut the rectangle into 12 symmetrical squares/rectangles. Next, cut each square/rectangle in half diagonally, to form smaller triangles.

Transfer to a parchment or baking mat-lined cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes, removing from the oven just before they start to turn golden. Allow to cool for 15 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

GLAZE

To make the icing, add lemon zest, lemon juice and rosemary into milk; allow to sit for awhile. Mix powdered sugar with the milk, adding more powdered sugar or milk if necessary to get the consistency the right thickness. Stir or whisk until completely smooth.

One at a time, carefully dunk each cooled scone in the glaze, turning it over if necessary. Transfer to parchment paper or the cooling rack. Allow the glaze to set completely, about an hour. Scones will keep several days if glazed.

Blueberry Scones

Blueberry Scones

These blueberry scones have a layer of strawberry jam in the middle which is my secret to keeping the scones moist and soft.  Who wants a tough scone on Valentine's day or on any day for that matter?  Valentine's day is not just about spending time with a lover.  The essence is to show the people who are important to you how much you care.  It can be as simple as making a blueberry scone from scratch.  Don't feel the need to plunge for the heart shaped box with the overpriced chocolates or buy flowers that will die in a week.  Do something different for those special people and impress them with your baking skills!

Therapeutic topic of the week: Psychological benefits of a piece of chocolate?

Usually we only allow ourselves small amounts of fattening or sweet foods or limit it to special occasions.  Here's some food for thought: enjoyment actually affects the nutritional value of food.  The greater  the pleasure, the more nutrients are absorbed.  Think about it, food is something we do regularly that manages to please all of our senses at once.  It can be the scent of freshly baked bread, a sizzling fajita plate in a restaurant or  a beautiful arrangement of fruit on a plate.  These invoke our taste buds on our palate giving you a heightened sense of liveliness  --- but only if you allow yourself the time and freedom to appreciate it.

A recent German study gave women a chocolate bar to eat at any time in their day.  Once they ate the chocolate there was a significant increase in mood when compared with those who ate an apple or nothing at all.  The women with the chocolate bar said that they were energized and happy.  Okay, so that's nothing new we all know we feel good after we eat chocolate.  But it doesn't end there.  The benefits lasted for over half an hour which researchers reported was because of the taste and experience of eating it.  Not a neurochemical change that it may have brought that created the sensory delight.  The best part was that these sensory qualities reduced any further cravings for chocolate.

Blueberry Scones Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling tops
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, picked over and rinsed
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing tops
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup of strawberry jam

cinnamon and sugar mixed together for topping

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with rack in center. Place a baking mat on a baking sheet, and set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in butter until the largest pieces are the size of peas. Stir in blueberries and zest.
Using a fork, whisk together cream and egg in a liquid measuring cup. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients, and pour in cream mixture. Stir lightly with fork just until dough comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead a few times to mix well.

Pat dough into a 6-inch square about 1 1/4 inches thick.  Spread a layer of strawberry jam.  Roll the dough up into a log.  Seam side down, flatten the dough  to a 12 x4 inch rectangle.  Using a floured knife, cut into four 3-inch squares or  use a cookie cutter of your choice. Cut squares in half on the diagonal to form eight triangles. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Brush tops with cream, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 22 minutes. Transfer scones to wire racks to cool.

Adapted from Martha Stewart