scones

I've tried making scones once before. They tasted like cardboard. These ones, on the other hand...
are amazing. I didn't have as many dried cranberries as were called for on hand, so I threw in some raisins with the ones I did have. And I didn't use any of my usual hippy-dippy whole wheat flour, so they're light and fluffy and perfect. Yum.
And I had a helper in the kitchen. P stood on a stepstool at the kitchen sink for one hour this morning, as I washed dishes, made scones, and cleaned up. He had a pot and some utensils, a bit of sudsy water, and was a very happy camper. What a great boy!

The Mother-in-Law Scones

3 c. flour
½ c. sugar
2 ½ t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
¾ t. salt
¾ c. cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. berries, raisins, nuts, etc.

Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Cut in the cold butter until the butter is the size of small peas (or, rub butter in with fingertips, but work quickly so as to not warm up the butter). Add the berries (or whatever you are using) and mix well. Add buttermilk and mix just until blended. Work dough into ball and knead 10-25 times (this is what the recipe says, what can I say?). Pat dough into two circles about 2 ½ inches thick. (The dough will be sticky and a bit hard to deal with. Don’t worry. Keep going.) Cut each circle of dough into 6 or 8 pie-shaped pieces. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush with buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve warm. (These can also be frozen and heated in the oven until they are crusty on the outside.)

The recipe is from over here, at Jora's lovely blog.