Buttermilk Scones
Comments(20)
Just where oh where does the time go?! It has been a few weeks since I have done anything remotely interesting in the kitchen (let alone anywhere actually) since my life has recently been eaten up by my end of semester exams. These are the first exams I have undertaken since graduating from my undergraduate degree in 2006 and it definitely doesn’t get any easier with ‘experience’, let me tell you.
I have spent the last three weeks with my nose buried deep within a mountain of textbooks, journal articles and scribbly notes and spent countless and rather lonely late-night hours in the library studying hard. I am mentally buggered and I still have one more exam to go! :(
A pleasant distraction came my way today when my mum came home with a big box of delicious currants and other dried fruits, so I’ve decided to use the currants in a batch of buttermilk scones. These scones are slightly buttery (not cardboard tasting), fluffy and moist in the middle with a slight tang from the buttermilk, and begging to be eaten warm, liberally spread with butter or served with jam and cream.
One last thing too, I do apologise to you all for not posting enough, but hopefully I will be able to do more during my mid-semester break :)
Enjoy the scones!
Buttermilk Scones
Makes around 12-16, depending on how big you make them.
200g wholemeal flour
400g self raising flour
½ cup (55g) caster sugar
big pinch of salt
150g unsalted butter, very cold and cut into chunks
200g currants, sultanas, other dried fruits or none at all
500ml buttermilk
lots of flour, for dusting
milk, for glazing (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper and set aside.
- In a food processor, whiz the flours, sugar and salt until just mixed together. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. You can do this with the tips of your fingers, rubbing the butter into the flour if you don’t have a food processor.
- Tip the mixture into a large bowl and mix through the dried fruit if using. Using a butter knife, lightly mix through the buttermilk until it all come together.
- Lightly knead the dough on a floured surface until it feels ever so slightly elastic (only a few minutes). Pat the dough down until 4cm high and using a round cutter or upside down tumbler, cut out rounds. Repeat with any scraps.
- Place the scones quite close together on the prepared baking tray and either brush with milk (for shiny scones) or lightly dust the tops with flour and bake for 20 minutes or so or until golden brown. Remove them from the oven and immediately cover with a clean teatowel for 5 minutes.
The scones look beautiful and the recipe sounds pretty straight forward. Will give it a try this weekend.
Thanks for sharing!
Mmmmm…. these look good!! Perfect for a sunny afternoon after a competitive and hilarious game of golf on the Wii
i’d love to see you post more but when you do post the visits are so worthwhile that it hardly matters. great pictures, it’s a great blog! good luck on the rest of your exams!
Oh, I love scones! Yours look delicious!
Cheers,
Rosa
those are some yummy looking scones Linda :). Love the second pic!
Siri
I think if more people started making their own scones, Starbucks would go out of business. There is such a world of difference in taste and texture in the homemade. These sound delicious!
I found you on TasteSpotting and am writing to say that if you have any photos that aren’t accepted there, I’d love to publish them. Visit my new site (below), it’s a lot of fun! I hope you will consider it.
Best,
Casey
Editor
http://www.tastestopping.wordpress.com
They look wonderfully light! I really must bake scones more often
i thaught th recipe was good and easy to follow, but i had no buttermilk, so i used ordinary milk, and only 200ml of it.
i think it has worked okay, as i tasted the mixture, and it tasted delicius.
i hope it has worked
good recipie! thanks!
danielle,
x
Hey Linda,
your buttermilk scones look mouth-watering. I´ll try them with blueberries instead of sultanas – that should taste wonderful. Thanks for the recipe.
oh goodness, these look incredible! So fluffy & soft! Lately my favorite scone has been caramelized onion & white cheddar- yumm!
could you make these with out any fruit?
Hi Shannon, of course you can omit the fruit :)
Hi Danielle, happy to hear your subsitution worked out well :)
Linda,
Thanks for the email! These look heavenly, and I will be watching for the new layout:)
The texture of these looks perfect; I cannot wait to find the excuse to bake them. All the best for your exams.
You’re scones look perfect! So hard to find really good scones outside homemade…
This is the third scone post I have read this morning. I think it’s a sign to bake some now!
They look delectable. Yummo
i’ve never used buttermilk in scones but these look so much better than the ones i make, i’ll definitely hafta try your recipe out hopefully for this sunday! i want scones for breakfast too. yum yum x
Hi Linda, I am going to make it soon. Will let you know my outcome. :)