I love a little cookbook I have called Once Upon a Tart, which is the name of a restaurant in SoHo, New York, a very fashionable neighborhood. While I’ve tried many scones, and found them to be dry, these I made last week are moist and wonderful. They freeze beautifully, too.
Buttermilk Scones with Dried Currants
Makes 10
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
20 tablespoons (2 ½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 large eggs
1 cup cold buttermilk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup dried currants
1. Position your oven racks so that one is in the center, and preheat the oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Dump the dry ingredients into the bowl of the food processor fitted with a metal blade, and pulse a few times to mix.
3. Add the butter to the bowl all at once, and run the food processor for 15 seconds. Switch to pulse, and continue pulsing until there are no chunks of butter left and the mixture looks like moist crumbs. Be careful not to over mix the ingredients. Remove the blade from the processor, and dumb the crumbs into a big bowl.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs to break up the yolks. Whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla. Use the whisk to stir in the currants.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the flour butter crumbs and stir with a wooden spoon. Mix until it comes together. Stop as soon as no flour is visible. Do not over work the dough.
6. Use a ½ cup measuring cup to scoop the batter out, and plop it onto the baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between the scones.
7. Place the baking sheet on the center rack in the oven and bake the scones for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are a light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the scone comes out clean.
8. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to fool for a few minutes. Remove scones and place on rack. Serve fresh from the oven or at room temperature.
Note: My scones did not take this long to cook, so watch closely.