Raisin Scones

This is a recipe I stumbled upon last winter at Baking Bites, and it is absolutely wonderful! The recipe originally comes from the Cheeseboard in Berkeley which made me even more eager to test it out. These photos are from the first time I baked these (2/11/08 according to the date of the photo). And I just have to repeat..these scones are delicious, divine, heavenly...I could go on and on about these. But it's definitely not just me who loves these. Just about everyone who has tried these loved them! So far I've tried making raisin scones, cranberry orange scones, strawberry jam and walnut scones, raspberry scones, and mini chocolate chip scones. One of these days, I'll dedicate a post to the different variations of scones I've made...once I've tried out a few more flavor combinations! I digress. What I meant to say is you can test out any combination you want as it's pretty easy to adapt the basic recipe :) I also like to make miniature versions of these scones. It just makes me feel like I have more to eat from every batch ^_^;



Raisin Scones
adapted from Baking Bites

Ingredients

3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup butter, chilled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup raisins
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup buttermilk
sugar, for topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a large bowl.

3. Add in butter, toss to coat, and rub in with your fingers (or a pastry cutter, if you prefer) until only pea-sized chunks remain.

4. Stir in currants, then add the cream and buttermilk, mixing only until the ingredients just come together into a ball. It is ok if there is a little flour left at the bottom of the bowl.

5. Divide dough into 12 balls (about 2-in in diameter, although the cheeseboard’s seem to be larger in the shop) and dip the top of each in sugar sugar before placing on the prepared baking sheet.

6. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown.

7. Cool on a wire rack.