Biscuits Or Scones 1972 British Recipes

BEST EVER CLASSIC SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet or two (depending on how large your baking sheets are) by lining them with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well with a fork or a whisk.
• In a liquid measuring cup, measure the cream and add the eggs. Whisk together using a fork and set aside.
• The next few steps should be done quickly, as you're working with cold butter and you want the butter to be as cold as possible when it hits the heat of the oven. This will result in a flaky scone, rather than a heavy and dense one.
• Cut up your butter, right from the fridge, into little pieces and dump it into the flour mixture. Using your hands (wash them well first and remove any rings), pick up handfuls of the butter and flour mixture, rubbing the pieces of butter and the flour between the heels of your hands to create "sheets" of butter. You should act quickly here, and don't allow the pieces of butter to sit in your hands for any length of time as the heat from your hands will cause it to soften. The goal is to create paper-thin pieces of butter, small and large throughout the mixture. Once there are no thick chunks of butter remaining, only thin sheets, remove your hands from the mixture. Hands equal heat, so handle the mixture as little as possible.
• Pour in the wet ingredients and mix roughly with a fork. Do not over mix, or the result will be heavy and dense.
• Once the wet ingredients have been incorporated but there are still several streaks of flour, turn the dough out onto a clean and floured counter surface. Press the dough down into the counter and then fold one half over the other half like you are folding a piece of paper. Press down again and make another fold. Repeat this 2 or 3 more times, gathering any outlying dough bits and flour into your folds. Don't knead the dough like you would if you were making bread, and don't stir or mix the dough like you would if you were making muffins. Scones are technically a pastry, so the goal is flaky layers that are created by the thin sheets of butter and all the folding.
• Once your dough is formed after folding several times, shape it into a rectangle about 1 3/4 to 2 inches thick (approximately). Again, be careful not to handle the dough too much, so a few little cracks here and there are fine.
• Cut out circles of dough using a biscuit cutter or the rim of a class or jar. Arrange the circles of dough on the parchment-lined baking sheet and brush the tops with the egg wash (whisk together the egg and water).
• You'll need to re-shape the leftover dough to form another rectangle - do this carefully and gently, without adding much extra flour if possible. The less you handle the dough, the more tender and flaky the scones will be. Cut out the remainder of the scones until you have about 10-12 in total.
• Bake for about 15-18 minutes just until barely golden brown and the surface of the scones lose their shine. Let them cool for 3-5 minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

MASTER RECIPE FOR BISCUITS AND SCONES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or baking mat, or use a nonstick pan.
• Toss dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, rub butter and flour mixture together just until butter pieces are the size of peas and covered with flour. Make a well in the center of the bowl and pour in cream. Mix ingredients together by hand until a shaggy dough is formed. (The mixture may seem drier than typical biscuit dough.)
• Turn out onto a floured surface and gently knead dough together just until smooth and all ingredients are incorporated.
• Pat dough into a 3/4- to 1-inch-thick rough rectangle shape. Use your hands if you like a nice bumpy top; for smooth tops, use a rolling pin, pressing lightly. Using a sharp knife or dough scraper, cut rectangle in half lengthwise, then cut across into 8 or 12 rectangles or squares. Place them on the baking sheet, spaced out.
• Brush tops with melted butter. Bake until light golden brown, about 22 minutes; rotate the pan front to back halfway through. Let cool slightly on the baking sheet. Serve warm or at room temperature. Eat within 24 hours.

MAKEOVER BRITISH SCONES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine the egg, buttermilk, oil and vanilla; add to crumb mixture and stir until a soft dough forms. Turn onto a floured surface; gently knead 6-8 times., Pat dough into a 6-in. circle. Cut into eight wedges. Separate wedges and place 1 in. apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush tops with milk; sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400° for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack. Serve warm.

BRITISH HERB SCONES (BISCUITS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Lightly grease a baking tray and dust it with flour.
• Sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl.
• Add butter to the bowl, toss briefly through the flour, then rub it in with your (preferably cold) fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
• Stir in the herbs.
• Start adding the milk, mixing initially with a spatula or palette knife, and then when the dough starts to come together, with a quick light hand.
• You are aiming for a soft, unsticky dough which leaves the sides of the bowl clean; you may not need all the milk – if, however, the dough seems a bit dry, add a teaspoon more milk at a time.
• Be careful not to add too much milk, and do not overwork the dough.
• Shape the dough into a round with your hands and place on a lightly floured surface.
• Flour the rolling pin, then lightly roll out the dough to a thickness of a half-inch.
• Stamp out 2” rounds with a biscuit cutter.
• When you are left with the trimmings, bring these together and roll out again lightly, and continue stamping out rounds until you have cut out the last scone.
• Lay the scones on the prepared tray, and brush the tops lightly with the extra milk.
• Bake 10 – 12 minutes until well risen and lightly browned.
• Remove to a wire rack to cool.
• Serve as suggested above, and store any left over in the freezer, to be gently re-warmed later in a microwave oven.