Country Style California Olive Thyme And Cheese Scones Biscuits 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.

OLIVE BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Position an oven rack so it is in the top third of the oven.
• Add the flour, baking powder and salt to a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Stir in the olives. Using your fingers or a fork, cut the mascarpone into the flour mixture until it resembles small pebbles in the flour. Add the buttermilk and gently mix until a rough dough is formed. (Do not overmix.) Pour the mixture onto a lightly floured surface and gently gather into a 1-inch-thick square. Using a 2-inch round biscuit cutter, cut as many rounds as your square will allow. Gather the scraps once, reform and cut a few more. (You will have about 12 biscuits.) Place on a small rimmed baking sheet so that the biscuits touch each other. Bake in the top third of the oven until light golden brown and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with orange marmalade and softened salted butter on the side, if using.

SCONES / TEA BISCUITS (CANADIAN LIVING)

Steps:

• Line rimless baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat; or dust lightly with flour. Set aside.
• In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Pour buttermilk over top and stir with fork to form soft, slightly sticky ragged dough.
• Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead gently 10 times to smooth dough, adding a sprinkle more flour to the work surface if needed. Gently pat or roll out into generous ½-inch thick round. Using 2-inch cutter, cut out rounds. Place on prepared baking sheet. Gather up scraps and repat dough; cut out more rounds, pressing any remaining scraps into a final scone (the bakers's scone).
• Brush tops of scones with egg. Bake in centre of 425°F oven until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool on pan on rack for 5 minutes. Transfer to racks to finish cooling.
• Tip: Before cutting out scones, dip cutter into flour, repeating the dipping between cuts so cutter doesn't stick. Always cut out scones, or any cookie, with as little space as possible between rounds as possible. You can reroll the scraps, but at every rerolling the results are tougher. So get as many rounds as you can out of the first roll.

COUNTRY STYLE CALIFORNIA OLIVE, THYME AND CHEESE SCONES/BISCUITS

Steps:

• Combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Cut in butter with a fork or your fingers until mixture resembles looks like tiny pebbles.
• Stir in California Ripe Olives, chopped fresh thyme and cheddar cheese. Pour in buttermilk and knead just until dough comes together.
• Roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 1-inch thick. Cut into discs with a 3-inch scone/biscuit cutter and place onto a baking sheet.
• Bake in a 235C or 475F oven for 9-11 minutes until golden brown and well risen.
• Serve warm with butter, or mustard and sliced ham.

MCFLAY MCSCONES

Steps:

• For the roasted tomatoes: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Spread the tomatoes out on the prepared baking sheet. Smash the garlic cloves with your knife blade; mince, sprinkle with some salt, and then smear to a paste using flat side of the knife. Whisk together the oil, herbs and garlic; drizzle over the tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the tomatoes until soft and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Set aside.
• For the scones: Adjust the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl. In a second bowl, whisk together the 3 eggs, cream and hot sauce until combined.
• Cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Add the wet ingredients and the cheese and ham to the dry ingredients; mix until a dough just comes together--the dough should be wet.
• Transfer the dough to a generously floured work surface and pat out to a 1-inch thickness. Cut into rounds using a 3-inch biscuit cutter; transfer the rounds to the prepared baking sheet, spaced a few inches apart. Re-roll the scraps and cut more scones. Beat the remaining 1 egg with a touch of heavy cream; brush the scones with the egg wash.
• Bake the scones until golden brown on top and bottom, about 15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a baking rack to cool completely.
• To assemble the McScones: Slice the scones in half horizontally. Put 2 or 3 roasted tomato slices on the bottom halves.
• Heat the butter and oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Fry the eggs, in batches if needed, until the whites are set and the yolks still runny, about 2 to 3 minutes; season with a little salt and pepper just before done. Using the biscuit cutter, cut the eggs around the yolks to make rounds that fit the scones.
• Set the eggs on the scones, atop the tomato slices; add a bit of watercress, and finish up with the top half of each scone. Serve immediately.

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.

FARMHOUSE BED AND BREAKFAST APRICOT SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400; seasoned baking stone or greased cookie sheet; set aside.
• In a bowl, combine dry ingredients; cut in butter.
• In a small bowl, combine eggs; reserve ONE TABLESPOON for glazing; set aside.
• In another bowl, combine sour cream, milk and eggs; add apricots; stir into crumb mixture until dough clings together.
• Turn onto lightly floured table, knead 12-15 times; divide down into two portions.
• Pat one portion into a 6-7 inch disk on the baking sheet.
• Combine filling ingredients, sprinkle over first disk in pan to within 1/2-inch of edge.
• Pat remaining down into matching disk, place over filling, softly pinch edges, but don't worry if they're not sealed.
• Glaze top with reserved 1 T. egg, sprinkle with additional sugar (brown or white); cut into wedges, leaving in place on pan.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes (golden brown).
• Cool slightly, break apart carefully; serve warm with honey and apricot jam.
• VARIATION: try dried cranberries for a tangy eye-opening breakfast treat!