Sunday Scones

I've always loved scones. Maybe it's my Dutch heritage, or maybe it's the fact that since they usually aren't too sweet so I don't feel guilty eating them for breakfast. Whatever the reason, I've always wondered how difficult they are to make from scratch. So this afternoon I used some of our dried Michigan cherries that we picked up when we were up North last month and made a batch of lemon cornmeal scones with dried cherries. 

I slightly tweaked a recipe I found on the food blog Living Tastefully and they turned out perfectly!

Lemon Cornmeal Scones with Dried Cherries

             adapted from a recipe by Living Tastefully 

Makes 12 scones

• 2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

• 1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 5 tablespoons butter

• 1 cup dried sour cherries

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup whole milk

• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1.  Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2.  Preheat the oven to 450˚F. 

3.  Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a blender. 

4.  In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, lemon zest and vanilla.  Set aside.

5.  Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture.  Blend until the butter breaks apart into the size of peas.  Transfer the flour mixture to a medium-size bowl and add the liquid ingredients.  Stir with a fork to form a smooth dough.  With your hands, knead the dough in the bowl 4 or 5 times to incorporate all of the flour.

6.  Divide the dough into 3 pieces and form each piece into a 5-inch disk.  Using a sharp knife, divide each disk into four wedges.  Place wedges onto the parchment-lined cookie sheet, leaving space between the scones on all sides.

6.  Bake scones until they are firm, but not dry, about 10-12 minutes.  Watch closely to be sure they do not brown too deeply.