I love scones. When I was in high school we had a British exchange student come stay at our house for a few weeks. We showed her around town and in turn she introduced my family to the pleasures of homemade scones. Or "scons" as she called them. Now that was a recipe we had her write down for future reference.
From what I have read, it seems scones originally came from Scotland and were made with oats and cooked on a griddle. Oat scones are still one of my favorites, but now there are all sorts of sweet ones, savory ones and many that have no oats at all. They are usually flour based, round or wedge shaped, and bake quickly in the oven. Most famously served in the afternoon for tea with clotted cream and strawberries, they are also terrific for breakfast, instead of muffins or toast.
For years I have experimented with various recipes and I have come to the conclusion that the reason that they taste so divine is because they have so much butter or cream in them. There are plenty of low-fat scone recipes but they aren't all that good. Oh they may be passable when fresh out of the oven, but they quickly turn into rocks. So I have settled on a recipe that only makes 4 large scones and uses some fresh fruit and yogurt to assuage the guilt that accompanies baking with so much butter.
Note: While I have made this recipe with strawberry yogurt and strawberries I imagine you could pair many other flavors of yogurt and fruit--certainly any other berry flavor but also peach, cherry, etc.
Fruity Yogurt Scones
Ingredients
1/2 cup strawberry flavored yogurt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup frozen or fresh coarsely chopped strawberries
Instructions
Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. Add butter and blend with a pastry blender or a fork until it resembles coarse cornmeal. Add the yogurt and strawberries and mix gently to create dough. Pat dough into a circle about 6"-7" in diameter. Cut into quarters, and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet, an inch apart. Bake scones for approximately 15-18 minutes or until golden on top and cooked through. Serve with more strawberry jam.
Enjoy!
