Buttermilk Scones — ALANA SMITH

Aug 17

Aug 17 Buttermilk Scones

No introduction needed. My household’s favourite Sunday morning breakfast, eaten in pajamas with generous dollops of jam and cream (or cream first then jam, however you prefer).

If you don’t have self-raising flour, use plain/cake/all-purpose flour with baking powder (2 teaspoons/10ml baking powder for every 1 cup/150g of flour). You can use salted butter, just omit the additional salt in the recipe. I rarely egg wash my scones, but you can, using a little beaten egg before baking. This recipe can easily be doubled for more servings. See the how-to video here: Alana Smith (@alanasmithsweetphotography) • Instagram photos and videos

Makes 6 - 8 small scones (6cm diameter) or 5 medium scones (8cm diameter)

BUTTERMILK SCONE DOUGH

self-raising flour, 225g (1 + 1/2 cup)

unsalted butter, 50g - cold out of the fridge

caster sugar, 25g (30ml or 2 tablespoons)

fine salt, 1.25ml (1/4 teaspoon)

buttermilk, 160g (160ml or 2/3 cup)

milk, 30g (30ml or 2 tablespoons)

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan) and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Place the flour in a large mixing bowl, then using a microplane or box grater, grate in the butter (alternatively, you can place the flour and roughly chopped butter in a food processor bowl fitted with a blade attachment).

Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until fine and uniform (or blitz with a food processor until resembling fine crumbs, then transfer to a mixing bowl).

Add the sugar and salt and mix until uniform.

Add the buttermilk and milk, then mix using a table knife until clumpy.

Tip the shaggy dough onto a clean work surface and press together gently to form a dough ball.

Dust the top and bottom of the dough with extra flour, then flatten with your hands to a thickness of about 2cm.

Cut out rounds using a round cutter (for small, dainty scones, I like using a 6cm diameter round cutter). You can make them smaller or bigger, just remember to adjust the baking time accordingly.

Try not to twist the cutter when pressing out the scones, to ensure they rise straight up in the oven rather than topple over.

Place the dough rounds on the prepared tray. Gently press together the remaining dough and repeat cutting out rounds until you have used all the dough (I usually get around 7 - 8 scones of 6cm diameter).