scones! scones! scones!

Once upon a time I spent a summer in England and fell in love with British, or perhaps, truly Scottish scones. They are a shortbread biscuit served with afternoon tea, or in my case, served for lunch with a banana and a diet coke in the market each and every day. I'd never noticed scones in the U.S. before but when I returned, and began looking for them I discovered that they had been lost in translation on this side of the pond. They'd been turned into a cookie. A dry, crumbly cookie, coated in coarse sugar and served with burned coffee. But not to make this dismal...my story turns out well because I no longer have to lament the abysmal atrocity of the American interpretation. I can now make my own. Taylor nearly burned his fingers trying to get at these this morning. You'd think he never got any good vittles.

Just. Scones.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 t0 1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg
{recommended variations}

DIRECTIONS
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in nuts or any other desired dry additions.

In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth. Add any wet ingredients. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.) Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. I will dutifully note that at this point many American recipes will recommend that you sprinkle the top with 1 tsp. of sugar. However, since this is not a Starbucks cookie scone, rather a brunch or afternoon tea biscuit, I will make no such recommendation. Carrying on. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature. With strawberry preserves or whipped lemon custard.I leave you with a close up of that perfect moist crumbliness.