Lemon Poppy Seed Scones

Today I had an urge to bake; an ignore-homework and look-through-cookbooks desire to bake. So I pulled out the trusty The New Best Recipe from the makers of Cooks Illustrated and started flipping through it. I wanted to make blueberry muffins, but with no fresh blueberries, I nixed the idea. I decided on scones, but didn't want to make the flavor variations they listed, and had no heavy cream, so I changed the recipe a bit. Some of the quantities may not be exact because I tend to add a bit of this and that if I think the batter needs it, but I tried to account for that in the amounts. Surprisingly, this recipe was really easy and quick to put together; something that recipes from Cooks Illustrated are not known for.

Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 1/2 tablespoons sugar (the recipe called for 3, but I like mine a bit sweeter, you could even add more if you wanted)
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
1/4 cup poppy seeds (more or less depending on personal taste, I like lots)
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract (you could use a tablespoon of lemon zest if you don't have any extract.)
1 cup half and half (the recipe called for heavy cream, but I didn't have any. We also had about 1/4 cup of buttermilk leftover, so I replaced 1/4 of the half and half with that. Any of these variation would work well.)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Mix together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a bowl large enough for all ingredients.
3. Cut in butter into the flour mixture until it becomes a coarse meal.
4. Add poppy seeds.
5. Stir in heavy cream and lemon extract until a dough forms, it will be very sticky.
6. Turn dough out to a floured surface and knead 5 seconds or so until it forms a ball. Shape dough into a circle about the size of a cake pan and cut into eight wedges.
7. Place the wedges onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 12-15 minutes until golden.


This dough isn't rocket science, and as I said some things may not be completely accurate, but the scones were delicious. They aren't overly sweet (which I like), and they go wonderfully with jams or a little glaze on top.