Friday, January 30, 2009

Yeast Scones

I've been on the lookout for a very special scone recipe for over 4 years. My favorite tea room (in Albuquerque) makes divine scones. They're soft, light, and heavenly. Now let me say up front - there's no such thing as a bad scone. But I've longed for the texture and flavor of this one particular kind. I've tried many, many different scone recipes but I've never been able to quite replicate the texture. My friend, AZ Tea Lover, also a fan of these scones, found a gem of a recipe that I think fits the bill. The secret ingredient is yeast. This recipe came from cooks.com.


12/17/11 - Update:  I just made these with 3 cups white flour, 2 cups whole wheat and it worked great!

Yield: 2 dozen

1 pkg yeast
2 tbsp lukewarm water
1 cup shortening (we actually used 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup Smart Balance; 1/2 butter and 1/2 oil also ok!)
5 cups flour
3 tbsp baking powder
4 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk (water is OK!)
  1. Preheat oven to 400.
  2. In a small cup, dissolve yeast in water.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk/sift together dry ingredients (sift flour).
  4. Cut shortening into dry ingredients.
  5. Blend together yeast, buttermilk and shortening/dry ingredients until sticky.
  6. Knead and roll out on floured surface to desired thickness. (We did about 1/2 inch.) Cut with cookie cutters.
  7. Bake for ~15 min, until tops are golden.
  8. Serve with jam and cream. (My favorite is mock Devonshire cream.)
Notes:
  • Recipe can be halved.
  • AZ Tea Lover recommends freezing uncooked scones on a baking sheet, then storing them in the freezer in a zipper bag. Take one out and thaw it for 15 min, then pop it into toaster oven for an individual treat!. (The thawing helps it puff up a bit more.)
  • You could easily add in dried fruit, nuts, etc. to this recipe.

11 comments:

Ginger said...

I've never had scones made with yeast before. I'll have to give the recipe a try sometime. Thanks for sharing.

artandtea said...

Thanks for sharing the scone recipe, Steph. It sounds quite yummy.
When you get a chance, could you please share the name of your favorite tearoom in Albuquerque? My son just got stationed at Kirtland AFB. I'll be visiting him in the spring and I'd love to visit the tearoom. Thanks!

Steph said...

It's the St. James Tearoom - marvelous! http://stjamestearoom.com/

Marilyn Miller said...

Scones! I love all scones too. Now I had not heard of a scone with yeast. I loved the teapot shape too.

mep said...

Sounds lovely. I've always been intimidated by yeast, but perhaps I'll give this recipe a try.

I want to hear more about mock Devonshire cream . . . I like the sound of that.

sweetcakes said...

Very interesting. I'll have to give this recipe a try. Thanks for sharing!

parTea lady said...

These sound great. I'll have to try making scones with yeast. Perhaps I'll throw in some currents or dried cherries. Cutting them out as teapots was a nice touch.

Tea Time With Melody said...

Boy if there is one thing I don't like it's a hard scone. One that crumbles when you cut it etc. These sound devine. I like to put my scones in a zip lock bag not long after taking them out of the oven. This seems to keep them soft and moist.

Philigry said...

those look so yummy. i love that cookie cutter you have.
glad you found that great recipe. i love it when something turns out just how you want it to.

Greenmare said...

that is a new recipe to me, I can't wait to try them! I love love love your teapot cutter!

Anna said...

I'm going to have to try this with my favorite scone combination: rosemary and walnuts. (I want one right now, actually.)