Classic Scones

Hi guys! It's been a few days, but I'm back! I had a little vacation, so blogging has taken a back seat. But I'm back in sunny England (it actually has been sunny the last couple of days), so it's back to blogging.

I felt a little bit in a slump with post-holiday blues the last couple of days. I'm going to be honest, I wasn't looking forward to baking and I haven't even been cooking beyond warming up some fries in the oven or a microwaveable meal. It just felt like a chore. But I made myself get up this morning and do bake these scones, and I'm really glad I did.

As I've said many times before, I am very much a novice baker. So while I'm good at some things, I haven't quite figured out others, and scones are something I could never get right. I know loads of people say they're mega easy, but every time I tried scones I always got something wrong. I've had a series of scone fails from hard block to flat discs, and I could never figure out what I wasn't doing right. I tried not to overwork the dough, I used cold butter, touched the dough as little as possible, and it still came out wrong.

And then I was watching the Great British Celebrity Bake Off, and Paul Hollywood said you have to let the scones rest before you bake them, and all of a sudden I was like 'Duh, of course that's what I'm doing wrong!' The baking powder needs a bit of time to react and produce enough gas to make the scones rise and become light and fluffy. Of course, you still don't want to overwork the dough, but now you also want to let them rest on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before you bake them.

And it worked! These scones are light, crumbly, delicate, and delicious. You can find Paul's recipe here. Read it through, follow it, and I promise you'll have a perfect scone waiting for a perfect dollop of clotted cream and jam.