February 10, 2004
Yogurt Scones
We had friends over for brunch on Sunday. Maxence went out in the morning to the charcuterie shop, cheese shop, and bakery, and came back with an basketload of ready-to-eat goodies -- bone-in ham and duck terrine and eggs in aspic and cheese and freshly baked bread -- that we served with a simple salad topped with toasted pumpkin seeds.
And for the sweet part of the brunch (there must be a sweet part to a brunch, otherwise it's just a lunch), I baked scones, using my absolute favorite recipe, which is simple and quick, and calls for ingredients I always have on hand.
These scones are delicious plain, but you can add whichever flavoring you like -- spices, dried fruits, nuts, citrus zest... This time I decided to fold dried blueberries and lemon zest into half of the batter, to very good results. The lemon zest came from a little jar of ready-made roasted and toasted lemon zest I bought a little while ago at Lafayette Gourmet, which I conveniently keep in the fridge for all my lemon zest needs.
I baked the scones in the morning, and put them back in the oven for a few minutes to reheat before serving. We had them with butter and a selection of jams, carefully chosen among the rather unreasonable collection of sweet spreads that live in a dedicated drawer of our kitchen, to my delight and Maxence's despair.
Yogurt Scones
- 215 grams (1 2/3 cup) flour
- 30 grams (2 heaping tablespoons) sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder (one French standard packet, or 11 grams)
- 30 grams (2 tablespoons) butter, softened
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) plain yogurt
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped nuts or dried fruits, or a teaspoon citrus zest... (optional)
(Yields 8 scones.)
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder. Add in the diced butter and blend it in with a fork or pastry cutter, until no visible lump of butter remains. Add the yogurt, milk, and whatever flavoring ingredient you want to use, and blend them in until the dough forms a ball. Handle the dough as lightly as you can, without overmixing, or the scones won't raise as much.
Pat the dough into a flattish round, about 3 cm (a little over an inch) in thickness, and cut into eight wedges (alternatively, you can simply divide the dough into eight balls, or use a cookie cutter to make eight neat rounds). Place the wedges a few centimeters apart on the cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, until the top of the scones is set and lightly golden.
Serve warm, with an assortment of spreads -- clotted cream, butter, jam, honey, nut butter... -- and a cup of tea.
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More Recipes Like This One:
~ Carrot and Rosemary Miniature Scones
~ Aged Gouda and Dried Pear Scones/Biscuits
~ Blueberry Yogurt Cake
~ Yogurt Cake
~ Raspberry Muffins with Cacao Nibs
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Comments (11)
Permalink | Posted by clotilde in Desserts & Sweets - Recipe Inside!
I'm going to make these right now!
Posted by Jackie on February 10, 2004 2:30 PMToday I was searching for picture of polenta on the internet. Then I run into your homepage. I couldn't stop reading all your articles. You have made very great site!
Posted by YuMei on February 10, 2004 4:38 PMI am also very surprised that we have so much in common. I am also a software engineer and working in a small crm software company in Holland. And I love cooking!
I am Taiwanese. When I was still living in Taiwan, I didn't even know how to cook a meal (I have a very good mother and a sister who had studied dietetics. And there are so many cheap, but great restaurants near by. So cooking was never a word in my head)
Since I move to holland to live with my bf (now my husband). I start to fight with all unknown ingredents and try to make my home town delights.
On my book shelf are already more cookbooks than computer books. After dinner, I am still looking for what's nice for tomorrow, much to my husbands horror. Since I moved to Holland to live with him, he gained 13 kgs, bcos of my cooking.
Now I am learning french. Hope one day I could take some cooking course in paris.
I am so happy that I have one more good homepage I can visit every day. Keep up with the good work!
I bet you thought I was joking, no?
http://www.gastroblog.com/scone1.jpg
Entry tomorrow! So light and airy and niiiice!
Posted by Jackie on February 10, 2004 6:18 PMI've been lurking on your site for a couple months now and I love it! It's been a source of a lot of great ideas.
About the scones, have you tried freezing them? They sound like the perfect treat to make ahead of time when you're expecting house guests.
Posted by sandra on February 10, 2004 7:18 PMHow funny! I also made a very similar tried-and-true brunch recipe this weekend: Blueberry-Yogurt muffins (which my husband promptly inhaled). Maybe I'll have to try these this weekend.
Posted by Jenny on February 11, 2004 2:49 AMJackie - Now, you are _fast_! So glad you liked them - and no, I didn't think you were joking, I know you too well now! :)
YuMei - Thanks a lot for the kind words, and you are right, there are a lot of similarities between you and me!
Sandra - Yes, I have succesfully frozen these scones : bake them first, then freeze them. When you want to serve them, you can either thaw them during the night and reheat in the oven for 5 minutes to crisp up, or pop them frozen into the preheated oven, for 15 minutes or so.
Jenny - Does your recipe use blueberry flavored yogurt? I think I have read such a recipe somewhere...
Posted by clotilde on February 11, 2004 9:12 AMFinally, a great, easy scone recipe! Thank you Clotilde-I've read your blog for a long time, but finally had to comment that these scones are delicious.
Posted by Catherine on August 14, 2005 12:39 AMThanks for this wonderful site. I cannot wait to try some more recipes.
Posted by Robert on November 29, 2006 8:03 PMTHESE ARE IN MY OVEN BAKING AND SMELL ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!! i used whole wheat flour, splenda, and soaked a mixture of dark raisins, light raisins and cranberries with this mango flavored rum for a few hours and mixed those in with the batch and sprinkled lime zest on top right before i stuck them in the oven.
this is going to be heaven.
Posted by christina on June 25, 2007 3:45 AMHi, I was looking for something without eggs, actually soft buns and eventually stumbled upon your blog. It is a great one! I am trying these scones tomorrow for tea!
Posted by Harini on March 8, 2008 7:28 PMWow! absolutely simple to make and delicious. :-)
thanks for posting it Clotilde. they turned out crisp outside, and soft inside. very light. I used wholewheat flour and the taste was a tad floury, but a pat of butter on the hot scones took care of that. Can i make it with roasted flour, i wonder? What I especially loved was its mild sugariness. Refreshing.
and finally, i have to tell you that I have been following your blog for a few months and it is my favourite bar none. :-)
-Shil
Posted by Elli D'Silwa on May 1, 2008 5:36 PMPrivacy. The email addresses you enter will not be used for any other purpose than the sending of this message.