The Foodie Files

I have a pretty gracious family, but we're not above teasing each other a little bit.  One of the main things my brother likes to call me out on is my tendency to call any and everything "the best ever".  Talk to me about whatever book I'm reading and if I like it in any capacity I'll probably call it "the best book ever" without even realizing I said it.  If I'm drinking coffee, chances are it's the "best coffee ever"...if I get a new dress, it's usually the "best dress ever", and so on and so forth.  I'm pretty sure it's a sickness but what can ya do?  All that to say, I realize "the best ever" makes frequent appearances in my vernacular but you need to know that these are actually the best scones ever.  For real.  My Mom has used this recipe as part of our Saturday morning tea for what seems like a million years and they never disappoint (Saturday morning tea, by the way, was one of our fun family traditions growing up.  It's like I always say...best family ever).

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 TBS baking power
3 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp salt
5 TBS cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
For topping:
1 TBS heavy cream
1 TBS sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and move baking rack to the middle position.  Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl and use a pastry blender or food processor to mix.  If you want the entire recipe to include chocolate chips, add them now.

The mixed texture should resembles course meal.  Stir in heavy cream until dough begins to form then transfer to a countertop.  Knead the dough until it comes together into a rough, slightly sticky ball.  Arrange dough into a long oval shape and cut scones into wedges.

Since we only wanted chocolate chips in half our batch, we added them directly to selected wedges.  Brush the top of your scones with heavy cream and sprinkle wish sugar, then place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake until the scone tops are light brown, 12-15 minutes, and serve warm.