2 cups all-purpose flour
⅓ cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
½ cup raisins (or dried currants) - see notes below
½ cup sour cream
1 large egg
1. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, ⅓ cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your finger to
work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in raisins.
3. In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth.
4. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps
form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball (The dough will
be sticky in places and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you
press, the dough will come together).
5. Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7 to 8 inch circle about ¾-inch thick.
Sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar. Use a sharp knife or bench scraper to
cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper)
about 1-inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes
and serve warm or at room temperature.
Cherry-Almond Scones – Add ½ teaspoon almond extract to the sour cream mixture and
substitute dried cherries for the raisins (We also like the
almond extract with cherry flavored dried cranberries). - This is what is pictured above.
Lemon-Blueberry Scones – Add a generous teaspoon of finely grated lemon zest to the
dry ingredients and substitute dried blueberries for the raisins.
Cranberry-Orange Scones – Add a generous teaspoon of finely grated orange zest to the
dry ingredients and substitute dried cranberries for the
raisins.
I make these a lot. I really mean a lot. It's the best of both worlds between a biscuit and a muffin. We usually do a mixture of two of these. We like cranberries with almond extract. I haven't ever made these with raisins or currants. Be sure when you're running the butter over the grater that you rotate the sides you're grating. Otherwise, the sides touching your hands start to melt and will be difficult to pass through the grater. I've heard of people using nonstick spray with their box graters. This isn't something I've done because mine has a nonstick coating, but I could see the spray being helpful here. After you've finished grating the butter, be sure to scrape off the interior (if using a box grater) or opposite side (if using a flat grater).
