I guess I have always lived in a scone desert. I never tasted one until I was an adult. Always seemed meh to me.
Then, this scone came along. Wow.
My late-in-life discovery of scones made me wonder about the origins of scones. It turns out that scones are probably a quick bread originated by the Scots in the 1500s and perhaps named after the ancient Scone (or stone) of Destiny upon which Scottish kings were crowned until the invading British took the stone back to Westminister Abbey where it was installed under the coronation chair for English kings. (Take that, Scotland!) The stone was retaken by Scottish radicals in 1950, retaken by Britain and then officially returned to Scotland in 1996 where it is displayed in Edinburgh Castle.
There is also some disagreement about the pronunciation of the word scone. Do you say scone (rhymes with gone) or scone (rhymes with cone)? There is apparently a” potato/po-TAT-O” argument that involves nationalist and class differences.
“I asked the maid in dulcet tone
To order me a buttered scone;
The silly girl has been and gone
And ordered me a buttered scone.”
You choose.
In Britain, food historians note that the scone was popularized in the late 18th Century by the Duchess of Bedford, a close confidant to Queen Victoria, who reportedly tired of feeling more than a little peckish in the middle of the afternoon and ordered scones (and other pastries and small sandwiches) served for a small meal to be consumed with company. Thus was born the British tradition of the afternoon tea.
Originally made of oats and cooked on a griddle, scones today are mostly made of flour, as is this scone.
Here’s my adaptation of a King Arthur Flour recipe.
Next time you are feeling a bit peckish give these a go.
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 C. all-purpose flour (or 1 cup AP flour and 1 C. pastry flour)
- 1/2 t. salt
- 1 T. baking powder
- 2 t. sugar
- 4 T. cold butter
- 1 C. grated cheddar (use a good quality one here)
- 1/3 C. snipped fresh chives
- 3/4 C. cream (add a bit more if your dough comes out too dry to form into a disk)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment (or butter the pan).
- Whisk dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, sugar) together. Add cold butter (I froze mine) and mix until the flour/butter mixture is crumbly. You want the butter to be incorporated with the flour but you want some butter pieces remaining in your mixture. (I did this is my food processor.) Add grated cheese and chopped fresh chives. Mix.
- Add 3/4 C. heavy or whipping cream to the flour/butter mixture. Mix until you have a shaggy dough. Turn your dough out onto a well-floured surface and form into a 7 inch by 3/4 inch disk. Cut the disk into 8 wedges.
- Transfer the dough wedges to your parchment-lined baking sheet. Spread the wedges apart a bit so that they don't stick together when baked.
- Brush the tops of the wedges with cream to help the scones brown.
- Bake the scones in your preheated oven for 22-24 minutes until they are golden brown colored.
- Remove the baking pan from the oven and let the scones cool on your counter (still on the pan).
- Serve warm or at room temperature. Serve with butter, clotted cream and/or jam.
Here is the original King Arthur Flour scone recipe from which this recipe is adapted: Scones.
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