Scones

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 50 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter, chilled
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 cup dried cranberries (or any other dried fruit, chopped )
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (or any other chips, nuts, or a combination, optional )

Recipe

• 1 in a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.
• 2 work in the butter with a fork just until the mixture is unevenly crumbly; it's ok for some large chunks of butter to remain unincorporated.
• 3 in another mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and milk. stir in the fruit, chips, and /or nuts, if using them.
• 4 add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until all is moistened and holds together.
• 5 scrape the dough onto a floured pan or a parchment lined baking sheet, and divide it in half. round each half into a 5" circle; or a 6" circle ( if you've added fruit, nuts, etc. ). the circles should be about 3/4" thick.
• 6 using a knife that you've run under cold water, slice each circle into 6 wedges.
• 7 carefully, pull the wedges away form the center to separate them just a bit; there should be about 1/2" space between them, at their outer edges.
• 8 sprinkle scones with coarse sugar ( or cinnnamon ), if desired.
• 9 place the pan of scones in the freezer for 30 minutes, uncovered.
• 10 while the scones are chilling, preheat the oven to 400º f.
• 11 bake the scones for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they're golden brown.
• 12 remove the scones from the oven, and cool briefly on the pan. serve warm.
• 13 to store scones, cool them in a wire rack. when they're completely cool, wrap in plastic and keep at room temperature for up to 5 days.
• 14 notes: to make free-form rather than wedge-shaped scones, use a large ice cream scoop or spoon, dollop the scone dough in a 1/3 -cupfuls onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
• 15 scones can be frozen. to reheat frozen scones, tent them lightly with foil and place them in a preheated 350º f oven for about 20 minutes.