In case you haven’t noticed, I love Scones.

I love their ease and simplicity, but if you don’t know how to make them correctly you could have a hockey puck on your hand.

This was unfortunately the case with my students last week. Despite constant reminders not to “overwork the gluten” (which means stirring too much or kneading the dough while shaping) the end result was not the flaky tender delight I envisaged.

So how could I make the recipe more forgiving?

I added a little cornstarch which prevents the gluten from developing too much; we mixed this recipe by hand instead of in the stand mixer and we grated the butter on a box grater instead of cutting it into 1/4” cubes.

Voila – an airy delicate scone that was so delicious I ate three without even slathering it with butter.

Enjoy!

Avec Amour, Victoria & Alexander

Ginger Double Raisin Scones

Yield – 30 Scones

3 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour (16.50 oz)

1/4 Cup Cornstarch (1.25 oz)

2 Tablespoons Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Salt

1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar (3.75 oz)

1 teaspoon Ground Ginger

1 Stick + 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, very cold (5.50 oz)

2 Eggs, large

1 Cup Whole  Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/2 Cup Raisins, rehydrated (3 oz)*

1/2 Cup Golden Raisins, rehydrated (3 oz)*

Turbinado Sugar, optional

2 Tablespoons extra Milk for brushing tops of scones, optional 

1.Grate butter on a box grater,

place in a container

and store in freezer until needed.

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using a sieve over parchment paper or a large bowl sift flour twice, combine dry ingredients in a large bowl,

add butter and cut in the butter with a pastry blender

or two forks until all lumps of butter are gone and the mixture resembles sand.

3. Whisk together eggs, vanilla

and milk in a medium size bowl, pour into dry ingredients and stir,

add raisins

and mix together until just combined. Do not over mix.

4. These can be portioned in three ways – scoop with an ice cream scoop onto a parchment lined half sheet pan and bake 16 – 18 minutes – turn out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a 3/4″ thick rectangle use a circle cookie cutter or glass to cut out circles or using a pizza cutter cut squares 1” x 1” ,

brush top of scone with milk and sprinkle with turbinado sugar

bake 14 – 16 minutes until golden brown on the bottom.

5. Store in an airtight container up to 3 days. Alternatively portion the scones onto a tray and freeze, store in a plastic bag in freezer until needed, defrost overnight in refrigerator and bake. Will keep up to 3 months in freezer.

* Rehydrate raisins by covering them with cold water in a microwaveable container and microwaving on high for 2 minutes, strain through a sieve and blot dry with paper towels.