Buttermilk Lemon-Poppy Seed Scones | Baking with Dorie

Scones are among the first things I learned to bake in those early days. I like the versatility of scones playing with different kinds of flour. More often, I add my favorite fruits and nuts, depending on what’s on hand and served with rich cream and jam. They are still among my favorite treats to eat at “just about every daylight hour.” However, buttermilk scones in Baking with Dorie offers a lighter version, swapping out cream with buttermilk. That’s a welcome alternative.

I’ve found Dorie’s section in the book: “Biscuits and Scones: A How-To,” particularly helpful. Whenever I bake scones, which is quite often, I’d mentally go through Dorie’s how-to checklist. Very much like a pilot pre-flight preparation prior to takeoff. To me, it’s also a process to orient my head space for mindfulness (a new year’s resolution) — whatever the task is at hand.

Tips in Making Biscuits or Scones

• Always start with cold ingredients (flour, butter, milk and egg).
• Cut cold butter into dry ingredients. Squeeze with fingers until pieces of butter are chubby as peas.
• Bring the dough together lightly with a fork. Drier is better than wet. “Lightly” is more important than “together.”
• Gather the dough and cut it into any shapes: rounds, wedges, squares or rectangles.
• Pat and cut decisively for crisp clean edges which result in beautiful layers.
• Make-ahead option: Freeze the shaped scones and bake from frozen.

The extra ingredients I play around with this time are lemon zest and poppy seeds. They add a pleasant citrus flavor and crunchiness. This dough was very wet making it hard to shape. The fact that it’s a heat advisory day may have something to do with it. I got around the soft dough by chilling it in the fridge until it’s ready. Chilling and resting the dough is a necessary component of bread and pastry baking; scones are no exception.