Welch Scones

These flaky buttery scones are a hit with friends and neighbours. One reviewer claimed they were the best he’d ever eaten; he loved the crunchy top with just the right amount of sweetness. This scone recipe has been adapted from my wife’s granny’s recipe by simplifying it, converting most ingredients to grams and using a stand mixer to do most of the work. It is quick, easy and excellent texture and taste. If a stand mixer is not available, hand mixing and kneading are certainly an option. If hand kneading, cold ingredients become even more critical to ensure that the butter remains layered and not completely mixed into the flour. I’ve sometimes prepped all but the egg/milk elements and stored the bowl overnight in the freezer. This makes for a very quick finishing process in the morning to produce lovely warm scones for breakfast with little fuss. Knead about 20 times once the mixture has started to come together after all the ingredients are added and well combined.

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Preheat oven to 425 F 220 C

Step 2

Place flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in stand mixer bowl and mix until well combined

Step 3

Using a course grater, grate the butter into the flour mixture, occasionally stirring the grated butter into the flour to prevent clumping. Optionally, place the bowl with the flour mixture in the freezer for about 10 minutes to chill (especially helpful on warm summer days). Once the butter has all been added, stir to distribute evenly and place bowl in freezer.

Step 4

Crack eggs into a small bowl and using a scale, add sufficient milk kefir to bring total mixture up to 175g

Step 5

Take mixing bowl out of the freezer and lock onto stand mixer, using the mixing paddle. Start on low setting and add the raisins and mix until well distributed.

Step 6

Increase speed to 2-3 and pour in the egg/kefir mixture. Continue to mix until the dough has mostly formed into a ball and there is little if any dry material on the bottom of the bowl. Do not overmix.

Step 7

Dump mixture onto a clean dry surface. At this point, the mixture will be quite crumbly. Gather the mixture together into a ball, flatten until roughly 1 1/2” (4 cm) thick and using your hands, fold and press the top third of the circle into the middle and flatten, rotate the piece and repeat. Continue this gentle fold and knead process until the dough stays mostly together when pressed down. Some cracking is expected as you do not want to over knead. If the dough sticks to the surface during kneading, use a bench scraper to bring all the stuck dough back into the circle and sprinkle a bit of flour underneath.

Step 8

Form the dough into a disk that is roughly 6 1/2” (17 cm) in diameter and 1” (2.5 cm) thick. Do by pressing down on the ball of dough with one hand to form the circle, while cupping the edge with the other hand to prevent cracking and to keep the edge even and roughly square. Keep rotating and pressing down until the desired disk size has been created.

Step 9

Pour a teaspoon or so of milk kefir onto the disk and using a brush, (I use a silicone one), distribute the milk evenly across the entire surface.

Step 10

Sprinkle some course sugar onto the entire wetted surface. I generally use about about a tablespoon or less.

Step 11

Using a bench scraper (or large knife), cut the disk into 8 equal sized wedges. Place wedges on parchment or a silicone baking mat on a cookie sheet, distributing with about 1 1/2” (3.7cm) of space between and bake in oven for 15 minutes or until the edges start to brown. The scones should have roughly doubled in height.

Step 12

Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. Enjoy!