Ginger and Lemon Scones

Cakes is addicted to Planet Organic's ginger scones. He mentioned his unnatural fondness for them for the third time this weekend as he made a quick detour to their bakery counter when all we'd gone in to get was some parsley, thyme and a few tomatoes.

In much the same way as a wife might find herself wondering about the state of her hair or perfume upon hearing her husband declare, for the third time, how much he admires the perfume or hair of another woman, I find myself wondering about the state of my scones. Are my scones not big enough? Soft enough? fragrant and sweet enough?

I will have to make sure he knows he'll never find scones any better than those that are waiting for him at home. And I think I've come up with just the recipe to do it. These scones give a nod in the direction of healthy with the half whole wheat flour and the organic ingredients. They are light and soft, and just barely sweet enough and have a lemony-gingery tang that makes them quite special. These are scones to eat all by themselves - no need for jam, cream or butter. Which is good, because they aren't exactly low fat. But they are pretty big, so if you are concerned about calories, just make a few more scones out of the one batch of dough. If you do make smaller scones, remember to reduce the baking time a bit.

Lex's Ginger and Lemon Scones

• 190 grams (1.5 cups) sifted white cake and pastry flour
• 120 grams (1 cup) sifted whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 50 grams (1/4 cup) sugar
• 85 grams (1/2 cup) crystalized ginger, chopped quite small
• 1/2 teaspoon minced lemon rind
• 55 grams (1/4 cup) soft butter
• 180ml (3/4 cup) evaporated milk

Preheat the oven to 450F. Spray a cookie sheet lightly with oil.

sift together all the dry ingredients, including the rind and ginger. Cut in the butter using pastry cutters or your food processor or kitchenaid until the mixture makes relatively uniform and fine crumbs. Mix in the milk. Turn the dough out and knead it on a smooth surface briefly until it is smooth.

Roll the dough into a ball and roll the ball out into a circle slightly larger than a bread plate and about 2 to 2.5 cm thick.  Cut the dough into 6 or 8 wedges, depending on the size you want your scones to be. Transfer dough wedges to the greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes (for 8 scones) or 12 minutes (for 6 scones).

Remove from the oven and try not the eat them all at one sitting.

Per scone (8 scones to recipe) - 257 cal, 8.1 grams fat, 6 WW points

Per scone (6 scones to recipe) - 343 cal, 10.8 grams fat, 8 WW points

Comments

[anonymoose]

dealsoutlet.ca (HBC's online clearance site) has the Jennair blenders ($99) and mixers ($199) on sale. They only have a few in stock though. Link from my name is the appliance page.

[Tania]

Love the photo! Mmmm ... you can see the texture of the dough and little bits of ginger ... Delicious!

[Katy at Pomelo Pleasures]

Oh I love scones they are such lovely comfort food. The lemon ginger add ins sound wonderful. I am going to email your post to my Mum this instant!

[Aimee]

I got up early this morning and made these for breakfast. Absolutely delicious!

[Lyn]

Aimee,

I'm glad you enjoyed them! It's really nice to hear when someone else makes one of my recipes and likes it as much as I did!

[farmgirl]

I am a certified sconehead and have been meaning to make ginger scones for literally years. And I just happen to have a dozen gorgeous lemons in the fridge. . . Is it fate--or just another foodie fantasy come true? Thanks for sharing the recipe. Fabulous photo. : )

[meira welt]

sounds really yummy! going to make it right now! thanks