Sunday Scones

Well, it was Sunday morning and -- before a stomach bug took me down on what may have been one of Michigan's last warm, sunny days 'til April or so -- I was in the mood to bake. This desire to bake on a lazy Sunday morning occurs so often that I should almost make it a weekly posting ... but then I'd feel constrained and obligated, which kinda takes the fun out of it.

I had been thinking of making scones (I was raised to pronounce it [SKAHns], by the way, rather than [SCOEns]) for a couple of weeks now. I bought currants specifically for that purpose. I just needed both time and inclination to converge.

And that's what Sunday mornings are for. So while I waited for my coffee to brew, I mixed together the flour, sugar, cinnamon and candied ginger, the yogurt (Brown Cow Cream-Top Maple, if you've got it ... man, is that stuff amazing!!!), and everything else. It might take a whopping 5 minutes to stir everything together into a batter. Pat the mixture onto a pan, bake it, and that's it -- a lovely accompaniment to cider, to tea, to the morning caffeine fix, to a glass of milk, to cocoa ... truly, these scones could go with anything at any time of day.

Ginger-Walnut Scones

1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/3 cup currants
1/4 cup candied ginger pieces, minced
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup maple-flavored yogurt
1 egg
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon apple cider
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, combine whole wheat flour, white flour, salt, cinnamon, brown sugar, walnuts, currants and candied ginger. Stir in the butter and yogurt until mixture is crumbly.

Combine egg and 1/4 cup cider; pour over dry mixture and combine.

Place dough onto the baking sheet. With damp hands, form an 8" circle. Use a wet knife to score the dough into 8 wedges.

Bake for 30 minutes until golden, then let cool completely.

Combine confectioners' sugar with 1 tablespoon cider; drizzle over the circle, then cut into 8 individual scones.