Wow. Somehow last week disappeared into oblivion! Until this morning, I fully believed I had posted a scone recipe last Tuesday. Mea culpa. That said, I have decided to begin posting every two weeks (I hope). The reason for this is simple: I’m expecting my first child in under a month. I doubt that, with a newborn, I’ll have quite as much time to experiment with scone recipes and find the time to post them on this blog. I think aiming for two posts a month will be about as ambitious as I can get for those first few months at least… But should I be inspired and gifted with a wonderful baby who gives me time to somehow get dinner on the table, laundry washed and folded, my sanity intact, and also make weekly scone batches, I’ll be posting more often! We’ll have to play that by ear…

Without further ado, on to this week’s scone recipe. I’ve been waiting a long time for this one…

So, if you follow my Facebook Page at all, you’ll know that I’ve been playing with the idea of lavender scones. Well, I finally caved. I’m getting my toes wet in baking with lavender. In a subtle, I-don’t-know-that-I-want-you-to-be-able-to-tell way. That’s due mainly to mixed reactions I receive whenever I suggest baking with lavender. I don’t mean that I want to throw a handful of lavender into a scone dough and have you eat it, but rather like using rose water or orange blossom extract, giving the scone a light, airy taste. Well, I think I achieved that with this scone. (And, if not, the blueberry is a welcome distraction then.)

Yield: 8-10 medium scones
Prep time: 15 minutes (excluding simple syrup)
Baking time: 12-15 minutes
Cooling time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients:

Scone:
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and diced
1 generous cup frozen blueberries
1/4 cup lavender simple syrup*
1/4 cup honey
1/4-1/2 cup half & half
excess half & half for brushing
Swedish Pearl sugar (or coarse sugar) for sprinkling

*Simple Syrup:
1 cup filtered water
2 cups granulated sugar
3 tbsp cooking-quality lavender flowers, fresh or dried

Instructions:

1) Prepare the simple syrup. Combine the water and lavender flowers in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, slowly add in the 2 cups sugar and stir until dissolved. When the sugar is dissolved, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

2) Make the scones. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk to mix.

3) Add the diced, cold butter to the dry ingredients and work into the flour mixture with a pastry blender. Some pea-sized chunks are okay.

4) Add the frozen blueberries to the dry, buttery mixture and toss with a wooden spoon to mix.

5) In a 2-cup measuring cup or small bowl, combine 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup lavender simple syrup, and 1/4 cup half & half. Whisk lightly to mix.

6) Add the honey, syrup, and half & half mixture to the dry blueberry mixture and stir with a wooden spoon.

7) Add additional half & half as needed to bring the dough to a mixture that still has just a few dry crumbs at the bottom. (I did not need that much to bring my dough to this point.)

8) Turn out dough onto a lightly floured countertop and flatten into an 8-inch round. Cut into 8 or 10 rectangles.

9) Transfer scones to a parchment-lined baking sheet and spread about 2 inches apart. Brush with any remaining half & half and sprinkle with Swedish Pearl sugar.

10) Bake at 400ºF for 12-15 minutes or until golden on top.

11) Allow to sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool for another 10 minutes before enjoying. (The texture improves upon cooling.)

The Process:

~The Simple Syrup~

~The Scones~

Results:

“There’s something different about these…” was the response from Hubby upon trying these scones. I failed to tell him about the lavender before he tried them–since most people have an aversion to eating lavender. But before he said that, he also made yummy sounds and said he liked them. It was only when I asked if he could taste the lavender that he admitted to something being different. Of course, then he got awfully suspicious about the rest of the ingredients…

But comments and trickery aside, I was pleased with these scones. They are light and airy, and the slight floral note gives a different dimension to the blueberry scone. Definitely a great scone when you don’t want a heavy cream scone, but something fruity and refreshing.