Scones – A Fancy Shmancier Way

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Some folks prefer these in the original form, which have a tendency to be heavy and dry. But for me that’s just a tad on the boring side. Therefore, I’ve tweaked the original recipe then included a couple of ways you can prepare these quick biscuit/breads for either a snack or alongside a meal. The black pepper with Parmesan goes quite well with spaghetti & meatballs; try sometime substituting it for Italian Bread as a nice refreshing change for you and yours.

Base Recipe
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil – (Canola works best)
2/3 cup half-n-half – or milk

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and lightly grease either a springform pan, pie dish or a cake pan – or you can just place it on a greased cookie sheet if you prefer.

Get out 2 medium-sized bowls. In one of the bowls sift/whisk the dry ingredients & set aside. In the other bowl whisk the liquid ingredients, then add to the dry and stir together well, but gently. When all mixed, dump out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead into a flat, round disk shape and place into pan. Cut into 8 wedges – do not separate the wedges.

Bake for about 25 minutes – until goldenish colored on top. Remove from hot pan and serve.

Other Ways:
*To the dry ingredients add 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan; or 1/4 cup chives; or sprinklings of red pepper flakes; or cracked black pepper; or 1 cup shredded cheddar; or 1 cup raisins, dates or any other dried fruit; don’t forget mini-chocolate chips – the possibilities are endless.

*To the liquid ingredients add 1/2 cup diced ham or prosciutto; or little diced cheese; diced onions or fresh herbs/chives – again, endless.

*Also, brush the tops of the scones with a little milk, melted butter or egg wash then sprinkle with either coarse sugar, salt, spices – have fun with it.

Quick Biscuits

Quick because they get help from good, old-fashioned Bisquick. Here’s my version.

2 cups Bisquick baking mix
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 tsp. sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
2 Tbsp. melted butter – divided

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. In a medium bowl, add the Bisquick, buttermilk, sugar, salt & only 1 Tbsp. of the melted butter; mix well. Lightly flour a work surface and empty the bowl onto it and knead well until it’s elastic – this only takes about half a minute. With a floured rolling pin, roll out the mixture till it’s about 1/4 inch thick then cut out rounds with a round cookie-cutter/biscuit cutter. Re-roll scraps and cut out some more – you’ll get about 12 biscuits.

Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 11 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Take out of oven and immediately brush with the leftover butter.