image from www.joyofbaking.com

I have to share with you a tasty scone recipe I made for our guests last weekend. There was a bit of crispness in the air and gingerbread scones sounded like just the ticket. I found the recipe at www.joyofbaking.com

Scone Dough:

1 3/4 cups (225 grams) all purposeflour

3/4 cup (60 grams) old fashioned rolled oats

1/3 cup (72 grams) light brownsugar

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoonsbaking powder

1/2 teaspoonbaking soda

1/2cup(113 grams) cold unsaltedbutter, cut into pieces

Zest of 1lemon(optional)

1/3 cup (35 grams) driedcranberriesor cherries (optional)

1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk

2 1/2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses

1 teaspoon purevanillaextract

Egg Wash:

1 largeegg

1 tablespoon milk orcream

Maple Glaze: (optional)

1/2 cup (50 grams) sifted confectioners (powdered or icing)sugar

1 1/2tablespoonspuremaple syrup

1 - 2 teaspoonscreamor milk

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the lemon zest and dried cranberries, if using. In a separate bowl mix together thebuttermilk, molasses and vanilla and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface andkneaddough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round and about 11/2 inches (3.75 cm) thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 3 pie-shaped wedges (triangles). Place the scones on the baking sheet. Make aneggwash of one well-beaten egg mixed with 1 tablespoon milk and brush the tops of the scones with this mixture. Sprinkle the tops of the scones with some rolled oats.

Place the baking sheet inside another baking sheet to prevent the bottoms of the scones from over browning. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To Glaze: Mix together the glaze ingredients, adding more sugar or milk until you get the desired consistency. It needs to be thin enough that it can be drizzled over the tops of the cooled scones. With aspoondrizzle the glaze over the tops of the scones and let dry.