Christmas breakfast has been known to be traumatic around here (see https://normalonpaper.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-sad-saga-of-christmas-breakfast.html and https://normalonpaper.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-christmas-breakfast-saga-continues.html for previous breakfast traumas). And we don't even talk about the year when my Christmas breakfast was currant scones, champagne, and tears. But things have calmed down, partly as a function of my kids getting older and thus more helpful, David's dietary restrictions loosening up, and my general giving of fewer fucks with the passage of time. Things were so chill and organized this year that I decided, 10 minutes before breakfast, that we needed a batch of (non-teary) scones to go with a pot of tea after we demolished the breakfast casserole.
I love scones. My introduction to them was an unexpected delivery from Zingerman's, which is both an unmitigated delight and the best possible introduction to any baked good. They've always felt exotic and special to me since then, and I loved coffee shop trips in my thirties when I found scones in the bakery case. I was delighted to realize that they're dead easy to make and are just as exotic and delicious at home with a pot of tea (yes, I realize scones are actually the opposite of exotic, they're basically a muffin that doesn't leave you with an annoying pan to wash, or a rich biscuit with fruit - both very ordinary foods).
This is such an easy recipe as written, but I've adapted it slightly to make it Even Easier and to take zero bowls, unless you count the one from the food processor, which I don't because it fits in my dishwasher and I don't have to hand-wash it. How to Cook Everything was one the first cookbooks I've destroyed through love and over-use, though I refuse to replace it with an updated version no matter how dilapidated it becomes; the new versions have everything in the wrong order and they don't have 2 decades worth of notes written in the margins. Mark Bittman helped me become a good home cook, leaving behind the Gourmet Magazine excesses of my twenties and actually managing to produce something on weeknights on a regular basis. It's sufficiently comprehensive that I'll never manage to cook my way through it, and it continues to be my go-to when I have an ingredient I'm not necessarily feeling inspired by.
These really are at their best the day they're made. I've never tried freezing and reviving them because they never last long enough; I was shocked to wake up this morning and realize that we had three left from yesterday's breakfast. They were perfectly fine with a cup of coffee, but they dry out quickly and the crumb isn't as tender. I'm only going to recommend the food processor method if you're using gluten-free flour mix, as there's no danger of overworking your dough and thus overdeveloping the gluten and making your scones tough. While they're not as tender a crumb as a scone made with wheat flour, they're also not going to make anyone in your house sick or sad that they're missing out.
Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman.
Non-Traumatic Christmas Breakfast Scones
2 cups GF flour blend (we're using Bob's Red Mill these days)
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp sugar
5 Tbsp butter, ideally cold, cut into pieces
3 eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup dried currants or other dried fruit even though currants are best
1 Tbsp water
Preheat the oven to 450. The rest of this will come together in the time it takes the oven to come to temperature.
Put all the dry ingredients minus one tablespoon of the sugar into the bowl of your food processor and pulse to blend. Sprinkle the butter over the top and pulse to combine; your flour will look more like coarse cornmeal once everything is blended in. Beat the eggs with the cream and pour over the top, then pulse to just barely blend. Sprinkle the currants evenly over the top and pulse a few times to combine. Pulse a few more times to fake the step where you gently knead the dough on a floured cutting board, which is altogether too much work and too sticky with GF flour.
Turn out onto a baking sheet and pat into a 1 1/2-inch thick round or rectangle. Cut into triangles (or use a biscuit cutter if you're being fancy; you can re-pat the scraps to make as many as possible).
Beat the third egg with the water and brush over the top, then sprinkle with the second tablespoon of sugar. Bake 7-9 minutes or until the tops are light golden in color, which actually happens even though they're gluten-free thanks to the egg.
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