Weather: 62 | was a nice day for bike riding and agate hunting on the beach
What I’m listening to: Olympic theme song
When I asked my Facebook fans whether they’d like to see muffins or scones for today’s post, they voted for scones. [Thank you, Facebook fans. You’re the bestest! Don’t worry you muffin-lovers out there, I still have a delicious recipe for you coming up very soon]. So, scones it is… and some mighty good ones, too. Since my Strawberry Shortcake Scones recipe was such a hit, I adapted it to make this summery peach version.
Some of my fans mentioned that they have had some trouble in the past with scones. One of my tricks for a great scone is not to knead or overwork the dough. You really want the dough to just barely come together, then immediately turn it out onto a floured surface and pat it gently into a rectangle.
As you can see in the photo above, there are bits and bobs of butter all throughout. This is what you want. Also, you can see that the dough is not elastic, but rather very rustic looking, as if it might crumble apart, similar to biscuits. This is also what you want. These are the tricks that will give your scones that perfect texture you’re looking for.
I used a white peach in this batch. Next time I might use a yellow peach just simply for color. My peach was just soft to the touch, but still firm enough to chop up. The result was golden, buttery scones with nibbles of fresh peach in every bite, topped with a creamy vanilla bean glaze. Boy oh boy.
And, with fall just around the corner, you might also enjoy my Glazed Maple Pecan Scones.
Peaches & Cream Scones
- For Scones:
- 2c all-purpose flour
- 1T baking powder
- 3T sugar
- 1/2t salt
- 5T chilled butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- 1 large peach*, chopped
- 3/4c whole milk
- For Glaze:
- 3c powdered sugar
- 1/4c whole milk
- 1/2t vanilla bean paste
Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender until mixture resembles crumbs.
Toss in peaches and coat lightly with the flour mixture. Add milk and fold together gently until the mixture just begins to come together and form a soft dough. Do not knead or over mix the dough.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and pat into a 1-inch thick rectangle. With a sharp knife, cut the rectangle into 6 squares, then cut the squares on the diagonal to form 12 triangles. Place scones on prepared baking sheet and bake 16-18 minutes, or until scones are cooked through and golden.
Place a sheet of parchment on a work surface, then place a cooling rack over top of parchment. Remove scones from pan to cooling rack. Cool about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make glaze by whisking together powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth. Glaze too thick? Add more cream by the tablespoon. Too thin? Add more powdered sugar by the 1/4 cup until the desired consistency is achieved.
Taking each scone by the bottom, dip them top side down directly into the glaze until top is covered. Return scones to cooling rack and allow glaze to drip down the sides and off the rack onto parchment. Glaze will firm up when scones are completely cool.
