Yogurt Scones

A few weeks back I posted a Meyer Lemon Curd recipe and briefly mentioned these scones. And the more I made them, the more I felt they deserved their own post for multiple reasons:

1. They are awesome and make the perfect vehicle for curd, jam, clotted cream, etc.

2. They're consistent. You will always get a crumbly golden brown exterior and a moist, fluffy, layered interior.

3. They require a little technique. You need to freeze butter and press the dough together by hand. (Not hard, but requires a little explanation).

4. They're an excellent primer on how to bake with a scale, which if you don't do, you should. It's waaaaaay easier and cleaner than using volume measurements.  

I'm going to show you how to do this (mostly) with a scale, but don't fret if you don't own a kitchen scale, there's volume measurements below too.

First you get out a mixing bowl, slap it on the scale, zero it, and add 10 ounces of flour. (On average a cup of flour weighs 5 ounces, give or take, depending on the humidity and how long it's been hanging around your pantry.) Then you stir in salt, baking powder, and baking soda. For these I use a measuring spoon since they weigh a tiny amount that my kitchen scale is probably not accurate enough to measure. Then you zero the scale and add 2.5 ounces of sugar. Zero again and grate 4 ounces (1 stick) of frozen butter into the mixture.
Yes, you could use a pastry blender and incorporate the butter at room temperature. But grating gives you really small pieces of butter that distribute evenly throughout the flour, giving you the most tender scone interior ever!
Then your going to zero the scale again and add about 5 1/2 ounces of good quality Greek yogurt (I like Fage). Add 1 egg and stir everything together. If you're like me, you will panic at this point because you will have a crumbly mixture like the one on the right that will seem like it will never form a dough. Fear not! Flour your hands and knead the dough together until it just hangs together:


See how the dough has a few cracks and there's still some flour mixture left in the bowl. That's good! Lightly flour your counter and press the dough into an 8 inch circle. Then dump the remaining dry mixture on top and gently press it into the top of the round. Dust with some more sugar and cut into 8 wedges:
Arrange the wedges in a circle on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes.
And devour! These are stellar right out of the oven, but they'll reheat really well in a toaster oven too. If you store them more than a couple of days I would freeze them because they tend to absorb moisture and lose their crispy exterior after that. If you're not planning on slathering these with something sweet they'd be awesome with your favorite mix-in. Half a cup or more of raisins, chocolate chips, etc.

Yogurt Scones
Yields 8 scones
Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups (10 ounces) flour, plus extra for dusting
1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) sugar, plus extra for dusting
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick (4 ounces) butter, frozen for 10 minutes plus

1 large egg
generous 1/2 cup (5 1/2 ounces) good quality Greek yogurt like Fage (or substitute sour cream)

Directions

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

2. Mix together the first 5 ingredients.

3. Grate in the butter and stir. Add the egg and yogurt and stir with a spoon. At this point the mixture will be very chunky.

4. Flour your work surface and your hands and knead the dough a few time until it just hangs together. There will be some dry flour mixture left in the bowl.

5. Press the dough into an 8 inch round on the floured surface and press the rest of the dry mixture into the top. Dust the top with sugar.

6. Cut into 8 wedges, arrange in a circle on the baking sheet, and bake for about 15 minutes.