Country Style California Olive Thyme And Cheese Sconesbiscuits Recipes

COUNTRY STYLE CALIFORNIA OLIVE, THYME AND CHEESE SCONES/BISCUITS

Steps:

• Combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Cut in butter with a fork or your fingers until mixture resembles looks like tiny pebbles.
• Stir in California Ripe Olives, chopped fresh thyme and cheddar cheese. Pour in buttermilk and knead just until dough comes together.
• Roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 1-inch thick. Cut into discs with a 3-inch scone/biscuit cutter and place onto a baking sheet.
• Bake in a 235C or 475F oven for 9-11 minutes until golden brown and well risen.
• Serve warm with butter, or mustard and sliced ham.

BRITISH HERB SCONES (BISCUITS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Lightly grease a baking tray and dust it with flour.
• Sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl.
• Add butter to the bowl, toss briefly through the flour, then rub it in with your (preferably cold) fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
• Stir in the herbs.
• Start adding the milk, mixing initially with a spatula or palette knife, and then when the dough starts to come together, with a quick light hand.
• You are aiming for a soft, unsticky dough which leaves the sides of the bowl clean; you may not need all the milk – if, however, the dough seems a bit dry, add a teaspoon more milk at a time.
• Be careful not to add too much milk, and do not overwork the dough.
• Shape the dough into a round with your hands and place on a lightly floured surface.
• Flour the rolling pin, then lightly roll out the dough to a thickness of a half-inch.
• Stamp out 2” rounds with a biscuit cutter.
• When you are left with the trimmings, bring these together and roll out again lightly, and continue stamping out rounds until you have cut out the last scone.
• Lay the scones on the prepared tray, and brush the tops lightly with the extra milk.
• Bake 10 – 12 minutes until well risen and lightly browned.
• Remove to a wire rack to cool.
• Serve as suggested above, and store any left over in the freezer, to be gently re-warmed later in a microwave oven.

SCONES / TEA BISCUITS (CANADIAN LIVING)

Steps:

• Line rimless baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat; or dust lightly with flour. Set aside.
• In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Pour buttermilk over top and stir with fork to form soft, slightly sticky ragged dough.
• Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead gently 10 times to smooth dough, adding a sprinkle more flour to the work surface if needed. Gently pat or roll out into generous ½-inch thick round. Using 2-inch cutter, cut out rounds. Place on prepared baking sheet. Gather up scraps and repat dough; cut out more rounds, pressing any remaining scraps into a final scone (the bakers's scone).
• Brush tops of scones with egg. Bake in centre of 425°F oven until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool on pan on rack for 5 minutes. Transfer to racks to finish cooling.
• Tip: Before cutting out scones, dip cutter into flour, repeating the dipping between cuts so cutter doesn't stick. Always cut out scones, or any cookie, with as little space as possible between rounds as possible. You can reroll the scraps, but at every rerolling the results are tougher. So get as many rounds as you can out of the first roll.

FARMHOUSE BED AND BREAKFAST APRICOT SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400; seasoned baking stone or greased cookie sheet; set aside.
• In a bowl, combine dry ingredients; cut in butter.
• In a small bowl, combine eggs; reserve ONE TABLESPOON for glazing; set aside.
• In another bowl, combine sour cream, milk and eggs; add apricots; stir into crumb mixture until dough clings together.
• Turn onto lightly floured table, knead 12-15 times; divide down into two portions.
• Pat one portion into a 6-7 inch disk on the baking sheet.
• Combine filling ingredients, sprinkle over first disk in pan to within 1/2-inch of edge.
• Pat remaining down into matching disk, place over filling, softly pinch edges, but don't worry if they're not sealed.
• Glaze top with reserved 1 T. egg, sprinkle with additional sugar (brown or white); cut into wedges, leaving in place on pan.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes (golden brown).
• Cool slightly, break apart carefully; serve warm with honey and apricot jam.
• VARIATION: try dried cranberries for a tangy eye-opening breakfast treat!