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| I quickly opened the toaster oven to get a picture of how it expanded |
Wow was this liquidy! I was going to ignore the whole transfer to a floured surface anyway because that's not how I make my scones, but this dough was so sticky that sticky doesn't even begin to cover it.
You see that picture? Yeah...that's the scone after baking for less than 5 minutes. See how big it is? It oozed like the blob almost 2-inches bigger than it had been when I put it on the sheet. You think you'd be working with that on a lightly floured surface? Yeah...me neither.
Now I'm not a scone-making-novice here. I've been making various scones for more than 20 years, but I'm always willing to try a new recipe. After all...these are supposedly "the best".
OK. Enough picking on Martha Stewart (for now)...so why do I lump my scones onto a sheet like this and bake? Well, it was an idea I took from a scone recipe years ago. With the first recipe I ever used (and used for many, many years because it was so tender and eggy-smelling) I used to roll the scones out and cut them into circles. This isn't ideal for many reasons....
First - time constraints. It takes more time to roll and cut which leaves the butter/margarine out longer and could/should result in a less flaky scone.
Second - mess. When I have to use the counter to work dough, I use it. I have no problem doing that whatsoever, but I hate the cleanup so if I can avoid doing it I will.
Third - if you cut your scones into little circles, you can't use the remaining dough...unless you're planning on just throwing those leftover schniblets onto a baking sheet and bake them along with your pretty round scones. If you reworked the leftover dough so you could cut more circles, you would be over-working the dough and your scones would lose that flaky texture you want so badly.
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| After baking. Looks pretty good, but no score-lines |
Lastly - ease. What could be easier than spooning the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet? You could also drop them onto the same baking sheet if you want individual scones. I don't. I spoon the whole thing on there and then if I'm going to brush with butter or milk/cream, and sprinkle with sugar I do it. I then take a knife and press it gently into the dough, scoring it into wedges. The score-lines stay during baking. When it's done I transfer it to a cooling rack until I can handle it, then I break the wedges off. No cutting. Sweet.
I tried to score Martha Stewart's recipe like that. Do you see score-lines in either of these pictures. Didn't think so. The scones did finish baking and smelled really good. Even though there's only that one egg in them, the egg smell reminded me of my own scone recipe.
Now, you may be asking if I varied Martha's recipe at all. To be fair, I did. I substituted fresh blueberries for the currants and accidentally threw in that extra tablespoon of cream (I used milk) into the batter. So did that make the dough super liquidy? I don't think so. Blueberries certainly have a lot of liquid inside them, but not outside and that 1 tablespoon of liquid shouldn't have done all that much.
The link to Martha's Cream Scones with Currants recipe can be found here. The version with my method and substitutions can be found below.
Blueberry Scones
3/4 c milk (I used 1%)
1 egg
2 c flour
1/4 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp margarine
1 c blueberries
Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F).
Combine the milk and egg in a small bowl. In a large mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and give a mix with a whisk to combine. Add the margarine in pieces and using your hands incorporate into the flour until it resembles pea-sized crumbs. Add the blueberries and stir. Add the milk and stir until just combined.
Pour the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet or drop by spoonfuls. If desired, brush with melted butter or cream/milk and sprinkle with sugar. With a large knife, score the scones into wedges.
Bake for 18 minutes or until it is golden (make sure the bottom doesn't burn!). Transfer to a wire rack to cool and then break the scones into wedges. Serve while warm. Remember if your batter is as liquid-filled as mine, you'll have to cut because the score lines will not work.
Taste results? They tasted good. Not the best scones I've ever had, but very good. Thumbs up or down? I'd say somewhere in between. The taste may get a thumbs up, but the directions give it a big thumbs down. I can just imagine some poor sod trying to put this on a floured surface and it makes me cringe. Still it's flavor that you're after.
If you give the recipe a try, let me know if you get another result!
Nutritional information (as given by my LoseIt! app): Serving size - 2 scones; 397 calories; Total Fat 12.4g; Sat. Fat 4.3g; Cholesterol 49.2mg; Sodium 523.7mg; Carb. 51.2g; Fiber, 2.8g; Sugars 8.1g; Protein 9.7g
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