Valentine Scones

Happy winter Wednesday! 

I want to thank all of you who gave me advice on how to fix my vintage chandelier! I'm weighing my options, and I will definitely share with you what route I decide to take with it. You guys are the best! 

Last week, some friends stayed overnight on our living room sectional. Every night since then, my two youngest kids have thought it was great fun to sleep down here on the sectional too! 

I thought it might be good for you to see a "real" morning over here. Pillows and blankets still on the sofa...a school book that didn't quite make it all the way back on the shelf...and why does my world map look like it's falling off of the wall?





Oh well, let's just carry on with something yummy and I'll deal with that stuff later :) 

You know I don't do a lot of food posts, but with this cold weather I'm looking for extra reasons to turn the oven on and keep things feeling cozy over here. 

Today I'm going to share my basic scone recipe with you, and show you how I tweaked them a bit for a fun, less sweet Valentine treat. 

Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 T. sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup cold butter, cut in pieces

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup milk 

Preheat oven to 425

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. 

Add the pieces of butter to the flour mixture and cut in with a pastry cutter. If you don't have a pastry cutter, using two forks to incorporate the butter into the flour mixture works okay, too. 
Sometimes I even use my fingers to finish incorporating it. 

When I was younger, I used to read a recipe and think I couldn't make it if I didn't have the tools they listed, or the exact ingredients. Silly! Just use what you have, and it will be fine. Sometimes, if you tweak a recipe with what you have on hand, it comes out even better : )

Okay, back to business...

Incorporate the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse cornmeal.

Add the egg and most of the milk, reserving some. Stir quickly and lightly, until no flour shows. Add more milk if needed to form a soft dough. 

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead gently, about 15 times. 

{Normally, at this point I would divide the dough in half. Roll each half into a ball, then press into a circle shape about 1/2" thick. Cut each circle into 8 wedges and bake} 

Today I'm rolling the entire dough out, approximately 1/2" thick and cutting out the scones with a heart shaped cookie cutter. I was able to get 3 dozen scones from this batch. 

Is this too much "real" today? 

Yes, this is my one and only baking sheet. It's not pretty, but it has served it's purpose for a long time. 

Now place your scones on a lovely, new-looking greased cookie sheet, or use parchment or foil on your old worn-looking pan, as I am today : ) 

Bake for approximately 12 minutes, until golden brown. 

Now, these are absolutely delicious right out of the oven, with nothing but butter {my kids even like them with nothing on them} 

But just to pretty them up a bit, I lightly dusted them with powdered sugar. 

Just seems a little more festive, don't you think? 

We are having ours with butter and strawberry jam, but these are so yummy served with any fruit spread. Lemon curd is another favorite of ours with these, but today we're going for the pink-y reds of Valentine's Day! 

 A delicious, "less sweet" Valentine treat, perfect with hot tea or coffee. 

We are having some snow and cold temps here in Western Colorado this week, but nothing compared to some of the scary reports I've seen elsewhere in the country.

Stay safe and cozy, friends! 

See you soon-

Jeanette

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 

Ephesians 4:2

Sharing this week over at

Share Your Cup Thursday at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

The Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush

Be Inspired at Common Ground

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Make it Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

The Scoop at Worthing Court

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style