LEMON ROSEMARY SCONES...PLUS EASTER 2021!

This is a Ree Drummond recipe--The Pioneer Woman of Food Network fame. They are actually more like a shortbread than a traditional Irish scone, but are fabulously delicious! I added one additional Tbsp. of rosemary than Ree calls for (2 in the scones and 1 in the glaze), but otherwise stayed quite true to the recipe.

LEMON ROSEMARY SCONES

Ingredients:

3 cups flour, plus more for rolling the dough

2/3 cup granulated white sugar

1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

1 cup (that’s 2 sticks) very cold butter*

1 cup heavy cream

1 egg

2 lemons; the zest of 2 and juice of 1

3 Tbsp. finely chopped Rosemary for the scones

1 Tbsp. finely chopped Rosemary for the icing

4 cups powdered sugar**

½ cup half and half, plus more if needed for thinning

Pinch of salt for the icing

*I put my butter in the freezer for about ½ hour to get it very cold. I recommend grating the cold butter rather than cutting in with a pastry cutter. Much easier! Ree suggests cutting the butter in with either 2 knives or a pastry cutter, which works, too.

I grated the butter right on top
of the sifted dry ingredients.

**This will make more icing than you need for 24 scones, but if you have lots of Lemons it would be great on a Meyer Lemon Pound Cake or Lemon Bundt cake.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the flour, granulated white sugar, baking powder and salt into a sifter. Sift the mixture into a large bowl until it is well combined. Grate the butter into the flour and gently mix with a fork until the butter is cut into the flour. You may also cut the butter in with a pastry cutter, but grating makes it much easier to mix.

Measure the cream in a spouted measuring cup and crack in an egg. Zest one of the lemons and add the zest to the cream. Add 2 Tbsp. Rosemary to the mixture. Whisk together and then drizzle it into the flour-butter mixture, stirring gently with a fork until combined and a dough forms. The dough will be quite shaggy.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and lightly press it together until it forms a rough rectangle. Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle about ½-3/4 inch thick and 18 x 10 inches.

Use a knife to cut dough into 24 equal pieces. Ree Drummond suggests cutting into squares and then cutting again to form rectangles. My dough was not holding together well enough so I simply formed 24 small rounds from the squares I cut believing all of the butter would bring them together as they baked...and it did!

Unbaked, these scones are very shaggy,
but came together beautifully after baking. 

Bake until just barely golden brown, about 18 minutes, then allow to cool completely.

While the scones are cooling, make the icing. Combine the powder sugar and half and half in a large bowl. Add the juice of the lemon you zested to the bowl. Zest the second lemon and add the zest to the bowl. Add 1 Tbsp. Rosemary and whisk until combined. Add a little extra cream/milk/or water if it needs thinning. I also added a pinch of salt, which Ree does not call for, but it helped soften the sweetness of all that powdered sugar.

Once the scones are cooled coat the tops by gently dropping them into the icing. Allow the glaze to set completely before serving.

Easter, one of my favorite holidays, is this Sunday! This will be the second year in a row we are not having our big "hoo-doo" dinner, but we are having our good friends, Dorita and Rudy Pina over to share a meal. The theme this year is French. Here is my menu:

JOYEUSES PÂQUES

EASTER * APRIL 4, 2021

A VERY SPECIAL CELEBRATION WITH DEAR FRIENDS

AMUSE-BOUCHE

PaLmiers fait par Chef Dorita

MaRinated Shrimp with Champagne buerre blanc

Classique Olive Tapenade

 

PREMIERE

CHILLED PLUM SOUP WITH RoQuefort Panna Cotta

 

INTERMEZZO

Cucumber AND MINT Granita

 

PLAT PRINCIPAL

Butter Poached Maine Cod with French Tarragon Lobster Garnish served on Pea Puree

Gruyere Escalloped Pommes de Terres

Haricot Vert Almondine

 

LE DESSERT

Lemon Curd Cheesecake with Candied Lemon Slices

 

HAPPY EASTER!

CHAG PESACH SAMEACH!...HAPPY PASSOVER!

HAPPY SPRING!

UNTIL NEXT TIME...

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