When I was a kid my Nana and I used to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking together. She would let me roll out pie dough or use the cookie cutters for her delicious dinosaur glazed cookies.
One of her traditions, being a Brit, was tea time. She enjoyed her tea and biscuits or scones. When I had a family of my own, I would often make scones as a side dish to go beside a roast with gravy. Or sweeten them up with sugar and add berries with cream for dessert. I will often make a berry drizzle when various berries are in season and freeze it. Taking the berry drizzle out in the middle of a cold winter reminds me of summer.
Ingredients
2 cups All-purpose flour
4 teaspoons Baking powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1-2 tablespoons Sugar
pinch of Nutmeg
1/3 cup Shortening
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk (I use almond milk)
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 450F.
2. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and nutmeg.
3. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the shortening until the largest crumbs are about the size of dried peas. If you don’t have a pastry cutter, use two butter knives slicing in X’s.
4. Make a well in the mixture and add 3/4 cup of milk.
5. Stir with until moistened. If you want to add fruit or nuts, add them now.
6. If the dough is still crumbly, add the remaining milk. Don’t make the dough too sticky!
7. Stir until the dough is mixed. Don’t stir until it is an even paste (like bread dough). It should be soft and smooth, but a little bumpy.
8. Knead once or twice.
9. If cutting out shapes, I use a small juice glass, roll to 1/2-inch thickness on a floured surface and cut out desired shapes.
10. If hand-moulding, pinch off bits of the desired size, and shape them before placing them directly on a non-stick baking sheet.
Alternately, divide into two 8-inch circles 1/2-inch thick on the baking sheet. Score each round into six.
11. Sprinkle with sugar if desired.
12. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
13. Remove immediately to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before wrapping or storing in a tin.
Enjoy!