I woke up needing the comfort only provided by morning carbs and a pre-noon nap. Carbs can be a standard morning happening, but Thursday morning naps are probably considered illegal.
I think summer vacation is trying to take root in my brain. I want to sleep in, wear jean shorts, smell like sunscreen, get grass stains on my clothes, put lemon in my hair, and eat peaches in excess.
Oooh summer… I can’t indulge the nap, but I will indulge in the jean shorts, carbs, and peaches.
These breakfast treats are basically Peach and Scone Sandwiches! Whatever ‘I still have work to do because I’m totally not a kid on summer vacation’ problems we might have… these are the solution.
It would seem as though I’ll use any excuse to make a batch of tender and flaky scones.
I fluctuate between calling them biscuits and scones. It all depends on my mood, and the number of tablespoons of sugar.
Cold butter and vegetable shortening are the fats.
Let’s get flaky!
An egg is a great dough binder, and buttermilk adds the perfect amount of tang.
Wrinkles are cool. No biggie.
I rolled this biscuit dough a little thinner than usual, to just under 1/2-inch in thickness.
I did this because I’m making double decker dream scones!
Extra cinnamon sugar and buttermilk. Let’s call them glue.
Biscuit dough is folded over, and pressed into a haphazard rectangle.
If the word ‘haphazard’ makes you nervous… be cool, it’s just baking.
The dough is a bit soft (and slippery peachy).
I needed a spatula to transfer them from the cutting board to the pan.
The scones are chilled in the fridge just before baking, coated with buttermilk, cinnamon, and sugar… and baked until beautiful golden brown.
They’re sweet and perfectly summery. I was feeling indulgent, so enjoyed these scones warm, with a touch of spreadable butter, creamy coffee, and direct sunlight.
Peach Cobbler Scones
makes 8 scones
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, cold and cut into cubes (if you don’t have shortening you can certainly substitute unsalted butter)
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk, cold
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ripe peach, sliced thin
1/4 cup buttermilk, for burshing
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in shortening and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Use your hands to break the fat cutes into the dry ingredients. Some of the fat bits will be the size of peas and some fat bits will be the size of oat flakes. In another bowl, combine egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat lightly with a fork. Add the liquid to flour mixture all at once, stirring enough to make a soft dough.
Turn out onto a floured board and knead about 15 times. If the butter has warmed too much in the making of the dough, shape the batter into a dish, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the fridge for 15 minutes. If the butter is still cool, shape the dough into a disk and, on a well floured surface, roll dough to a little less than 1/2-inch thickness. My dough was about 12-inches long and 10-inches tall. The dough will be rolled just thinner than a biscuit dough that you would cut biscuits from.
Brush half of the rolled out dough with buttermilk. Arrange peach slices, in a single layer, across the buttermilk moistened dough. Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Carefully fold the empty side of dough over the peach sliced layer. Press gently together. Add a bit of flour to your hands and press the edges of the dough in, creating more of a rectangle shape than a half circle shape. Using a floured knife, slice dough into eight even pieces.
Place dough on prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1 1/2-inches of room around each scone for spread while baking. If dough has warmed, and feels mushy, place in the fridge for 20 minutes to rechill. Remove from the fridge. Brush each scone top with buttermilk, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar.
Bake scones for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving. Scones are best served warm, on the day they’re made, with soft butter.
Katie
We just made these with the last of our summer peaches. So good!!