Sunday, August 30, 2009

Lemon Basil Scones

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For the August SAGBUTT gathering the Wenches  contributed lemon basil scones, made with basil picked fresh from our garden.

Lemon Basil Scones

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • zest of 1 large lemon
  • 5 Tbsp butter, cold and cut into small cubes OR 5 Tbsp vegetable oil (I used oil)
  • 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • generous 1/4 cup basil leaves, sliced thinly (stack leaves together, roll up, and snip with kitchen shears)
  • 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp milk (can substitute cream or half and half)
  • raw or granular sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375*F.

Blend together flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, salt, lemon zest, and basil.

Cut in butter until the texture resembles a course meal. Alternately, you can use a food processor to do this. Just pulse until you get pea-sized lumps.

Mix together lemon juice and milk and add to the scone mixture. Combine until dough just comes together. Do not over-mix -- dough will get stretchy and scone texture will be soft and spongy.

On a lightly floured surface, shape dough into a disc shape about 8 inches in diameter, leaving the center slightly higher.

Using a pizza cutter, slice the disc into 8 pieces like a pizza.

Place scones on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

NOTE: If you use vegetable oil instead of butter, you can treat the scone batter like drop cookie dough -- simply take a large spoonful and drop it on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. I usually get 10 to 12 scones this way.

Brush with remaining tablespoon of milk and sprinkle tops lightly with sugar.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly golden on top.

Enjoy!

11 comments:

Aunt Debbi/kurts mom said...

Thanks, I have a lot of lemon basil ready in the garden right now.

Aunt Debbi/kurts mom said...

Your bag is ready. I left it natural without dye because cotton cannot be dyed with koolaid. I will get in the mail Tuesday.

I deleted my last comment because of typo.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Dear Wenches .. Thank you for this recipe ! I have been looking for one like this for ages .. I turn it more into a sweet scone by leaving the basil out (I know .. I really should try leaving the basil in at least one time ? LOL)
Joy

Curmudgeon said...

Hi Aunt Debbi! We made ours with 2 or 3 different kinds of basil. I lost the tags so had no idea what I was snipping. I'll bet this recipe would be good with lemon verbena too. We'll be keeping an eye out for a little package from TX. Thanks!

GardenJoy they are excellent with just the lemon. But you have to try them with the basil. These are definitely more on the sweet side than the savory. And you can even increase the sugar to 1/2 c for a little extra sweetness or keep it at 1/3 c. and drizzle honey when served.

RantWoman said...

Yum!

The basil plant on my balcony is holding up really well and the basil-napping neighbors have not struck yet this year (I forgive them because at least they make good smells). So maybe I will try some!

Curmudgeon said...

They are yummy RantWoman! I want to try a batch with PURPLE basil. Ours is going nuts. It is most happy growing in a pot with some Vietnamese cilantro.

Susan Tomlinson said...

Yum! I'll be right over.

Kristi said...

Thanks, I grew Lemon Basil just for the heck of it and had no idea what to do with it. It's good to know that there are some recipes out there!

Curmudgeon said...

Wing Nut is due to whip up a batch this evening, Susan!

Curmudgeon said...

Our lemon basil went to flower, notsocrafty, so we made ours with 3 different types of basil. I'll bet they'd be even more lemony with only lemon basil.

Meredith/Great Stems said...

These sound delicious. I can't wait to try them. Good idea to try them with actual lemon basil. I should add that to my herb list next time!