Our first time hosting my family for Christmas. The setting was just right. Real Christmas tree, beautiful lights, and a stunning brunch spread. The only catch – we really couldn’t decide what to make for brunch on Christmas morning. Our problem wasn’t lack of ideas, it was more that we wanted to make everything good ever. We debated breakfast pizzas, scones, hash browns, fruit, the list goes on. We decided to nix the breakfast pizza entirely (save it for another day), and make Bob’s strata that we fell in love with. So satisfying. Then we of course had to balance our meal with fruit salad, and scones. I love scones. Carbs, with a touch of sweetness? Um, yes.
Enter Bon Appetit’s “Best Cream Scones”. I liked the idea of being able to add in absolutely anything, despite the fact we stuck with a simple cinnamon add in. (P.S. I doubled the amount of cinnamon recommend because I have a problem.) I also decided to make the scones with vanilla bean sugar, thanks to another great suggestion from Bob. Good man.
So, with this decided, I mixed my dry ingredients the night before. Then I woke up casually, and popped them in the oven before company arrived. Perfect! They’re so quick and easy to make, and were a nice addition to an already great brunch. We lingered over our feast and then opened presents shortly after, making for a great Christmas morning!
Whether it’s the holidays or not, these were great and I would certainly make them again.
Enjoy!
Shan
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- ½ cup (1 stick) chilled, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1¼ cup heavy cream (plus more for brushing)
- Demerara or raw sugar, for sprinkling
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a large bowl, combine sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and 3 cups of flour.
- Add chopped butter, working pieces into the mixture by hand, until evenly distributed, and only pea-size pieces are left.
- Add egg, and cream, mixing with a fork until just combined.
- Once formed into a shaggy dough (it may look a little dry, that's okay), lightly knead the dough until it just comes together (you don't want to overwork the dough).
- On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough into a 1 inch thick circle, and cut into 8 wedges.
- Place each wedge on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Brush the dough with cream, and sprinkle with demerara sugar.
- Bake scones for 25-30 minutes, until lightly golden brown.
