Ask Martha: Flaky breakfast scones

There are three favorite “breads” served for breakfast in America: muffins, scones and biscuits.

Scones, which originated in Scotland, have become a common breakfast bread that can be eaten simply with coffee and tea or topped with butter and jam for a bit more substance.

There are many different techniques for making scones. Rolled and cut, or patted into rounds, squares or triangles, scones now are made in an interesting array of flavors. Home bakers are always adding something new to the dough – chocolate chips, raspberries, pureed pumpkin, dates, dried cranberries or sour cherries, and even cheese — to entice the family.

Whether you eat flaky scones for breakfast or serve them as an after-school snack, they are worthy of inclusion in your baking repertoire.
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Rich Cream Scones

Makes 12

These scones get their light, flaky texture from the butter that is layered into the dough .

1 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling and cutting
½ cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
Salt
1½ sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1¼ cups cold heavy cream, plus more for brushing
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and ¾ teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or rub in with your fingers. (The largest pieces should be the size of small peas.) With your fingertips, flatten butter pieces into small disks. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until butter is very firm, about 20 minutes.

Combine cream and vanilla in a small bowl, and stir into flour mixture with a wooden spoon until almost absorbed and dough just comes together. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface; roll out into an 8-inch by 10-inch rectangle. With a short side facing you, fold rectangle into thirds, as you would a letter. Rotate dough a quarter turn clockwise. Repeat rolling out, folding and rotating dough two more times. With floured hands, pat out dough to a 1¼-inch thickness, and cut out as many rounds as possible with a floured 2¼-inch round biscuit cutter. Gather scraps, reroll once, and cut out more rounds (you should have a total of 12).

Place scones 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Brush tops with cream, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool on sheets. Serve warm or at room temperature. (Scones keep, wrapped in plastic, for one day).

There are three favorite "breads" served for breakfast in America: muffins, scones and biscuits.

Scones, which originated in Scotland, have become a common breakfast bread that can be eaten simply with coffee and tea or topped with butter and jam for a bit more substance.

There are many different techniques for making scones. Rolled and cut, or patted into rounds, squares or triangles, scones now are made in an interesting array of flavors. Home bakers are always adding something new to the dough – chocolate chips, raspberries, pureed pumpkin, dates, dried cranberries or sour cherries, and even cheese — to entice the family.

Whether you eat flaky scones for breakfast or serve them as an after-school snack, they are worthy of inclusion in your baking repertoire.

No matter the recipe, follow these tips for professional results.

Folding: For this process, you fold the dough as you would a letter, and then roll it out to distribute the pieces of butter throughout the layers of dough. The butter pieces form pockets of steam in the oven and give the scones their light and flaky texture.

Sugaring: Sprinkling on sugar adds an extra element of sweetness and crunch. You can use one of the wet ingredients from your recipe — egg, egg white, buttermilk, cream — to adhere the sugar. Try granulated, sanding and raw sugar for different textures and finishes.

Cutting: This technique can be used for almost any scone. Form a rectangle, and use a long chef's knife to cut the dough into squares. It's quick, requires no special cutters and leaves no waste behind. There's no rerolling, which can diminish the texture of a scone. Remember to dust your knife with a little flour.