As we all know by now, I love afternoon tea (see more here). That love for tea has also led me to eat plenty of scones. Some have been absolutely fabulous and others, not so much. Granted, a great cup of tea can make almost anything better. Considering my love of tea, I decided that the best challenge for me on my first Don’t F#!* It Up Thursday was scones.

The Quest for the Perfect Scones

​I’ve always wanted to learn how to make the perfect scone so I can indulge in the ritual of afternoon tea at home. I am only partially employed after all. I can assure you that substitute teaching does not pay for my love of afternoon tea. Nor does it keep a Gal supplied with plenty of scones 😉. My love of baking also gives me a creative outlet that I desperately need. I am most happy when I am inventing or creating new recipes. Starting this new Thursday blog post was the perfect outlet for me.

Branching Out

For my scone recipe, I decided to do something a little different by adding full-fat Greek yogurt with my butter and heavy cream. I was originally going to use sour cream, but I  had yogurt that I wanted to use up. After all, we are on a budget. The ingredients were flour, sugar, butter, yogurt, heavy whipping cream, and golden raisins.

Don’t Hate on the Raisins

Now I know some of you are going to stick your nose up at those raisins, and that’s okay. You don’t ever have to put any in the scones you make. I will admit that I am not a fan of regular raisins from red or purple grapes but do have a fondness for golden raisins. Originally I thought about using currants, but once again, I had a ton of golden raisins on hand, so my philosophy is “waste not, want not.”

​Speaking of currants, I wanted my recipe to be a cross between a traditional English scone and an American scone. English scones, or at least the ones I have had, are more biscuit-like while American scones are sweeter and drier in texture. This is just my opinion. Please do not come after me if your English grandmother makes the most tender, non-biscuit-like scones 😀

Let’s Make this as Hair Raising as Possible

​To add more to this challenge, I wanted to roll out the dough and cut it with biscuit cutters rather than triangle shapes, which most American scones tend to be. I was making scones from scratch, so why not add undue stress and make cut-out scones! Is it really even a challenge if I am not ripping out my hair, making an enormous mess, and putting myself on the verge of tears?!? I jest; I was perfectly calm when attempting this recipe.

Let’s Give a Fork

I would love to tell you I was successful in making my first set of scones, but unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. Now I should clarify: the scones were absolutely delicious, but my execution was a little off. This means I am giving myself 3 ½ forks for this particular Thursday challenge.

Taking My Scones Back to the Drawing Board

So where did I F’Up? For starters, I think my baking powder was a little old. I knew it had been in my pantry for a while, and I didn’t test it beforehand. It is a simple process. You take a small amount of baking powder and add warm water to see if it fizzes. I wish I had done it because my scones got very little “lift,” which you can see in the photos. I also rolled the scones out too thin, which means I gave those poor little scones even less of a chance to rise.

​Now, in defense of my beautiful scones, they did taste delicious, and the texture was perfect. Unfortunately, they do need a little work, so it is back to the drawing board for me. However, I am armed with some important lessons going forward. I will most definitely check my baking powder next time, and will make sure my dough is much thicker when cutting out my scones. I have also purchased some new biscuit cutters that will make this step much easier in future attempts.

Once Again, We’re Embracing Imperfection

Overall, I was quite proud of myself during this baking challenge. My scones were not perfect, but I was able to look past the foibles and move on, which is all a part of my wellness journey. Plus, I got to eat a lot of delicious mini scones 😀 One of my main goals with this blog is to learn to accept life’s imperfections and embrace them. These scones were the perfect opportunity for me to do that. They were perfectly imperfect, just like me.

Until My Next Musing!