(Better Than) Coffee Shop Ginger Scones

Lunch in the Park, a novel about love and family, is available for sale in multiple electronic formats at Smashwords, for the Kindle at Amazon.com and for the Nook at BN.com Wherever you buy it, it is DRM-free. The delicious recipes that Kate and Jeff cook up are right here on my blog.

I hope you'll read Lunch in the Park, you'll love it, and you'll feel the overwhelming urge to write a review on one or more of the sites above. And of course I'd love to hear from you here on the blog, too. 

Have I told you the story of the “as good as store bought” lemonade?

No?

Years ago we were invited to a Fourth of July Picnic. We brought food of some description, and a gallon of homemade lemonade in a jug that had a previous life as a gallon of distilled water. One of our hosts was a big lemonade fan, and after drinking a glass checked the label. When I told him it was homemade he said “It's as good as store-bought.”

I lifted my chin a bit and said “In some cultures that's not a compliment.”

“Yes,” replied his sister. “Like this one.”

He went on to expound on his theory that some things are simply better when store-bought. Lemonade was one of them, cheesecake another. He would not be dissuaded.

A few years later I was reading reviews on a molasses cookie recipe, and found this comment “These are just as good as the ones at [big coffee chain].” Imagine that, a cookie that is as good as the over-sized, over-sweet, under-flavored baked goods sold alongside 1 liter cups of burnt coffee. That really is an accomplishment. snort

We know Kate orders a chai and a ginger scone when she meets Jeff on Friday afternoons. The scones at Kate's favorite tea and coffee shop are closer to homemade than the monsters at the chain shops, but they're still quite large. If you want smaller scones, form the dough into two circles instead of one and bake for less time. Either way, these are just-sweet, quite gingery and a perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea.

A food processor makes this recipe very easy to put together, but you can cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter, or two knives, or just rub it in with your fingers.

Ginger Scones

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 inch piece fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup crystallized ginger
additional sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.

Peel and grate the fresh ginger.

Chop crystallized ginger.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, powdered ginger and grated ginger in the bowl of a food processor (or in a medium mixing bowl.) Pulse or stir to combine. Cube the butter and cut it into the flour mixture until it resembles wet sand. Stir in buttermilk to form a dough.

Dump dough onto a floured surface. Sprinkle the chopped crystallized ginger over the dough. Knead the dough just long enough to distribute the ginger.

Form the dough into ball and place on the parchment paper. Flatten into a disc about 8-9 inches across.

Cut into 8 equal triangles but do not separate. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the scones begin to brown around the edges. Allow to cool, then cut into individual scones.