If you are addicted to food blogs like I am, you may have noticed these guys cropping up all over the place. Meyer Lemons! Maybe you've seen these beauties from Tartlette, or this tart from 3B's, or this gorgeous lemony post from Cannelle et Vanille.When I saw Meyer lemons at the store, I wasn't sure what to do with them, but I bought them anyway. :) After looking through all my cookbooks and much debating, I decided on scones!
Meyer lemons smell SO unbelievably good! If you come across them and don't plan to buy, at least pick them up and smell! Heaven!
Here are the scones just out of the oven. I didn't bother with an egg wash on the top since I was going to top them with a glaze.
Oh, man...were they ever good! See those flecks of vanilla bean? I used my vanilla bean paste again. I love that stuff!
The inside was super flaky and flecked with little bits of zest and vanilla bean. One word of advice...eat them while they are warm from the oven. For testing purposes only, I ate 2 warm from the oven, 2 for lunch that day and 2 for breakfast the next morning (my husband was out-of-town...someone had to do it!). Warm from the oven is definitely best, although I'd never turn down a scone in any form!This recipe is adapted from King Arthur Flour's "Basic Scone" recipe in their Baker's Companion cookbook. If you don't own this book, I highly recommend it! (Also, go check out their blog!)
Meyer Lemon-Vanilla Scones
(adapted from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion)
3 c. all-purpose, unbleached flour
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. dry milk
3/4 tsp kosher/coarse salt
1 TBSP baking powder
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 c. combo of milk and Meyer lemon juice
4 TBSP butter
1/4 c. shortening
2 TBSP Meyer lemon zest (heaping)
~~~~~~~~~
Meyer lemon juice
powdered sugar
Place butter and shortening in the freezer.
Preheat the oven to 450. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk together the dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla bean paste and the milk/Meyer lemon juice. (I filled my 1/2 c measure about 1/3 full of juice, then topped it off with milk to make 1/2 c.)
Into the flour mixture, grate the cold butter on the large holes of a grater. Break the shortening into pieces and add to the flour mixture. Cut in the fat with a pastry blender or 2 knives, leaving some pea-sized pieces of fat.
Gently stir/fold in the liquid mixture and the zest.
Dump the dough onto a floured surface and gather together until it is cohesive. Divide the dough in half (using your bench scraper) and move to the cookie sheet. Pat each half into a 7-inch circle and then cut each half into eighths. Separate the wedges slightly. (King Arthur says you can freeze the unbaked and cut dough...that's what I did with my other half. Add 2 minutes to the baking time.)
Bake for 7 minutes, then turn the oven off (don't open the door!) and let them sit in the oven for about 8 minutes more.
While the scones are in the oven, mix a little powdered sugar with Meyer lemon juice. Just eyeball the amounts and mix together with a fork or whisk until you have enough to lightly cover the scones.
Remove the scones from the oven and immediately place on a cooling rack. Place the cooling rack onto the cookies sheet still lined with parchment (this will save more clean up later). Drizzle the lemon glaze of the tops of the scones. Enjoy them warm! :)
