Lemon-Blueberry Scones

Warm scones from the oven for breakfast is such treat. And today I got the urge since Lauren is home for a few days. My motherly instinct kicks in and the thought of smelling scones baking in the oven while you wake up was too delightful to resist. When she and Nick were little, I always bought fruit-juice sweetened scones from our neighborhood bakery and we ate those on a regular basis, so good. These aren't fruit juice sweetened but I have another rule of thumb... you can eat sweets, "white" carbs and "junk" food if it's homemade...and these are definitely homemade. You can't buy scones that taste as good as these.

Makes 8 scones

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes and chilled
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 cup heavy cream

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a food processor to combine, about 6 pulses. Scatter the butter and lemon zest evenly over the top and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal with a few slightly larger butter lumps, about 12 pulses.

2. Transfer the dough into a large bowl. Add the blueberries. Mix the blueberries by hand into the dough. Stir in the cream with a rubber spatula until the dough begins to form, about 30 minutes.

3. Turn the dough and any floury bits out onto a floured counter and knead until it forms a rough, slightly sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Press the dough into a 9-inch cake pan.

4.  Unmold the dough. 

5.  Cut into 8 wedges. 

6.  Place the wedges on an ungreased baking sheet. 

7. Bake until the scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature.

Try to resist the urge to eat the scones hot out of the oven. Letting them cool for at least 10 minutes firms them up and improves their texture.