When writing wasn’t going well this afternoon, I gave up and made scones. They’re loosely based on Mark Bittman’s super-fabulous scone recipe from the New York Times, only they’re not at all the same. They are just as easy, however, and take no more than 45 minutes from mixing bowl to plate. So check it out:
1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. sugar
6 Tbsp. very cold butter, cut into small cubes.
1 egg
3/4 cup yogurt
4 scallions, chopped finely
1/2 – 3/4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, plus some for topping the scones
black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 450F. Place the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, pepper, cayenne, and butter in the work-bowl of a food processor, and pulse the mixture gently until the butter has disappeared and the flour looks sandy. Don’t over-pulse. As with pie crust, you don’t want to develop gluten.
Beat your yogurt and egg together briefly, then add it to the work-bowl along with the cheddar and scallions, and pulse just a couple more times, until you have a gooey mess.
Turn the mixture out on a floured board, and use a rolling pin (or, really, your hands) to roll it out until it is about a bit less than a half inch thick. Then use a cookie cutter (or drinking glass) to cut out rounds, placing them on a lined cookie sheet.
Finally, top each round with just a little bit more shredded cheese, and place them in the oven for 24 minutes, or just until the cheese on top has gone from melted to crispy.