STILL NEW YORK-HUNGRY

32. Lemony Carbs! (Scones + "spiced" Cookies)

I fear I'm doing with scones at the moment what I've done with muffins for some time. But they're so easy to make and even healthy... when you use healthy ingredients. They're my preferred breakfast at the moment... and afternoon snack. They're so versatile.

Ye know, when i made these, I had an a$$-ful of lemons (because I had to take whole net instead of one as singles were out), and it was like 90°F until recently. So if I didn't want the buggers to run away on their own...

But they also relate a bit to my Laura & Vince-stories / novels, as his Mum is Scottish and had to find a way to adjust the traditional, plain kitchen she learned and knew to the tastes of Italians.

The cookies are basically a variation of "49. Lemon Cookies" , I did them several times across the last two years, BUT: the herb makes a unique and fresh difference.


The recipes are out of Petra Milde: Scones, scones, scones and Marc Kromer: Cookiemania.

Both are German authors, the former also doing some visits to other German restaurateurs who made it in Scotland and share their recipes; the latter being one of the few male "Foodfluencers" in Germany who bakes.


Okay, enough babble: off to the kitchen.



Serves:

SCONES: 10(+) big, 17 mini Which I did.

COOKIES: 16+



Prep Time:

SCONES: about 1 hr For 2 baking sheets

COOKIES: about 1 hr For 2 baking sheets



Degree of Difficulty: Easy




WE NEED


Scones


1 lemon Organic, otherwise: scrub/wash hot to wash away pesticides
150 gr / 5 US fl.oz. buttermilk
1 egg
120 gr / 4.3 oz. butter

500 gr / 1.1 lb. flour Try to find organic as US wheat is highly polluted by agricultural pesticides (and probably the reason for many a sickness blamed on gluten). Also spelt flour would be splendid as it yet contains many vitamins + fibers.

4 heaped tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar muscovado here = unrefined sugar – like the tangy aftertaste
1 pinch salt
100 gr / 3.5 oz. confectioner's sugar



Lemon Thyme Cookies

a) "Lemon Sugar"

2-3 tbsp sugar muscovado, too
1 tsp lemon zest


b) Cookies

120 gr / 4.3 oz. butter
100 gr / 3.5 oz. sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp lemon zest
1 (1/4) tsp dried rosemary But as the title says, I had only thyme, and that 1 whole tsp
160 gr / 5.75 oz. flour See above, Scones
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt




WE DO



SCONES


1. Preheat the oven to 190°C / 370°F top-/bottom-heat OR 170°C / 340°F fan-convection, and line 1-2 baking sheets with baking paper.


2. Wash, dab dry, zest + press out the lemon. Keep juice + zest separate. Whisk together buttermilk + egg and cut the cold! butter into cubes.


3. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar + salt. Add butter + lemon zest and knead everything into a crumbly dough with the kneading hooks of your KitchenAid / hand mixer. Add "egg milk" and repeat. Finish by briefly kneading with your hand. Very slowly you can work in about 1 fl.oz. of the lemon juice, like I did. The scones become so aromatized that you can eat them without any topping.


4. Flour a working surface and press the dough flat about 3 cm / 1 in thick, and cut out about 6 cm / 2,4 in circles with a cookie cutter, and place them on the baking sheets. I used a 5 cm / 2 in... also a reason why I got more scones done.


5. Bake for about 15 minutes OR until the scones are golden-brown. Since every oven's an individual this can take longer / shorter


6. If you fancy it – I didn't: –, stir confectioner's sugar together with 1-2 tbsp lemon juice – rather use less juice! – until you have a smooth frosting.


7. Remove the scones from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack. Brush them with the frosting when they're still warm.





COOKIES


1. Wash/scrub the lemon – HOT –, zest it and press out the juice. Mix 2-3 tbsp sugar with 1 tsp lemon zest.


1.5 Preheat the oven to 160°C / 320°F fan / convection. Line 1-2 baking sheets with baking paper.


2. In a big bowl, whip butter + sugar until frothy. Add and thoroughly mix in the egg yolk, then lemon zest + rosemary / thyme. Mix flour, baking powder + salt, and stir in quickly.


3. Shape the dough into walnut-sized balls, roll them in the lemon sugar, put them on the sheet with some distance and lightly press them flat.


4. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes OR until they're the slightest bit colored. Otherwise they're getting too hard. And since every oven works slightly different it can take longer / shorter


5. Let them cool on a wire rack. In a tin they keep fresh for 3-4 days.



Guten Hunger!