Lavender Scones

My daughter turned 5 recently and wanted to have a tea party for her birthday, complete with real tea cups and a fancy dress.  My mom brought over tea cups that belonged to her mother and grandmother and loaned them to Grace for the special day.  However, Grace didn’t want tea in her very own teapot, she wanted pink lemonade.  So we had pink lemonade for her and the kids, and this amazing angelwater tea from Silk Road Tea Shop in Victoria, BC.  (Eric and I visited there in June…kid-free.  It was amazing.)

Clearly, Grace is in her element.

Since there was lavender blossoms in the tea, I thought it’d be a nice complement to have lavender scones.  I had picked up some English lavender at our local farmer’s market this summer and was waiting for the perfect excuse to use it.  A little certainly goes a long way!

These scones are light and flaky and oh-so buttery.  I used my smallest circle cutter, which I think added to the flakiness.  The lavender blossoms made it seem like summer was still here, which, in this current moment of cold weather, was refreshing.

I paired the scones with clotted cream, (which is basically creaming heavy cream and sugar), but you could have lemon curd, jam, or nothing at all.  These scones are the perfect pairing for any tea party, late afternoon snack, or brunch.  But really, you don’t need any reason or excuse to make these.  (And if you’re looking for other scone recipes, you can check out these: cranberry streusel, cinnamon chocolate chip, Christmas, Turtle, chocolate chip, raspberry white chocolate, mocha chocolate chip, cranberry orange, lemon poppy seed, and buttermilk. Okay, clearly I like scones.)

Enjoy! xoxo

Lavender Scones

(print recipe Lavender Scones)

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 10-12 scones

Ingredients:

3 c flour

1/3 c sugar

½ t baking soda

2 ½ t baking powder

1 t salt

¾ c unsalted butter, cold, and cut in cubes

1 ¼ c buttermilk

1 t pure vanilla extract

2 t dried culinary lavender

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.  Cut butter into chunks with a knife and place in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.  Add the cold butter and using a pastry blender or your hands, cut the butter into the dry mixture until all the butter is worked in and it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.  Add the lavender.

Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the buttermilk and vanilla extract.  Using your hands or a wooden spoon, gently fold until all the dry ingredients are wet.  Don’t overmix!  Dump dough onto a floured surface and pat into a rectangle about 1 ½ inches thick.

Using a round 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on the cookie sheet.  Have only 8 scones per cookie sheet as they spread a bit.  (I put the second cookie sheet of scones in the fridge to stay cold while one set bakes.)

Sprinkle with a bit of coarse sugar, if desired, and place in the oven for 12 minutes, or until edges of scones are golden.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe Source: slightly adapted from Alice’s Tea Cup