A blast from the past

Who knew. The decision to take our most popular rosemary scone off the menu was necessary to keep growing our cake business. It broke my heart. I baked hundreds, no... thousands, of these scones. They were the first morning activity. The first bake of the day. The first magnificent aroma. The first scone love. Gone, but not forgotten. 

The orange is exceptionally delicious with the herbal rosemary. Try substituting lemon zest and fresh thyme for another delicious combo. It is a bit more time consuming stripping thyme leaves but worth the effort. It's over the moon good.

My favorite way to eat these scones are plain, or with a pat of butter, hot from the oven. We drizzled a fresh orange glaze made with the orange juice mixed with sifted powdered sugar and garnished with a small spring of rosemary at the bakery. Try it both ways. 

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Rosemary Scones

by Kristen Benkendorfer January-17-2018

This rosemary scone is the signature scone of BIG Bundts & More. It was the first scone recipe that was developed for our customers at the Chapel Hill Farmers’ Market. We bought the lovely fragrant rosemary from our stall neighbor, Feather Village Farm. It’s still my favorite scone ever!

Ingredients

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 scant cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 1/2 cups, plus extra to brush on scones before baking cold heavy cream
• as needed demerara sugar

Instructions

Place an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 2 baking sheets with butter. Set aside.In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add chopped fresh rosemary and orange zest. Mix well. Add cold cubed butter. Mix until mixture sandy texture forms. (You should still see small pieces of butter.)Add cold heavy cream. Dump it all in while mixing. Pulse until dough starts to pulls together. Do not overmix! On a lightly floured work surface, briefly knead the dough together. Divide the dough in half. Roll out the dough 1/2-inch thick disks. Cut each disk into 6 pieces. Gently place each scone onto the prepared baking sheet. 6 per sheet pan. Lightly brush dough with heavy cream and sprinkle with demerara sugar before baking. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges are deep golden brown. Transfer the cooked scones onto a wire rack and cool for 30 minutes.For the glaze: In a medium bowl, mix together the juice of 1 orange and about 1-2 cups sifted powdered sugar until smooth glaze forms. Drizzle the glaze over the scones. Let the glaze set for about 30 minutes. Serve or store in an airtight plastic container for 2 days.

Details

Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 1 hour 30 mins Yield: 12