Gratitude, Day 20: Easy Like Sunday Morning

NOTE: I am a fan of 30-day challenges, and November is traditionally a time of two: National Novel Writing Month, and 30 Days of Thanks. As I am not a fiction writer, this year I have chosen to publish a daily blog for the entire month, expressing my gratitude. This may not be entirely food-focused, but expect recipes aplenty. Feel free to join me in the comments below. What are you thankful for today?

There is pretty much nothing better than hot, fresh-baked goods on a cold Sunday morning, and today is no exception.

This day I am grateful for easy, always successful, super adaptable scones. This morning I made cherry ginger almond and ate two as soon as I pulled the pan from the oven.

It’s the little things.

Cherry Ginger Almond Scones

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (regular works here, too)

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick of butter, frozen

1/2 cup plain, full-fat yogurt

1 egg

1/2 cup chopped unsweetened dried cherries

1/2 cup unsalted toasted almonds

1/4 cup chopped crystalized ginger

Turbinado sugar for the tops (optional)

Method

This can be done easily in a food processor, but I like to make these by hand.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (375 on convection).

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients and whisk to combine.

In a smaller bowl. combine egg and yogurt and whisk to thoroughly incorporate egg with yogurt. Set aside.

Grate the full stick of butter into the dry ingredients and use your fingertips to crumble flour into butter. It should resemble cornmeal.

Stir in add-ins, then add wet ingredients to dry and stir until clumps begin to form. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until all of the crumbly bits are incorporated.

Shape into an 8″ disk then use a bench scraper or sharp knife to cut into 8 scones. Sprinkle each scone with turbinado sugar, then place on a baking pan lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until scones are golden brown. For a traditional scone, let them cool completely before eating, but I bet you don’t make it that long.

You can add pretty much anything you want to these: chocolate chips and walnuts, other dried fruits, coconut, different spices. I think cooked and crumbled bacon would pretty much through these over the top, specifically with the same dried cherries and maybe a little maple glaze.

What are you grateful for today?