Baked Sunday Mornings: Sour Lemon Scones

This week's Baked Sunday Mornings recipe is Sour Lemon Scones. The recipe calls for candied lemon peel and I happened to have a pound of it on hand since I had stocked up on both candied orange and lemon peel in advance of my holiday baking. If you're not making your own candied peel, this recipe comes together quickly.

You combine all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking power, baking soda, salt, and ground ginger); work in cold cubed butter; pour in the liquid ingredients (egg, buttermilk, and lemon zest); gently knead until the dough comes together; and incorporate the candied lemon peel. I made the dough by hand and formed it into three disks, each of which I cut into six scones. I brushed the scones with buttermilk and sprinkled on coarse sugar before baking.
Even though I didn't chill the scones before baking, they kept their shape beautifully. I thought the scones were generously sized even I though I made the "miniature" version that yielded 18 smaller scones instead of suggested yield of 12 scones that would be "decently sized for a hearty breakfast snack."

These scones looked great and they also had a lovely lemon flavor with a nice hint of ginger. I wouldn't say they were "sour" per se, but the candied peel does give the scones a distinctive tang and texture. However, they were slightly tough and dry. I think I might have overbaked them. I'm kicking myself over this error because to me, the defining characteristic of a scone is a tender and crumbly texture. I would happily give this recipe another try and make sure to pull the scones from the over a little earlier.

Recipe: "Sour Lemon Scones" from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at Baked Sunday Mornings.

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