Scones!

I baked apple-cinnamon scones today. They just came out of the oven, and the apartment smells great. I did it differently than usual, instead of grating the apples and getting all that juice in the mix and having to add lots of flour to make up for all the liquid, I just diced them instead and tossed them into the Kitchenaid. Going to spread some raw honey (More on that later!) on them and try them just as soon as they cool, and if this way turns out to be better I'll take pictures of the process next time I make them. For now, here's the recipe I use, taken from Allrecipes.com and adapted for the apples:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• A few dashes of cinnamon, I'd say about a tablespoon (more if you like, though!)
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled well or frozen
• 1 large cooking apple, like fuji or granny smith. If you really like apples, use 2 of them and mix the varieties.
  
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg

1. Preheat the oven to 400, or 375 if you've got an electric oven that runs hot like I do.

2. In a medium bowl (Or in the bowl of a stand mixer if you have one), mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Now, the original recipe called for freezing the stick of butter and grating it, but I just slice it into fairly thin slices and then add them in. Work the butter in with your fingers or a fork, or just set your mixer to "stir" (or the lowest setting depending on what mixer you have) and let it do all the work. The end result should be a mixture that resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Now, you can go ahead and peel, core, and slice your apples. If you get one of those things with handles that cores and slices your apples all at once, so much the better! Go ahead and dice those babies up into fairly small chunks, and toss them in. After that comes the sour cream and egg. If you're doing the mixing by hand, you can beat the sour cream into the egg and mix it in at once if it's easier for you. Otherwise, just toss it into the mixer and set it on "stir". Don't overwork it, you want it to be just mixed.

4. At this point you can take the whole lot out of the bowl and slap it onto a floured surface. Form it into a round with your hands and pat it kind of flat, so it's a few inches thick. Slice it into 8 wedges with a sharp knife, and then gently transfer those wedges to a well-greased baking sheet (You can use parchment paper if you have some, but I don't.)

5. Brush milk onto the tops and sides, sprinkle with some more cinnamon and some sugar, and throw them into the oven for about 15-20 minutes. The tops will get a little browned, and when they're done they'll be slightly crumbly and a knife stuck in the middle should come out clean or with a crumb or two stuck to it. Let them cool a little while on a rack and enjoy!

Now, for a note on honey. I recommend these spread with raw honey. Not the crappy store bought kind! Get some good honey. My favorite is Gentle Breeze Honey, but you can only get it in Wisconsin since they have no online store. It's hard to describe how good this stuff tastes on scones or better yet, on cornbread. Think of how a field of the most beautiful flowers smell, and then imagine that smell as an explosion of taste in your mouth. That's raw, unfiltered honey. (I was going to put a fake disclaimer here claiming no responsibility for any addictions resulting from this advice, but you know what? I'll go ahead take full responsibility for it, because I'm doing you a favor. :P Go now. Buy some raw honey!)