by Sadie Grey

Created on: February 22, 2009   Last Updated: February 23, 2009

I love this recipe for scones. I discovered scones about seven years ago and went searching for a recipe. I made a few but wasn't happy with the outcome so I went to the lady who made the ones I fell in love with.She gave me her recipe and over the years I've changed a couple of things to make it my own.

Scones

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1-cup all-purpose flour

2-tablespoons granulated sugar

1-teaspoon baking powder

1/8- teaspoon baking soda

1/4-cup butter (not margarine)

1/3-cup buttermilk

1/4-cup dried cherries (chopped but not finely)

1/4-teaspoon orange peel grated

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.

With fork or pastry cutter, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.

Stir in buttermilk, cherries and orange peel until you have a soft dough.

Lightly flour counter surface and turn dough out. Knead lightly, until dough is no longer sticky. 4-5 times should do it.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Place dough in center and shape into a circle. This should be about 4-5 inches in diameter and not quite an inch thick.

Score top to look like wedges. You should be able to score 6 wedges.

In preheated oven, bake for twenty five minutes. Depending on different ovens types, time may vary. As long as you have nicely golden brown top, you can be sure it's done.

Notes and variations:

As stated in the ingredients, do not use margarine. It simply doesn't taste right.

You can substitute regular milk, but buttermilk is so much better.

With dried cherries you may get varying sizes. Watch out for too large pieces. I usually cut large pieces into quarters.

Instead of dried cherries you can use the same amount of any of the following dried fruits:

Apples-Before baking sprinkle top with mixture of 1-teaspoon of sugar and 1/4-teaspoon of cinnamon.

Raisins-Use sprinkle mixture for apples.

Apricots-Omit grated orange peel.

Cranberry-Lemon or orange peel works with this dried fruit.

Pineapple-Omit grated orange peel

Simply make sure the dried fruit is chopped properly.

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