Lemon Ginger Scones

Lemon Ginger Scones are a “by-heart” recipe

By-heart recipes are favorites that you keep in your head and don’t have to go to the cookbook or recipe box to find. I have lots of them actually. Our favorite Cornbread is one, my brownie recipe is another. Larry’s favorite Sour Cherry Bars is another one I never need to look up. And these Lemon Ginger Scones definitely qualify.

A recipe you know “by heart” usually means you don’t have to look it up to get the ingredients right, but it’s more than memorization. It’s a family favorite, probably something you have made hundreds of times, because everyone loves it. It means home and comfort because eating it makes the people you love feel good. “By heart” recipes are real, and we have them memorized because, just like making good things for the people we love, they say a lot about who we are.

Scones are easy to make

Any type of biscuit [and scones are just a sweet sort of biscuit when you come right down to it] is really easy to make. Just getting the ingredients together makes me feel good. Patting out the soft, pliable dough has a nearly sensual feel to it. Cutting out the scones, and lining them up on a baking sheet is easy. After they are baked, I love dipping the tops in a sweet glaze and watching it drip down over the sides. Easy and satisfying.

After a few minutes in the oven, the delicious aroma begins to fill the kitchen, and by the time they are finished baking, with the flaky layers showing and the lightly browned tops – it is all you can do to wait those few moments until they’re to be cool enough to handle. Then comes the decision of whether to wait a little bit and glaze them, or just serve with butter and jam, still hot and fresh from the oven – usually I opt for some of each, as I did with this batch.

Normally, I use unbleached all-purpose flour for scones. I had to adjust things a bit to get these just right – the whole wheat flour changes things. If you prefer, these Lemon Ginger Scones can be made entirely with all purpose white flour – just reduce the buttermilk by a quarter cup or so. White whole wheat flour is worth looking for – it is lighter in texture than regular whole wheat, which keeps these scones from becoming too heavy. I like the extra flavor from whole wheat flour.

Lemon Ginger Scones are great with just butter and jam

As I mentioned, you can dive right in with some butter, honey, jam or even cream cheese. You should take them off the baking sheet though, or the bottoms will start to get soggy.

Glaze is always nice though…

This recipe is very flexible

On the recipe card, I have given you some options for using different kinds of flours, and you might find that helpful.  But you can also change up the flavors.  Try orange, instead of lemon, and add some dried cranberries. Dried cherries are delicious in scones, and so are raisins. Try adding a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, or 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract. And, I’ll just throw this out there- chocolate chips are good in anything, including scones!

How to make Lemon Ginger Scones

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5 from 1 vote

Whole Wheat Lemon Ginger Scones

Author: Donalyn Ketchum

These Lemon Ginger Scones have the goodness of whole wheat, plus bright fresh flavor from lemon and ginger. [ there's an all-purpose flour option too]

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Course: breads, Breakfast, Brunch, Desserts, Snacks

Cuisine: American

Meal: Breakfast, Brunch, Picinic, Snacks

Servings: 12 scones

Calories: 374kcal

Equipment

• Heavy Baking Sheet
• Parchment Paper
• Microplane
• Pastry Cutter
• biscuit cutter

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour [see notes for flour options]
• 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 white all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar [ up to 1/2 cup if you like things sweeter]
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces cold butter, cut in cubes
• Zest of 2 large lemons [about 2 tablespoons, packed]
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• 1 cup buttermilk well shaken

Glaze

• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 11/2 cups 10x confectionery sugar

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400º, and line a large, heavy baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, brown sugar, baking powder and soda and the salt.
• Using a pastry cutter or two knives, or your fingers, work the butter into the dry ingredient mixture, until it has bits of butter about the size of lentils.
• Mix the lemon juice, lemon zest, grated ginger and buttermilk together.
• Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture, and fold together, using a rubber spatula or large wooden spoon. Fold, just until combined.
• Flour your work surface generously, and dump all of the dough onto it. Knead briefly, just until the mixture comes together in a ball.
• Pat out in to an 8 Inch by 8 inch square - it should be about a inch thick.
• Use a 2 inch biscuit cutter or cookie cutter, and cut into 12 scones. You will probably get 9 to start with and then have to sort of shove all of the dough back into a flattened ball and cut the rest.
• Bake for about 20 minutes, turning half way through - they should be nicely puffed and risen, and browned across the tops.
• To glaze, let them cool nearly to room temperature, and dip the tops into the glaze, made by mixing together the zest, juice and confectionery sugar.
• These are best eaten pretty quickly. Leftovers can be stored at room temperature for a couple days, and reheated. Only glaze as many as you plan to eat right then - the glaze kind of soaks in if they sit overnight.

Notes

If you don't have the exact flours I used, here are your options:

• You can use 2 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, and cut the buttermilk down to 3/4 cup
• If you only have regular whole flour, not white whole wheat. use 1 & 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and one cup of regular whole wheat flour. Use the whole cup of buttermilk.
• If you have White Flour and no regular whole wheat flour, use equal amounts of white whole wheat and all-purpose flour. Use the whole cup of buttermilk.

Whole wheat flour can sometimes be very dry - if your mixture doesn't seem to be coming together, you can drizzle a few extra tablespoons of buttermilk over it and mix gently until a dough forms.

Nutrition

Calories: 374kcal | Carbohydrates: 75g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 436mg | Potassium: 94mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 61g | Vitamin A: 247IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 99mg | Iron: 1mg

How long will Lemon Ginger Scones stay fresh?

Like most baked goods made using the “biscuit method” the scones will not taste as good after a couple of days.  You can still enjoy them though.  Only glaze the scones you plan to eat or serve right away. Store the remainder in a tightly sealed container.  They will be fine on the counter at room temperature for 2 days. After that, they ought to be refrigerated.

These scones can be reheated

Reheating scones is like magic and restores them to nearly just-baked freshness. Wrap them tightly in foil and heat in a preheated 350° oven for about 10 minutes. If they have been in the refrigerator, it will take about 15 minutes to heat them through again. The glaze can be refrigerated too, and then added after heating. Stir it up before dipping the heated scones in it.  Reheated scones are particularly good with butter and jam though.