Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze

The interns in my office have an instituted a pretty rockin' Friday Breakfast tradition (shout-out to the other divisions that served as inspiration). And for the inaugural day, I made scones and muffins (berry-inspired, of course). Now, just in case you haven't figured this out already, baking is a fail-proof way to win affection. With that said, I hope this recipe will guide you in your shameless attempts to bake-your-way into co-workers' hearts and bellies.

Scone Batter:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoon unsalted butter, cold, cut into chunks
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup fresh blueberries

Lemon Glaze:
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 cups confections sugar (powdered sugar), sifted
1/2 lemon, zest finely grated
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions:
* Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
* Sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, sugar).
* Using a pastry blender (or two forks), cut in the butter to coat the pieces of flour (make sure the butter is already cut into very small pieces). When finished, the mixture should look crumbly.
* Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream (to make a well, just make a hole in the mixture large enough for the cream to fill without overflowing, with dough rising up the sides of the bowl).
* Then, you will gently fold the dough over the cream. Work the dough until the cream becomes incorporated (be careful not to overwork, just enough to incorporate).
* Gently fold the blueberries into the batter (try not to crush them because the blueberries will bleed - as you can see from my picture, a few of my blueberries were compromised - if yours are too, it's no big deal, it just looks better when the blueberries stay intact).
* Press the dough onto a lightly floured surface into a rectangle (for an idea of appropriate thickness see picture). From the rectangle, cut scones into triangles. I only made 8 scones, but I wished that I had made the rectangle thinner and cut smaller scones. You may want to try this, and it would probably yield 12 or so.


* Place scones on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with egg whites or heavy cream (either will give it that a nice shiny top, but I used heavy cream because it was already on hand).


* Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden-brown.


* Once the scones cool, prepare the lemon glaze (yes, you need to let the scones cool before putting on the glaze - trust).
* If you are a traditionalist, mix the lemon juice and sugar over a double boiler, and stir until sugar dissolves. Then add the lemon zest and butter, and whisk until smooth. Although, I have tried this same thing in the microwave (by quickly heating the juice and sugar, and then whisking in the zest and butter) and it has come out just fine. Whatever you feel comfortable with!
* Once the scones have cooled, drizzle the glaze over the top. Wait a few minutes for the glaze to set up, and enjoy!


Note: Recipe adapted from Tyler Florence (pretty much the same, just changed up glaze proportions and instructions).