How to Make Ginger Scones

This is a very American scone. It’s big, it’s triangular, it’s rich. Note, however, that it’s possible to do a lot of different things with this dough. I generally favor small scones, and indeed I normally make 12 little triangles with this recipe instead of eight large ones. You can use round cutters if you wish, cut them square, whatever you want! Start by combining your dry ingredients in a mixer bowl…

Stir on low to combine them, then add the butter and lemon zest.

Continue to stir on medium until you have a coarse, meal-like consistency. You can also do this by hand if you wish!

Add the ginger and stir it in.

Then make a well in the middle of the mixture and pour in the lightly whipped cream (yes, all you eagle-eyes, I did mix up my steps a little here…just do as I say, not as I do!).

Fold everything together until a dough starts to form…

…and knead it lightly a few times by hand to bring it into a ball.

Pat the ball into one big disk if you’re making large scones, or divide the dough and make two disks if you want smaller ones.

Cut the disk into eight pieces (or cut the small disks into six pieces each if making smaller ones). This is where the American scone-making process diverges somewhat from classic methods. The Scots, for example, often eat triangular scones, but they cut their dough disk (“bannock” as it’s sometimes referred to) after they bake it.

Arrange the wedges on a parchment-lined baking sheet and paint with additional cream. Bake at 400 for 14 – 18 minutes.