Welcome the winter holidays with the amicable scents of gingerbread, eggnog, and fresh lemon in this unique tea scone.
Ingredients
For the Gingerbread Scones:
4½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
6 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon fresh lemon peel
2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 cup cold unsalted European butter (high fat), grated
½ cup molasses
1 cup eggnog
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
For the Eggnog Icing:
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup eggnog
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
For the Lemon-Ginger Sugar Topping:
3 tablespoons coarse sanding sugar
2 teaspoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 teaspoon freshly zested lemon peel
Method
To Make the Gingerbread Scones:
With a hand whisk, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves in a large mixing bowl. If using a food processor, pulse the dry ingredients until combined. Blend the lemon peel and crystallized ginger into the dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender or food processor, cut the cold, grated butter into the flour mixture to form a coarse meal.
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the molasses, eggnog, heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, and lemon juice until well-combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and pulse just until combined. If mixing by hand, make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the dry mixture. Stir together gently just until combined.
Form the dough into a flat disc and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes. The chilled dough should be firm yet pliable.
Heat the oven to 450°F.
Remove the chilled dough from the plastic wrap and roll it out to a ¼-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut into desired shapes, using floured biscuit or cookie cutters with a sharp edge for clean cuts that won’t press down the edges.
Place the cut scones on the prepared baking sheet about 1 to 2 inches apart to keep them from touching as they expand and spread slightly in the oven. Bake for 14 to 15 minutes, or until the scones are set. The tops will crack like a ginger cookie. Do not overbake. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Allow the scones to sit on the hot sheet for a few minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool.
Decorate the tops of the cooled scones with the eggnog icing and sprinkle with lemon-ginger sugar (recipes follow).
To Make the Eggnog Icing:
In a small mixing bowl, by hand or with an electric mixer. beat the butter and powdered sugar together until smooth. Blend in the eggnog, vanilla, and lemon juice. Beat for a few minutes until the mixture has emulsified and thickened slightly.
For the Lemon-Ginger Sugar Topping:
Toss the sanding sugar with the crystallized ginger and fresh lemon peel.
Variation
For Cake-like Scones:
Replace the all-purpose flour with pastry flour. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling out. Roll out the dough on a pastry flour-covered surface
Recipe Created and Stylized by R. Shannon Mock
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