Lemon Poppy Seed Sour Cream Scones

Lemon Poppy-Seed Sour Cream Scones.

How good does that sound?

One of my absolute favorite muffins is a lemon poppy-seed sour cream muffin.  Forget those flavored with almond.  I'm always disappointed.

And if you think to ask the barista or whomever it is that you're contemplating buying said muffin from whether they're flavored with almond or lemon, they look at you like, "Why are you asking this you crazy picky-muffin eater?"  But seriously.  Almond flavored poppy seed muffins?  No thank you.

Those with lemon?  Superb.  Refreshing.

Made with sour cream?  Even better.  My favorites are from Baking from my Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.  The recipe alone is worth the price of the book.  That and the Perfect Party Cake, which I also made again recently for Luke's baptism. . . . amazing.

But here's the thing about muffins.  They make a mess in the hands of toddlers.  Crumbs and crumbs and crumbs.  All over the table that make their way quickly to the floors and tracked throughout the house.  Hidden in collar crevices and waistbands to be deposited here and there to be found only in dustpans and dug out of baby's mouths days from now.

So our new favorite snack instead?  Scones.

For some reason scones, with that slight ingredient difference from muffins, make the perfect toddler snack.  They stay compact while eating, make fewer crumbs and are the perfect size for little hands.  And, they're easier to make than muffins, just press into a disk, cut and bake on a cookie sheet.  No muss, no fuss, no scrubbing out a dozen little concave indentures in each pan.

They're our new favorite thing around these parts.  And recently, when I bought a huge bag of lemons and that extra big tub of Daisy sour cream at Costco, I felt compelled to make up a batch of lemon sour cream something . . . lemon poppy seed scones it was!

And we loved them.

Lemon Poppy-Seed Sour Cream Scones

makes six to eight large scones or a dozen small scones

1 large egg
2/3 cup cold sour cream
2 cups all-purpose flour*
1/4 cup  sugar
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
1/4 teaspoon salt
5  Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and cold

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a measuring cup, measure out the sour cream and add the egg, lemon juice and vanilla, stirring to combine.  Set aside.

In a small bowl rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of lemon strong.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour.  Working with your fingertips quickly (you don't want the heat from your fingers to melt the butter) rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly and sandy - the butter pieces will be various sizes and that is good.  Add the lemon sugar, whisking briefly to combine.

Pour the sour cream mixture over the dry ingredients, along with the poppy seeds, and stir with a fork until the dough just comes together.  It will still be wet and sticky.  Knead the dough briefly in the bowl to combine.

On a lightly floured surface, turn out the dough.  Divide it into two and form lightly (do not press, do not use a rolling pin, just gently your hands) into a circle about 5" in diameter and a little over an inch thick.

For smaller scones (what I made for the picture above) cut each disk into 6 wedges using a pastry knife and place on the prepared baking sheet, leaving a little room for baking expansion in the oven. For large scones, either make one large disk and cut into eight pieces, (will be more the shape of pie slices) or cut the two smaller disks into quarters.


Bake the scones for 20-25 minutes or until their tops are golden.  Transfer to a baking rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving.


The scones can be frozen prior to baking for easy use.  Simply freeze the prepared scone on the baking sheet individually then, once frozen, wrap airtight and store in the freezer.  Don't defrost before baking, just add 2-3 minutes to the baking time.


*I'm on the search for sprouted flour in my neighborhood - I'll use it next time to make these! I haven't been pleased with how soaked quick breads have turned out so plan on using sprouted flour for them in the future!

Enjoy!

This post is written in conjunction with Real Food Wednesday and Foodie Friday!