Honey Almond Scones

This delicious recipe comes from Julie Hyzy's fun culinary mystery, State of the Onion (see post below). The recipe makes eight scones, but they're quite large, so you could probably cut it into 12 or even 16 pieces if you like.

And the frosting? Yum.

SCONES

1/4 c. buttermilk or plain yogurt (I used milk and added about 1/2 t. lemon juice)

3/4 c. honey

2 eggs

1/4 t. almond extract

3 c. flour

4 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. butter, chilled

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. finely chopped almonds

FROSTING

3 T. butter, melted

1 t. vanilla

2 drops almond extract

1 T. hot water

1 c. powdered sugar

Put a sheet of parchment paper on cookie sheet. Set aside.

In small bowl, stir together buttermilk or yogurt, honey, eggs, and almond extract. Set aside.

In large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry blender, until the butter is well distributed in small bits throughout. (You can use clean fingers to finish the job, if you like.) Add sugar and almonds and mix.

Add wet ingredients to dry, and stir until a ball forms. With floured hands, knead 5 to 6 times until it's well blended.

Plop dough onto parchment paper and pat down into circle (maybe 9 inches across). Smooth it out so it's evenly thick throughout. Cut into wedges. (Hyzy recommends 8, but you can cut into 12 or 16 pieces if you like. I made 8, but we ended up cutting most of the scones in half before eating. But then we ended up eating two wedges anyway, so I suppose it all works out in the end.)

Bake at 375 degrees until medium golden brown. The recipe says for 25 minutes, but my oven runs hot so I took mine out after 17 or 18 minutes.

For frosting, mix together butter, vanilla, almond extract, and water. Add powdered sugar and stir well. You can add more hot water, 1 t. at a time, until the glaze has the consistency of thick syrup. Spoon over warm scones.

Now kick off your shoes and enjoy your scone with a good book (like State of the Onion).