Delicious Scones

When I first moved to Utah 23 years ago, I was surprised to see scones on so many menus around town including the local KFC. Then I was doubly surprised to find out that these "scones" were not the buttery baked goods with which I was familiar but more like Navajo frybread--a yeast dough concoction deep fried in hot oil. Now they have their own unique charms but they aren't what I think of as scones. With that in mind, here is my favorite scone recipe but how authentic it is I have no clue.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Use a food processor to do all the mixing. Measure out 3 cups of all purpose unbleached flour, not self-rising and place in the bowl of the food processor. Add 1/3 cup white sugar,  two and a half teaspoons baking powder, half a teaspoon baking soda, and a dash of salt. Process briefly to mix, then add all at once 12 tablespoons butter cut into tablespoon size chunks and process until the mixture starts to clump, sort of like pie dough. Then add half a cup or more of raisins or other dried fruit in combination and a cup of buttermilk. Process until the mixture clumps (this doesn't take long at all). Dump out on to a floured board or counter and knead briefly to finalize the blending of ingredients and then pat out into a circle about ten inches in diameter. Cut into eight pie shaped wedges and place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake. At my altitude this takes about 17 minutes but start at 14 and check. You can glaze these with a cream confectioner's sugar mixture or serve unglazed with butter.

Another variation that we sometimes make uses fresh orange zest and juice. Simply add the zest of a fresh orange and the juice of that orange. Put the juice into the measuring cup and add buttermilk to make a cup of liquid. This will vary depending on the juiciness of the orange. Bake as usual.