Recipes: Traditional Raisin Scones

I decided this past sunday was going to be the day that I attempted to make traditional raisin scones...and I was a bit nervous as it seemed to be a complicated task. Finally, after an extensive search for internet recipes, I found the one for me: Paula Deen's traditional raisin scones, courtesy of www.foodnetwork.com.

Now the only problem was that I did not have all the ingredients. Regardless, I was going to make these scones, so I began thinking about what I can substitute for the missing ingredients.

In the end, the scones turned out delicious! And I mean DELICIOUS, even if I may say so myself.

Here's the original recipe followed by my alterations:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

You will need:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup raisins

In a bowl, sift the flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl, beat the butter until creamy. I mean beat it with a cake mixer, not a baseball bat or a ruler. Next add the sugar and beat it until the mixture becomes pale and fluffy. Then add in the eggs, one at a time. Gradually mix in the flour, followed by the buttermilk. Here's where it gets tricky. The mixture by now is extremely hard to beat, its thick and sticky, but it still needs to be all mixed. Finally add the raisins, and gently fold them into the batter using a spoon.

Using an ice cream scoop, place the mounds of batter on a cookie sheet. I like to line the cookie sheet with parchment paper or non-stick foil to ensure easy clean up.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes.

Now here's what i substituted with:

• 1/2 cup of whipping cream (instead of buttermilk)
• increase the sugar to 1/3 cup
• if you don't like raisins, go ahead and use chocolate chips or any dried fruit like cranberries.