Texture of Scones

[DaveGriffin]

I make a Sour Cream Scones recipe I got from Cooking Light. I substitute Whey low sugar for diabetics as well as low sodium baking powder. It's a moderately dry dough that has to be worked for a while to get it to form into a dough. I usually start with a spatula, folding until I can pick it up and work it into a ball.

So it works regular as clockwork until last week. It was a LOT dryer, took longer to work and was much more cookie like than cake like. I actually liked the effect (though both are good). I made it again yesterday and it was back to normal. I'm still trying to figure out what I did differently last week.

The only thing I can think is that I might have inadvertantly used 1/3 cup of sour cream instead of 2/3 as needed. Since there is 1.5 cups of AP flour and 2/3 cup whole wheat flour, plus sugar etc., I'm thinking that had I done that I might have gotten the effect I got.

I'm thinking maybe next time I should try 1/2 cup of sour cream to make it a bit dryer. What do you think?

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Welcome to DC, Dave. ~ I think you're right when you said you might have used only half as much sour cream when your scones were drier. It sounds like the 1/2 cup sour cream would give you a moisture level about halfway between last week's scone and your earlier batches.

We personally like moister scones. I usually use half-and-half as the dairy liquid in mine. After my very first batch turned out drier than we liked, I added about 1 Tablespoon more liquid to every 1/2 cup called for in the recipe.

 

[Josie1945]

Hi Dave
Welcome to DC

Josie

 

[DaveGriffin]

I tried 1/2 cup of sour cream instead of 2/3 cup and it did indeed come out more like a thick cookie in texture vs. the quite nice cake the standard recipe gives. I kind of like it better though. I got the recipe here Sour Cream Scones Recipe | MyRecipes.com

Though I do make changes. I use Whey Low sugar instead of regular sugar (and the same for the Brown sugar). I use low sodium baking powder and baking soda. I combine the butter cold with a blender into the flours. And I work the dough with a spatula till it stops being so sticky.

 

[GotGarlic]

Hi, Dave. Another variable when baking is the humidity level in the house. Flour absorbs moisture from the air, so sometimes it's necessary to add more flour or liquid to compensate.

 

[DaveGriffin]

I'm in Atlanta, GA which is pretty humid but I don't think my humidity varies all that much -- and in this case I've had the A/C running for some time so the air should be pretty dry. But I'll keep that in mind. Good thing I didn't start baking when I lived in Colorado Springs. That would have been a whole different bag of snakes. Great place but the altitude complicates things.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Try working with this recipe for British Style Scones, which are much more cake-like compared to their American cousins

 

[Mad Cook]

Try working with this recipe for British Style Scones, which are much more cake-like compared to their American cousins

English recipes for scones tell you to rub the fat and flour in until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs whereas American recipes (from what I see American cooks doing on Food Network) tell you to only rub the fat into flour lightly so you have pea-sized lumps of fat in the mix. I don't know whether this would make a difference.

Oh yes, and don't over-handle the mixture when mixing them. To much playing with the dough will probably make both sorts dry and heavy. It certainly does with English (oops, Scottish) scones.

English scones are rather like soda bread in texture (very similar recipe, really)and not flaky as American ones are described on American cookery programmes. I think American ones are richer too. I keep meaning to have a go with an American recipe next time I make scones.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

I find American scones dry and quite dense compared to English scones

 

[Cooking Goddess]

The standard grocery store scones around by us are dry. For some reason, Himself decided that he liked them when he moved up here and was on his own shopping. When I tried them I thought "why"? I set out to make my own. They were OK when I made them on a baking sheet, using a recipe book that was in U.S. measures but looked decidedly like it have been updated from a British cookbook. When I found a scone pan at Nordic Ware (which oddly resembles a cornbread pan, the 8-wedge kind) and used it for scones, the texture was remarkably different. So moist, tender, rich. Except for my initial attempt, I have always added just a touch more liquid than called for in the recipe. Otherwise, nothing has changed except the pan. Love that thing!