wow!  party scone

this is my creative take on heidi swansons mega scones from 101cookbooks (a forever inspiring recipe site). 

for the original, i recommend heading over to her site.

as for me, it seems i never have enough flour on hand and lately have been getting into grinding up raw oat groats (always have those on hand) in my vitamix.  even though i don’t have the special grain grinder, as long as i use 2 cups or less of grain, it works and wow, its pretty neat to grind up fresh flour!  this simple simple recipe makes two mega scones, bake one off now and bake the other in the afternoon to take over to a friends house... as for the milk and filling choices, use what you've got, whats exciting, its an easy place to be daring and experimental.  the cardamon and lemon zest were a perfect marriage here, we were all pretty happy.

2 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 cup fresh ground oat flour3 Tbl baking powder (aluminum free please)3/4 tsp sea salt1/2 cup unsalted butter (cut into small chunks and freeze)*1/2 cup rapadura sugar (evaporated cane juice)1 1/4 cup raw goat milk1 tsp vanilla extractzest of 1 lemon1/4 cup thawed summer raspberries**1/2 cup cardamon infused canned peaches**little extra milk and raw sugar, alternatively, use 2/3 cup chunky preserves.Cut the butter & return to the freezer, zest the lemon and preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, softly mix flours, baking powder and salt.  transfer to a food processor or  vitamix (in batches), cut in butter till mixture resembles pea-sized crumbles.  mix in sugar.  measure out milk in a pint mason jar (or whatever), add lemon zest and vanilla, mix, then slowly add to dry mixture.  stir together with a large spoon, until the mixture just begins to come together.  added a little dash of flour if need and knead once or twice against the side of the bowl.  split the dough in half, setting one aside (pat out into a thick rectangle, wrap and freeze for up to a week if you want).  on a floured surface, roll out one of the halves to a rectangle about 11x10" and 1/2" thick.  chop up the peaches and mix w/ the raspberries.  set half the dough and half the fruit mix to the side, this will be for the 2nd party scone. 

Slather half the remaining fruit mixture down the middle third of the dough slab.  gently fold the left side over the middle and spread w/ remaining fruit.  now, fold the right side over the left (think letter).  slide your folded package onto a parchment lined baking sheet, brush the top w/ milk and sprinkle w/ a little raw sugar before slipping into the oven.  bake for 25 minutes. remove from oven, let cool a bit.  i sliced up the scone loaf after it cooled for about 30 minutes, gathered friends and hot coffee and we ate it up, yum.

*tip:  i always keep a few sticks of butter in the freezer for such pastry endeavors.  this time i took out  my frozen chunk, first thing, cut it up, then stuck it back in the freezer in a small metal bowl till i was ready for it... worked out nicely.

*also: chunky preserves of your favorite variety will do just fine... i’m already excited to try it our w/ our quince preserves!