# 280: Pie Cottage Scones
A favorite recipe from my home to yours.
Scones
I love morning
donning my blue stripped apron
preheating the oven
setting ingredients on the counter
pulling out a favorite bowl.
I love the shaggy look of flour, sugar, butter, cream
mixed just enough to make a light dough.
I cut shapes—triangles today.
Into the hot oven they go
on a cookie tin burnished with decades of use.
The smell of home wafts through the cottage.
Do come over.
It’s time for tea.
RECIPE: PIE COTTAGE SCONES
A very unexpected and happy moment for me when on book tour for Home Cooking was bringing these freshly baked scones to share with my friends at The Washington Post Food Section. Yotam Ottolenghi was there that day, too. He saw my basket full of scones and asked if he might have one along with a cup of Earl Gray. He liked them so much he asked for another!
This recipe makes 12-16 but you can cut it in half to make 6-8.
What You Will Need
4 cups (548 g) unbleached all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour mix (I use Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur GF Flour)
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 and 1/2 tablespoons aluminum-free baking powder
1 tablespoon poppy seeds, or zest of one orange or lemon (optional)
1 large egg
1 and 1/4 cups (280 g) sour cream or plain yogurt
1/2 cup (115 ml) melted butter (salted or unsalted)
1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream, half and half, milk, or even milk mixed
with some yogurt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon flavor extract of your choice (vanilla, almond, or orange)
2 teaspoons milk or half and half, for brushing
2 to 3 teaspoons granulated sugar, for sprinkling
How To Make Them
Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C).
In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients with a fork including the optional poppy seeds or citrus zest.
Make a well on top of the flour mixture and crack the egg on top. Add the sour cream and all the other liquid ingredients including flavor extract. With a fork, mix together quickly until everything has just come together but not as well mixed as cookie dough.
On a floured surface, form into two balls and pat each to the size of your hand. With a brush, paint on some milk, and sprinkle with sugar.
Cut each round into 6 or 8 wedges and place on a parchment-covered or lightly greased baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. They should look golden brown on top and the kitchen will smell really good. Best served hot with jam and butter and shared with a friend.
Variation: Here’s the variation for Gingerbread Scones which I think are perfect for this time of the year.
A Holiday Gift Idea
This scone recipe is from Home Cooking with Kate McDermott and my local bookstore is offering 25% off with the code: kate2024 . They will ship signed copies anywhere in the US, too.
Pie Camp Update: Thank You for the Amazing Support!
The response to the July 15-18, 2025 4-Day In-Person Pie Camp has been wonderful and camp is sold out! So, I added June 24-27 and August 12-15 camps and they dolf out, too. If you would like to come or be placed on the waiting list if they fill by the time you get this just let me know by email.
I will be announcing dates for In-Person Art of the Pie Day Camps and if there is enough interest one of them will be gluten-free.
I love sharing the craft of pie making with others so that this time-honored skill can be passed on and kept alive for the generations to come.
P.S. I’m honored that our newsletter just received a recommendation from David Lebovitz! You can see it here.
What I’m Listening To
An English Ladymass performed by Anonymous 4 is one of my early morning before the sun rises baking soundtracks. If you like quiet meditative medieval chant, this is one you will enjoy.
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My wife has a favorite bowl to mix biscuits in and a pan she has from her mother.
I never tire of scones and am always eager for a new recipe. This one sounds like a winner. I’m not surprised that Yotam Ottolenghi wanted a sample. Thanks, Kate!