Last week we wrote about one of our favorite experiences: Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Tea Room at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. And that put us in the mood for one of the treats that you are served there: freshly baked scones. When we came across a recipe from the Grand Floridian kitchen in the cook book Chef Mickey: Treasures from the Vault and Delicious New Favorites we knew we had to try it out at home. Read on for more details on making these traditional British tea snacks. (The full recipe is at the bottom of the article.)
Ingredients
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons baking powder
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons margarine
2 tablespoons shortening
3 eggs beaten
1 ¼ cups milk
1 cup golden raisins
This recipe calls for pretty standard baking supplies. We had most everything on hand except for shortening. (We did also substitute butter as we don’t use margarine.) The recipe calls for raisins. But it is good to note it is not your typical snack raisins, but instead Sultanas, often called golden raisins. We also decided to make an extra large batch (1.5 x) to split the batch into three different flavors. We used a half a cup of each mix in for each portion. In addition to the golden raisins we tried fresh blueberries and chocolate chips as well.
Directions
STEP ONE: Dry ingredients
To begin sift the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Whisk to stir well.
STEP TWO: Buttery Goodness
Add the margarine (or in our case butter) and shortening into the flour and mix with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
STEP THREE: Wet Ingredients
Combine the beaten eggs and milk in another bowl. Stir in the flour mixture just until the dough comes together. Fold in the raisins (or other mix in item). We tried to be careful with the blueberries and they worked out just fine.
STEP FOUR: Let’s get rolling
On a lightly floured surface (we found the dough quite sticky and used a bit more flour), roll the dough out to about ½ inch thickness.
The recipe called for a 2 inch round cutter, which we didn’t have. But what we we did have was even better: Mickey shaped cookie cutters! We cut out as many shapes as we could then transferred to a lightly greased baking sheet.
STEP FIVE: Time to bake!
In an oven preheated to 425 degrees, bake the scones for 12 to 15 minutes or until they are light brown.
STEP SIX: Enjoy!
The scones puffed up quite a bit. They turned golden brown. The raisin and blueberries worked great. The chocolate chip did get a little melty. We served with butter and jam and made a pot of traditional English tea.
In case you are curious the tea set shown was from the Disney Store when the live action Cinderella movie came out. The tea cozy is from the Grand Floridian and can be purchased for an outrageous price (luckily ours was a wedding gift!)
The scones weren’t quite as perfect as the Grand but not bad for our first shot. They were a golden outside and fluffy inside. The next time we may add a bit more butter to the dough, but adding the butter and jam to eat them was just fine. We loved trying different flavors and sharing with some family and friends. It was a pretty easy recipe to have some Disney magic at home. The official recipe can be found down below…
Classic Scones
from Garden View Lounge
at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Makes 40 (2-inch scones)
Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons baking powder
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons margarine
2 tablespoons shortening
3 eggs beaten
1 ¼ cups milk
1 cup golden raisins
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the margarine and shortening into the flour and mix until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Combine the beaten eggs and milk in another bowl. Stir in the flour mixture just until the dough comes together. Fold in the raisins.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about ½ inch thickness. With a 2 inch round cutter, cut out 40 scones and move them to a lightly greased baking sheet. If you don’t have a cutter, you do them by hand. Bake the scones for 12 to 15 minutes or until they are light brown. Serve with Devonshire cream or butter and jam.
Cooks note: If you want a sweeter scone you can sprinkle them with sugar before baking.