Find the Time: Apple Cinnamon Scones

YUM YUM.........My daughter told me these tasted a bit like apple pie. She also told me that next time I should add some nutmeg and allspice, so I think I will do that. My grandsons football team had a bake sale Saturday so I made some things to help. These were one of the items I made. I also made some mini English muffins, both regular and cinnamon raisin and hamburger rolls. I'll post those items at a later time.

Ingredients:
Apple-Raisin Scones
(makes 6 large scones or 12 minis)

1 cup diced apples (or other fruit)
3 tablespoons sugar (granulated)
2 - 3 TBL cinnamon
1/4 cup red wine
3 TBL butter for apples
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, in cubes, slightly softened
2/3 cup half-and-half or cream or cold buttermilk

Topping:
1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

If using larger fruit, cut into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle fruit with 1/2 tablespoon sugar; set aside. Be sure to make the pieces small, or they tend to fall out of the dough. They'll still be plenty prominent in your finished scones.

Combine remaining sugar with flour, baking powder and salt. Add butter, using a pastry cutter or 2 knives to cut in butter (you may want to use your fingers to be sure butter is evenly mixed into flour). Stir in fruit; then add cream/half-and-half/buttermilk all at once. Use spatula to gently stir dough until it holds together.

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times to incorporate dry ingredients. Be gentle so you don't break up the fruit and don't overwork the dough. Sprinkle dough with flour if it gets sticky.

Press (pat) the dough into a circle 3/4 inch thick. If any fruit peek out, push them into dough. Cut circle into 6-8 wedges, then transfer wedges to the cookie sheet, leaving at least 1/2 inch of space between them. Bake 15 minutes.