Scones

INGREDIENTS
3 C plain flour
6 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
75g butter
1 to 1 1/2 C milk
extra milk for brushing

METHOD - ORIGINAL
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.  cut butter in until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Add milk and mix quickly with a knife to form a soft dough.  Knead a few times.  Lightly dust an oven tray with flour.  Press scone dough out onto this.  Cut into 12 even sized pieces.  Leave a 2cm space between scones.  Brush tops with milk. Bake at 220 degrees for 10 mins or until golden brown.  Serve hot or cold with jam and cream (I like New Zealand butter and jam on mine).

METHOD - MY QUICK METHOD
Melt butter, leave to cool.  Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.  Add milk to cooled butter (luke warm ok). Mix quickly into flour mixture with a large paddle type spoon or knife.  Knead a few times. Do not over mix.  Press out onto a floured board. Cut into desired size and place on baking tray.  I don't usually brush with milk, but might be nicer if you do!   Bake at 220 degrees for approx 10 mins or golden brown (depends on size of scones you cut).

VARIATIONS
Cheese Scones - Add 3/4 cup grated cheese to flour before adding wet ingredients, (and for adults a bit of cracked black pepper).  Serve hot with dripping butter is to die for, or make smaller hand size portion for little kids.
Date Scones - add 3/4 cup chopped dates, 1tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon to flour.  Before baking sprinkle scones with mixture of cinnamon and sugar.
Sultana Scones - Also popular with young kids.  Add 3/4 - to 1 cup sultanas to flour (sometimes I do half sultana half chopped dried apricot)

TIP
If doing my 'quick method'. Make sure the butter is cooled, and that milk is room temperature or something near to room temperature, otherwise the butter will curdle in the milk  (if that happens, warm the mixture slightly stirring until it combines).

ELLA-ometer - as a toddler Ella loved the Sultana/Apricot version and so did her toddler friends, but now she loves them just with jam and butter.

ZACH-ometer - I still can't get Zach to eat sultanas, but he also loves the butter and jam version.

Source:  Almost exactly another favourite from The New Zealand Edmond's Cook Book