Huckleberry Scones

One of my favorite flours to bake with is barley. I know I sound like a total health food nut saying that, but if you give it a shot you may be a believer too! It produces a light, delicate crumb that takes on a crispness around the edges. Just make sure to blend it with a bit of regular flour or you'll have a dense blob for whatever you're trying to bake!

My son asked for scones for breakfast as we were talking last night, so I mixed all the wet and dry ingredients separately, refrigerated them, and set the delay start option on the oven. That meant that all I had to do this morning was wake up, mix, cut, and bake. The recipe below is a basic one; feel free to fold in some dried or fresh blueberries if you desire. I still have a small bag of huckleberries in the freezer from last summer, so I used about one cup of those, folding gently in right before I cut the scone dough. Our frozen huckleberries don't turn the batter red (we have the small red variety here, not the big purple ones), but frozen blueberries will turn it purple. If you really want to use frozen blueberries, I'd opt for the small wild ones and toss them in a tablespoon or so of flour before folding them in.

Lemon-Barley Scones (adapted from King Arthur Flour)

2 cups whole barley flour
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter
1 egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup lemon juice (or use more buttermilk instead)
1 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest (preferably organic)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Stir together the flours, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter in until it resembles coarse crumbs.

Whisk together the egg, buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Pour into the dry; stir until a few wisps of flour remain. Turn onto a floured work surface and knead two or three times, or until dough comes together. (Add any fruit now if you're using it.) Divide into two pieces.

Pat each piece into an 8 or 9" circle and cut into triangles. Place on a greased baking sheet. Brush with more milk (or buttermilk) and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake about 23 minutes, or until the tops are nicely browned. Serve warm, or transfer to a rack to cool.