Herby Provolone Scones

Just the name sounds tasty! It makes me think of those addictive little "Cheddar Bay Biscuits" you get at Red Lobster. I'm still able to use our fresh herbs from this summer. Somehow they are surviving in our garage even though it's really cold outside.

Pulse together 4 cups of flower, 1 Tbsp of baking powder, 1/2 tsp paprika, and 1 1/2 tsp salt in a food possessor. Then cut in 2 sticks of cold butter and pulse it together until it is mixed, but keeping little pea-sized pieces of butter.  You want to keep the butter as cold as possible when baking biscuits or scones.

Transfer it to a large bowl and add 2 Tbsp fresh chives, 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary and 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, finely minced.   Mix in 8 oz of shredded Provolone cheese.

Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients.  Add 4 eggs.  Then pour in 3/4 cup of cream and slowly mix them together. At least that's what the directions say. I have always had a hard time accepting mixing eggs in this way. I feel there is no way to be sure they are evenly incorporated. I would rather mix the wet ingredients together first, and then add them to the dry.

But I digress. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients into the wet, until a rough dough is formed. Do not over-work the dough. The key is to keep those little pockets of butter in tact. That will ensure thought your scones are flaky and not tough.

Lightly flour your counter top and press the dough out into a 1" thick square. You can see I didn't get a perfect square -- but that's alright. It will still taste good.  Flour a chef's knife and cut the dough into 16 even squares (or a couple corners like mine).  Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops with cream, like an egg wash.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Bake them in a 400-degree oven for 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway through.

Scones seem to be pretty forgiving. So you shouldn't worry too much if you're not a seasoned baker. I'm not. Baking is more of an exact science than cooking. But this is a nice way to start.  I really like the cheese and herbs together with all that butter. These are also really nice if you slice them open and use them as bread for a breakfast sandwich.  Thankfully the recipe makes quite a lot. So you can find many ways to use them over the course of a few days.