lemon blueberry scones

This weekend, Chris and I drove to Tulsa to see a guy about a tooth. While there, I happened across some lemon cream lotion that I had to have. It smelled lovely, and standing there in the lotion aisle of Walgreens, it hit some kind of sugary-baked-goods-loving sensor in my brain.

On the drive back to Dallas, I noticed that my hands were horribly dry. Aha! But I had this magical lotion, freshly purchased, in my bag next to my feet. I put the lotion on my hands and was immediately overcome by an intense urge to bake something. But not just any baked good would do. No...it had to be something I could eat with lemon curd (because that's exactly what this lotion smells like). Thanks to my good friend iPhone and, eventually, a 3G connection when we finally made it to Durant, I scoured recipes in the epicurious app and found exactly what I was looking for: Meyer Lemon and Dried Blueberry Scones.

Only...the closest grocery store to my apartment doesn't carry Meyer lemons or dried blueberries, so I made do with the basics (adapted recipe follows):

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Lemon-Blueberry Scones

ingredients:

• 3 cups self-rising flour
• 1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 cup (11/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 cup blueberries (one 6- or 8-ounce package)
  
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon reduced-fat buttermilk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated regular lemon peel
• lemon curd (for serving, optional)
  

prep:

• Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 425°F. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk self-rising flour and 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl (or give it a whir in the food processor). Using fingertips, rub in chilled butter until pieces are size of small peas. (Or be really lazy and dump the butter into the food processor and whir until everything is mixed). Add blueberries and toss to coat.
  
• Mix 1 cup buttermilk and finely grated lemon peel in glass measuring cup. Pour buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients and stir until dough begins to form (some of flour will not be incorporated).
  
• Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and gather together. Don't freak out when you drop dough-covered blueberries all over the floor, because your crumb-seeking dog will probably sense that they've fallen and will come to your rescue. Knead dough briefly, about 5 turns.
  
• Divide dough in half. Form each dough half into ball and flatten into 1-inch-thick disk. Cut each disk into 6 wedges.
  
• Transfer scones to prepared baking sheet, spacing 1 inch apart. Brush tops with remaining 1 tablespoon buttermilk and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar. Bake until scones are golden brown on top and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let cool, if you can wait that long (because you decided to start making the scones at say, 9:30 on a school night and are old and can't hang), gently remove from baking sheet and smear a little lemon curd on top of your scone. Yum!