Another one of my go-to recipes: Jam Filled Scones

My dear friend, Leslie, tried to teach me this mantra about saying "no". Clearly it went in one ear and out the other, because when my son's art teacher asked if any parent would like to bring snack for today's special after school class I jumped at the chance. And that is why I found myself baking scones this morning, while making breakfast, packing a lunch, cleaning up for the cleaning ladies and cursing the broken washing machine. But then the kitchen was filled with this amazing aroma, and my kids were recollecting how much they love these scones, and it was definitely all worth it. So, about these scones... I can't believe I haven't shared this recipe. This is another one of my go-to recipes. Originally learned from Giada, this is my version that is plenty for a classroom, with a few extra for fellow teachers:

Homemade Jam-Filled Scones with Lemon Glaze

(Makes 28 scones)

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

12 Tablespoons butter (1 1/2 sticks, cut into 1/2" pieces)

2 cups heavy cream

lemon zest (optional)

Jam (I tend to use strawberry or raspberry)

For the glaze:

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

vanilla (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375. In a Cuisinart, pulse the flour, sugar and baking powder until combined. Add the chilled butter and pulse until it's the consistency of coarse meal. Add the cream and pulse, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Transfer dough to counter, divide in half and roll the first half of the dough to 1/4" thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut into desired shape and place scones on parchment lined baking sheet. Make a small indentation in the center of each scone with your thumb or a spoon, and fill with a dollop of jam. Roll the remaining dough, cut into same shape and place a second scone on top of each one. Gently press down the top scone down on the bottom one. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for 30 minutes, then top with glaze.

To make the glaze: simply whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. You want it thin enough to drizzle with a spoon, but not too watery. Add more powdered sugar, if necessary. Let the glaze set for about 30 minutes.

Here is the recipe in photos...

I've already combined the dry ingredients (in the photo up top), now I should have pulsed it to make a coarse meal with the butter...

but I hadn't had my coffee yet, and so I let my little one pour the cream in next and I grated some fresh lemon zest in there, and then I tried to pulse. The Cuisinart wasn't happy, grinding with all its' might to make the dough.

I didn't want to make the machine smoke, so I turned the dough out onto the counter

and rolled it to 1/4" thick. My three-year-old pointed out that there were big polka-dots of butter in the dough. Can't worry about that at this point!

Here are the bottom layers of the scones.

Add a dollop of jam (this morning we went with raspberry).

A second 1/2" scone was placed on top of each one, and I gently pressed down so the jam would stay inside. Then into the oven for 20 minutes. Now they're cooling while I put my older son on the bus and try not to freak out that the clean playroom is covered in Legos again.

Next a quick glaze. Simply: lemon juice, powdered sugar and a splash of vanilla whisked together.

Not too thick, not too thin. A large spoon works well for drizzling.

Drizzling the glaze on while the scones are still on the rimmed baking sheet, and on parchment makes clean-up simple.

Then transfer the scones to a wire rack so they can cool completely and the glaze can harden before transporting them to school.