Apricot Ginger Scones

Three things make these scones interesting: tart-sweet dried apricots, warming crystallized ginger, and a quick hit of lemon zest. Each one pulls in a different direction (chewy fruit, sugar-and-heat ginger, perfumey citrus) and the buttermilk dough holds it all together with a tender, lightly tangy crumb.

The shaping technique is faster than traditional cut scones. Pat the dough into an oval, score it with a knife into 8 or 9 triangles, and bake the whole thing as one piece. The pre-cut lines give you a guide for breaking the cooled scones apart along clean edges, but the scones themselves stay connected during baking, so the cut sides stay soft instead of crisping. Less work, different texture.

Dicing the apricots and ginger small is key. Big chunks of dried fruit will sink during baking and create dense pockets; small dice (about pea-sized) distributes throughout the dough so every triangle gets a fair share.

Kitchen Tips

• Use the food processor if you have one. Pulsing the dry ingredients with butter, then the fruit, gives you a more even distribution than hand mixing for this recipe.
• Look for soft, pliable dried apricots, not hard leathery ones. Fresh-package apricots will plump in the dough; old ones stay tough.
• Don’t overknead. Six turns is the magic number from the directions; more and the scones turn dense.
• Bake until deep golden, not just lightly browned. The longer bake (25 minutes) is needed because of the moisture from the fruit.

Variations

• Swap apricots for dried cherries or chopped dates; both pair well with ginger.
• Add a tablespoon of orange zest along with the lemon for a more complex citrus profile.
• Drizzle cooled scones with a thin lemon glaze (powdered sugar plus lemon juice) for a brighter finish.