Bake: Apricot and White Chocolate Scones

J and I spent the day in London today. Yes, that's right! London, UK. We are en route to South Africa and had a 9 hour layover. We decided to be adventurous and took the Heathrow Express Train (only 15 min!) to Paddington Station and spent the day walking around and window shopping in Notting Hill, Portobello Market, Bond St and had some tea and scones at Picadilly Circus.   I will share more fun posts from our day in London, but first here is a scone recipe I've been meaning to share!   This is a blast from the past. I have to give credit to my dear friend Sarah who first introduced me to this wonderful recipe. I actually posted it on my previous blog, and am sharing it again here since these are soooo good (and quite easy to make! :)

Ingredients:
1 c dried apricots diced
1 c white chocolate chopped or white chocolate chips
3 1/2 c unbleached white flour
2 T baking powder
1/2 c unsalted butter
pinch of salt
3/4 c sugar
1 1/3 c whole milk 
2 eggs yolks beaten (optional for glazing tops)

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 400 F
2. Sift Flour, baking powder and salt together. mix in sugar.  Rub butter into flour mixture with your fingers until it is crumbly like you would for pie crust. (alternately, you can use a pastry blender as shown below) Do allow there to be some bigger pieces of butter in the dough. 

3. Add the white chocolate chips, apricots, and stir. Add milk all at once and mix to make a soft dough. Turn out on floured surface and knead gently just until dough holds together. It will be sticky!!!

4. Pat out to about 3/4 thick and cut with a large biscuit cutter. (or use the mouth of a cup)
 If desired, brush tops with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar crystals. 
5. Place on baking sheet. Allow to stand for 10 minutes
6. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minute or until golden
7.  Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.