Some of you may know that my Twitter name is “Crazy for Scones” and I am sure none of you who read this blog on a regular basis would be surprised at that. I don’t frequent Twitter on a regular basis as I am still a novice at trying to figure out the relative value of all of these social networking vehicles. I am firmly a member of the dinosaur generation and am barely treading water in this regard. One day I hope to get the Twitter thing down and learn how to link my blog to facebook and twitter and whatever else there is out there and then do the Pinterest and Instagram things, too. My sister-in-law Cindy tried to show me how to do the Pinterest thing this Summer and I don’t think I got it. Oh well, I’ll keep at it.
In the kitchen yesterday, while waiting for my turkey chili to be ready for lunch, it was Apricots with Toasted Coconut and Almonds in my biscotti. Today, I went looking for the recipe for my Lemon, Almond and Toasted Coconut Scones and only could find a muffin recipe from 2008. Could it be that the recipe I was remembering was for muffins and not scones? This is one of the hazards of being an obsessive recipe collector without an organized filing system (don’t tell Martha Stewart, she’d be appalled). Well, seeing that I couldn’t find the scones either in my word file or in my rather disorganized physical files, I decided to work the muffin recipe into one for scones. Below are both recipes. I am a little behind in putting some recipes into my recipe category – promise to catch up soon!
During the Winter of 2008, it snowed a lot and I was experimenting almost daily since my husband was often working from home. He liked these:
LEMON COCONUT MUFFINS
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/8 tsp lemon extract
1 tblsp lemon zest
1/2 cup sweetened coconut
1/4 cup extra finely chopped toasted almonds – don’t do in a food proc
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg white for brushing coconut tops
1 tsp lemon zest and 1 T sugar for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 400F.
In a medium bowl, measure flour, sugar, baking powder salt and ground almonds. Whisk together. Into a large mixing bowl, add egg, buttermilk, oil, zest and extracts. Whisk together. Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients, mixing only until dry ingredients are just mixed in. Do not overmix. Fold in coconut gently. Spoon mixture into muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Brush tops with egg white and sprinkle with the additional sugar/lemon zest mixture.
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and, the “re-mix” into scones:
TOASTED COCONUT, LEMON-ALMOND SCONES
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tblsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
3tblsp sugar
zest of one lemon
6 tblsp cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup plus 2 tblsp buttermilk
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1/2 cup toasted coconut (on a sheet pan, toast at 325F for about 15 min. – watch it, cool)
1/4 cup sliced toasted almonds, crushed with your hands
1 egg for egg wash
2 tblsp turbinado sugar combined with 1 tsp lemon zest
Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest with your fingers to release oils from the lemon.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, baking powder, salt, lemon/sugar mixture and ginger with a few pulses. Add cubed butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.
In a measuring cup, combine egg, egg yolk, buttermilk and extracts.
Remove flour mixture to a low, wide bowl. Make a well. Add wet ingredients and gently combine with a dough scraper. When most of the mixture is blended, add the coconut. Knead lightly to bring dough together.
Remove dough to the baking sheet and pat into an 8″ round. Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle crushed almonds over top. Sprinkle with the turbinado sugar/lemon zest mixture. Cut int0 8 wedges with a bench scraper or sharp knife.
Bake for 20 minutes or until top is well browned and crusty. If scones feel softer in middle, gently separate the wedges with a sharp knife and bake 5 minutes longer or until sides of scones are thoroughly baked. 
I brought these to my friend Donna, along with some of the biscotti. I think they went over well.
Note: Can drizzle tops with :1 cup confectioner’s sugar, couple of drops of lemon juice and 1/4 tsp vanilla
I am going outside now to check on my Morning Glories! And my Bouchon Bakery Cookbook just arrived – time for some serious reading!!!!!! And the Dahlia Bakery, also.