When I was in junior high, my parents had fantastic jobs. They were hired to manage a privately-owned campground in the San Bernardino mountains. It was a wonderful place. My siblings and I had the run of acres of forest, a lake with a boat, and a huge “conference room” attached to our house that was given to us as a playroom. My whole family has fantastic memories of that place and when we talk about it one of the things that comes up most often is “Streusel”. Streusel was just a basic boxed coffee cake with a streusel topping which we would make for breakfast for the groups that would come up on the weekends. It was made in a huge Hobart mixer and then poured into giant sheet cake pans. We all loved it when my mom put that on the menu for the weekend. Ever since then I think we have each tried to imitate that stupid box mix, but have never gotten it quite right. It is probably because our memories are making it out to be a lot better than it was. I mean, how good could an industrial-size box of cake mix really be? But streusel will always hold a special place in my heart because of that time in my life. I felt kind of silly when I realized that streusel is not the name of that particular cake, but is rather the cinnamon-sugar topping that is put on top, but the name stuck, and so did my love for most anything with cinnamon and sugar. That is why I knew I had to try this Blueberry Streusel Scone recipe from Tasty Kitchen. That and the fact that it claimed to be extremely moist, and not many scone recipes can claim that.
Scrumptious Blueberry Streusel Scones
[adapted from Tasty Kitchen]
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
Streusel Topping
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Mix together all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Work in the butter with a pastry blender or two knives. Add the blueberries and fold them in gently. Mix together the egg, milk, and vanilla in a small bowl. Pour them into the dry ingredients and combine with a fork, just until it forms a dough. Do not over mix.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead it five or six times until it is all combined. Roll the dough into a ball and press down. Brush the milk over the top with a pastry brush.
Combine the ingredients for the streusel topping and sprinkle over the top of the dough. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cut the dough into eight pieces, pulling them slightly apart. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
