Lemon Cream Cheese Scones

When my oldest daughter was in middle school, she really found her baking groove. After a long week of school or whenever she had a moment, she would ask: "Mom, can I bake?" And I, who will take all the help in the kitchen I can get, quickly made room for my cooking buddy. Her specialties were desserts: cookies, cake, cupcakes, muffins. Which was great, because desserts were not my favorites. Once she made this recipe, we all decided it was a keeper. It's become one of our family's go-to scones.

Recipe slightly adapted from twopeasandtheirpod.

Makes 12 scones

Ingredients

for the scones

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. aluminum-free baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. fine sea salt
• 4 ounces cream cheese, cold and cut into pieces
• 6 Tbsp. butter, cold and cut into pieces
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup whole milk (local if you can get it)
• 2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice

for the glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. In a medium bowl, combine sugar and zest. Then add flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until all is well-mixed.
3. Put the cream cheese, butter, and eggs into a food processor with the knife blade and pulse to combine, about 6 to 8 times. Scrape down the bowl. Add the dry ingredients, milk and lemon juice. Pulse 3 more times and scrape again. Pulse a few more times until the dough is well-mixed.
4. Remove the dough from the food processor and place on a lightly floured surface. Fold the dough over itself a few times until it's smooth. Do not overwork.
5. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a circle measuring about six inches across. Place the circles on a cookie sheet. Using a sharp knife, cut the circles into triangles, six in each circle. Then gentle pull apart the triangles so that each is close, but not touching the others.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, until the scones have risen and are nicely browned. Remove from oven and set on cooling rack. Cool completely.
7. While the scones are cooling, stir together sugar and lemon juice. Drizzle glaze atop the scones and then dig in!