Apple-Ginger Scones

A couple of years ago, my friend Sarah gave me the most beautiful book for my birthday.  Aware of my great love and addiction to tea, she gave me this cute book along with a Harry Potter cookbook.  gosh, that girl really knows me.

anyways, the book has a killer scone recipe. and of course, since i can never follow directions,

i just had to tweak it to include some different flavors.

hmm, what to say about apple and ginger. oh, here's one fun fact. both are pretty labor intensive ingredients.  I'm awful at peeling apples, and usually by the time i'm done, i'm left with a rotten mess. this time, there was also the ginger to worry about. when I was at home, i stole found a spare ginger grater and brought it back with me.

While the grater successfully turned my chunk of ginger into a thick gingery paste,  it took a ridiculously long time to grate all of it. more time than i care to admit, certainly.  but it was definitely worth it in the end:)

I have to say that I've made around 20 batches of scones in the past two years, and each time, I've added slightly different ingredients.  There's the chocolate chip scone, blueberry scones, raspberry-brown-sugar scones, almond scones, cheddar and thyme scones, sweet potato scones, shrimp scones...(Forrest Gump anyone?)

ok, getting back after my scone rant.  these particular scones had bite-sized chunks of apple in them, although if i had to make them again, i might chope them more finely so that the apple is more spread out inside the individual scone.  since the apple pieces were relatively big, they kept falling out of the dough! but there's always a next time:)

Apple-Ginger Scones

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
3 to 4 small gala apples, chopped finely and coated with lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated ginger

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.   Grate or cut the butter into the mixture, using a fork to make the mixture crumbly and uniform.   In a separate bowl, mix together the whipping cream, ginger, and vanilla, and pour into the flour mixture.  Add in the apple pieces, and use hands to form a dough.  Spread the dough out on a floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness and cut out the dough with a cookie cutter or a knife.  Bake scones on an ungreased cookie sheet for 13 to 15 minutes.