I often write recipes to myself as just a list of ingredients. (Ask any of my former employees and they will surely roll their eyes about it!)
However, in baking, I like to make sure I have measurements for the ingredients as I am not a good enough baker (yet) to guess on the amounts of leaveners, cooking time, etc.
A few words of wisdom from my years of baking in professional kitchens as well as in my own:
Make sure your baking powder and baking soda are no more than one year old. Everything in your kitchen runs out of life eventually -- even dried beans can become inedible after a few years. If you are in doubt, just get new ones. It's not that much of an investment to ensure successful baking!Use unsalted butter. Always. Salt is a preservative, meaning salted butter is more likely to be a lot older. Plus, you want to be able to control the salt content in your cooking.Don't get overwrought about "room temperature butter." Just let it sit out for 10 minutes, that's it. It just has to be slightly pliable.Don't overwork your dough. Unless you are making bread or pasta, you don't need to knead a dough. Stir it until it is wet and all the ingredients seem evenly distributed.Last but certainly not least, don't get stressed out! Food is a reflection of your mood. If you are stressed about making something, it will most likely turn out tough or undercooked because you nervously opened the oven too much, skipped a step, whatever. Relax and enjoy the feel/smell/taste of it all!Making scones is basically just like making biscuits – mix dry ingredients, cut in butter, and add liquid and other additions (i.e. nuts, berries, or cheese).
From here, you can get creative with your add-ins -- Cheddar and Cashew; Sunflower Seed, Dried Cherry and Mexican Chocolate; Flax Seed, Pecan and Dried Cranberry.
