Just can’t get enough

WHAT could be more tempting than a scone, tender and flaky within, delicately browned and slightly crunchy at the edges?

Nothing, apparently, judging from the baker’s dozens of requests we’ve gotten for scone recipes. Some are positively rhapsodic. “I can’t stop thinking about it,” wrote in a reader who asked for La Brea Bakery’s chocolate-walnut scone recipe.

“Please, please, please, could you get the recipe from Clementine for their ginger scones?” begged another who dotes on the crumbly scones studded with apricots and bits of candied ginger.

And Maple Drive in Beverly Hills “makes the best scones I’ve ever tasted -- light and perfectly sweetened, with just a hint of citrus,” enthused a third.

Less sweet than Danishes and more elegant than doughnuts, scones are big sellers at coffeehouses, restaurants and bakeries. But just what makes a scone a scone? It’s not quite bread but it isn’t exactly pastry either. It’s somewhere in between.

“The structure of scones is very individual,” says pastry chef Nancy Silverton, whose chocolate-walnut scone recipe is made at La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles. “In a way, it’s its own category.”

Or as Rose Levy Beranbaum writes in her cookbook “The Bread Bible,” it’s “the missing link between bread and pastry because they are more crumbly and delicate than bread but more substantial than pastry.”

Today’s scone is descended from the Scottish bannock, a thick cake usually made with barley and oatmeal and baked on a griddle rather than in an oven. Bannocks were as big as dinner plates, and cut into sections or small rounds, they became scones.

Contemporary chefs have replaced old-time ingredients with lighter flours and expanded on the classic raisins and currants to include other dried fruits, citrus zests, chocolate, nuts and spices. The liquid may be buttermilk, whipping cream, whole milk or creme fraiche.

Scones are easy to make. They’re not tricky, like pie dough, involved like croissants, or exacting like cakes. There’s no yeast and therefore no rising time, so they’re quick too.

“Scones are so simple, you don’t even need a mixer. You can mix them by hand, right in the bowl, then roll them out and cut them up,” says Maple Drive pastry chef Lisa Gardner.

The key to tender scones is to mix the ingredients until just barely combined (overmixing makes them tough). You can roll out the dough or pat it into shape.

Because these updated scones tend to have a high ratio of fat (usually butter and cream) to dry ingredients, the dough can spread out in the oven, leaving you with mutant scones. But that’s easily prevented. Just freeze the dough after cutting the scones and before baking them -- that way they’ll hold their shape.

Freezing the dough is also deliciously convenient: Pull out however many pieces you want at a time and you’ll have fresh-baked scones whenever you want. To freeze the dough, set the pieces on a parchment-lined baking sheet, making sure they aren’t touching each other. Cover them with plastic wrap. If you plan to keep them in the freezer for a while, transfer the frozen scones to an airtight container for storing. You won’t need to let them thaw before baking.

Annie Miler, chef-owner of Clementine in Century City, is a fan of freezing. She even sells frozen mini-scones that customers can bake at home, and she often freezes scones for baking and serving at her restaurant.

The apricot-ginger scone is among them. Its dough is so crumbly it practically begs to be frozen after being cut into triangles in order to hold together all those nuggets of sweet and spice within.

La Brea Bakery’s chocolate-walnut scones are baked frozen, too, helping keep intact their cloverleaf shape. They call to mind a grown-up’s chocolate chip cookie, with finely chopped bittersweet chocolate and toasted, ground walnuts dispersed in the dough. The nuts give them a feathery texture that’s lighter than if they were made entirely with flour, Silverton says. And a sprinkling of grated nuts on top add crunch.

Maple Drive’s lemon poppy seed scones are the most bread-like of these three recipes. They have no butter in the dough, instead relying on whipping cream for richness. Cut into rounds, they have a delicate lemon flavor and are chockfull of poppy seeds.

Scones have come a long way from the plain Janes that had to be slathered in butter or clotted cream and sweetened with jam to be grand enough for the afternoon tea table. Nowadays with the cream and fruit baked right in, they’ve become a vehicle for creative chefs who embellish them with ever-surprising combinations of fruits, nuts and spices.

And with a batch in the freezer, it’s only a matter of putting on the kettle or coffee maker to carry on the scone tradition any time of day.

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La Brea Bakery chocolate-walnut scones

Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes, plus chilling time

Servings: 12

Note: Adapted from La Brea Bakery (“Nancy Silverton’s Pastries From the La Brea Bakery”), requested by reader Molly Aboud of L.A. Unbleached pastry flour can be found at Surfas in Culver City.

1 1/4 cups walnuts, divided

7 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

2 3/4 cups unbleached pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen

1 cup (6 ounces) finely chopped bittersweet chocolate

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons whipping cream, divided

1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until lightly browned, about 6 to 8 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through to ensure that the nuts toast evenly. Remove from oven and cool completely. Increase the oven heat to 350 degrees.

2. In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine 1 cup of the nuts with 3 tablespoons sugar and process until the mixture is the consistency of fine meal. Add 3 more tablespoons sugar with the flour, baking powder and salt and pulse to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off until the mixture is the consistency of fine meal.

3. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the chocolate pieces. Make a large well in the center and pour in 1 cup whipping cream, the creme fraiche and the vanilla. Whisk the liquids together. Using one hand, draw in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. The mixture will be crumbly.

4. Wash and dry your hands and dust them with flour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently a few times, then gather it into a ball. Roll or pat the dough into a circle 1 1/2 inches thick. Spray the inside of a 1 1/2 -inch round cutter with nonstick spray and cut out circles, cutting them as close together as possible and keeping the trimmings intact.

5. Gather the scraps, press them back together, and cut out additional circles. (If the dough gets too soft to cut, refrigerate it for 15 minutes.) Place the circles in groups of three on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing the groups 1 inch apart and gently pressing the edges together to form clovers. Freeze until firm, about 1 hour.

6. Brush the tops with the remaining 2 tablespoons cream and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Using the large hole of a box grater, grate some of the remaining one-fourth cup nuts over the top of each scone. Bake for 30 to 34 minutes, until slightly firm to the touch and lightly browned.

Each serving: 446 calories; 6 grams protein; 37 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams fiber; 33 grams fat; 16 grams saturated fat; 58 mg. cholesterol; 186 mg. sodium.

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Maple Drive lemon poppy seed scones

Total time: 50 minutes

Serves: 12 scones

Note: From Maple Drive, requested by Jacqueline Fuchs of L.A.

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons poppy seeds

3 tablespoons grated lemon zest

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 3/4 cups whipping cream

2 tablespoons melted butter

1. Mix the flour, one-half cup sugar, poppy seeds, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and the whipping cream. Stir the cream mixture into the dry ingredients just until combined; do not overmix.

2. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and gently pat into a 1-inch-thick round. Cut out scones with a 3-inch round cutter that has been lightly sprayed with nonstick spray. Place the scones on a parchment-lined baking sheet, several inches apart. Brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon sugar.

3. Bake the scones 20 to 24 minutes, until lightly golden on the sides and bottom.

Each serving: 350 calories; 6 grams protein; 40 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 19 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 70 mg. cholesterol; 315 mg. sodium.

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Clementine apricot-ginger scones

Total time: 50 minute, plus chilling time

Servings: 8 scones

Note: From Clementine, requested by reader Joan Harelik.

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons pastry flour

1/4 cup plus 4 teaspoons sugar, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 stick butter, frozen, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 cup diced dried apricots

1/3 cup diced candied ginger

1 cup whipping cream, divided

4 teaspoons sugar

1. Place the pastry flour, one-fourth cup sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and pulse until fine crumbs form.

2. Spoon the mixture into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the apricots and ginger. Pour in three-fourths cup plus 2 tablespoons cream and fold with a spatula until the cream is incorporated, then use your hands to mix gently. Do not overwork the dough; it will be crumbly.

3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, pressing it together. Flatten into a 7 1/2-inch-square, 1-inch thick. Cut into quarters. Cut each quarter in half to form two triangles. Place the scones on a parchment-lined baking sheet, 2 to 3 inches apart, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Freeze until firm.

4. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush the tops of the scones with the remaining 2 tablespoons whipping cream and sprinkle evenly with the remaining 4 teaspoons sugar. Bake until golden, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from the parchment.

Each serving: 387 calories; 4 grams protein; 45 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams fiber; 23 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 71 mg. cholesterol; 142 mg. sodium.

Times staff writer Betty Baboujon contributed to this report.