Date and orange scones

This café favourite is so easy to make at home. The trick to baking fluffy scones is not to overwork the mix once you add the flour. That’s why I always stir the mix with a knife – it keeps the action light.

Ingredients

75 g	Butter, chilled and grated
¼ cup	Sugar
1	Orange, finely grated zest (Main)
1 tsp	Baking powder, sifted
3 cups	Self raising flour, or gluten-free self-raising flour
2 cups	Pitted dates, chopped (Main)
1 ¾ cups	Buttermilk, or natural yoghurt
1 serving	Icing sugar, to dust (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C fanbake. Line an oven tray with baking paper and lightly dust with flour.
2. Combine orange zest, flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl. Add butter and use a knife or your fingertips to work into the flour mixture to a coarse crumb. Mix in the chopped dates.
3. Add buttermilk or yoghurt and stir with a knife until the mixture just comes together into a soft, wettish dough (do not over-mix). Turn out onto prepared tray and flatten into a circle about 25cm in diameter. Cut into 12 wedges and arrange with a little room in between.
4. Bake until risen, fully set in the centre and lightly golden (about 20 minutes). Dust with icing sugar before serving, if desired.

See more of Annabel's tea time recipes

• Whole orange muffins
• Aunty Freda's fruity chews