Barley Scones

I'm moving. After two years of living in the dorms on campus, I'm finally moving to Jerusalem. I'm going to be a madricha (literally a counselor) in a girl's learning program. I'm reallly really excited but nervous at the same time. I think it's going to be a great experience and opportunity and I'm looking forward to being able to contribute something significant finally. All this means a. I won't be able to bake next year-- devastating- because they don't have a kitchen, they have catered meals, and b. I have to empty my pantry as much as I can. Which brings me to these Barley Scones. I've had a bag of barley flour in my pantry for ages and I finally decided to use it. I used it first for Barley Pancakes, which I'll tell you about one of these days and then for these Barley Scones, which I crazily adapted from the KAF Whole Grain Baking Book and will now call my own :). These scones were easy to put together and very sweet and mild tasting. They're pretty basic and plain, so you can add any flavorings you want- but they are yummy! And whole grain. I will say that in the end, these did turn out more like muffin tops and I think I know why. Because of the intense heat here in the area and in the kitchen, the fat melted pretty much before they got into the oven, so they didn't create the traditional flakes of scones. Next time, I'll try again it better conditions, but for now, these scone/muffins were perfect.

My Basic Barley Scones

2 cups whole barley flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment. In a bowl, place all the dry ingredients. Whisk to combine,Place the fat on top of the flour,and rub it in with your fingers until coarse crumbs are created. Set aside.In a measuring cup, place all the wet ingredients,and whisk to combine. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, and stir just until combined. Scoop with a muffin scoop onto the baking sheet, (in my kitchen they were too wet from the moisture to cut) and bake until golden brown. My oven cooks ridiculously fast, so I can't time it. Remove from the oven and cool. Enjoy with butter or jam or just plain. Let me know about your scone experiments!