Visiting Inlaws Scones

My inlaws, in town for the weekend of my husband's birthday, adored these scones for breakfast, afternoon tea, and as an after-dinner snack. (They're a fine use for that wheaty Arrowhead Mills Organic Pastry Flour, too.)

2/3 c. butter
3 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 c. dried apricots, chopped (or any sweet dried fruit -- dates, prunes?)
1 c. white chocolate chips (I wonder how this would taste with other types of chips...hmmm)
2 eggs
2/3 c. cream or half/half

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or butter it if you don't have parchment paper (but you *really* should get some -- this stuff is the BOMB).

Food processor stage: Process butter, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in your Cuisinart until mixture is crumbly and granular. You can either add the apricots to the food processor at this stage, which will grind them into the mixture and turn your dough orange, or chop them by hand and add them later, which will yield a white scone with chunks of fruit in it. Your call.

Bowl stage: Remove dough from food processor to a mixing bowl. Stir in apricots (if you haven't already) and white chocolate chips. Stirring by hand, add eggs and just enough cream so dough forms a ball.

Endgame: Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly 10 times. You can either roll it out to 1/4" to 1/3" thickness and cut the scones with a biscuit cutter, or you can just grab handfuls of the dough and pat them into rounds. Sprinkle the rounds with granulated sugar. Bake approximately 15 minutes, or until just starting to brown to golden.

Best served warm -- either fresh from the oven, or zinged for a few seconds in the microwave.