Parmesan and Basil Scones

A quick and easy bread side dish perfect to accompany all of those soups that I am sure to be serving as the winter blows in. I added seasoning to a simple scone recipe from my handy American Woman's Cookbook, an antique cookbook published sometime in the 1940's. This book is a trove of recipes that are great with minor adaptations, like substituting butter or oil for lard or whole wheat flour for the white flour. The cake recipes alone are marvelous.

Parmesan and Basil Scones

1 cup white flour
1 cup cake or pastry flour (or just 2 cups white flour if thats all you have)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 plus teaspoon salt (I like them saltier so add a bit more if you like)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese plus extra for topping
2 teaspoons basil dried or 2 tablespoons fresh chopped finely
1/4 cup cubed butter
2 eggs (one separated)
1/2 cup butter milk or plain yogurt

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.
Mix together all dry ingredients, cheese and basil. Cut in the butter with 2 knives or a pastry cutter until it forms a uniform crumb texture. In a separate bowl beat together the one whole egg, the egg yolk (reserve the white to brush the tops of the scones), the buttermilk or yogurt. Stir into the dry ingredients until you get a nice sticky batter.

Turn out on to a well floured surface. Shape into a rectangle. With a well flour knife or pizza cutter, cut the rectangle into smalled rectangles and then in the triangle shapes.

Beat the egg white until it forms an opaque liquid.

Place on a greased or lined with parchment paper baking sheet. Brush the tops with the egg white and top with more grated cheese.

Bake for about 10 minutes until the tops are a golden brown.