John's Breakfast Scones

• 5 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup dried apricots
• 1/2 cup pecans pieces
• 1 1/2 Cup buttermilk
• flour and powdered sugar for forming
  

This recipe works best with a food processor, and with everything but the buttermilk prepared the night before and refrigerated to re-harden the butter before forming the dough

In a food processor, chop the apricots into small pieces. Pulsing works best. Add the pecans and pulse a few more times until mixed. Set aside. Combine all the dry ingredients and cut in the butter with the food processor, again pulsing. Do not overmix. Some of the butter should still be in small pea-sized lumps. Mix with the pecans and apricots by hand, looking for chunks of butter or apricot that may need some hand cutting. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. Stir in the buttermilk into the flour/butter mixture. Kneed by hand until you can form the dough into workable balls. Prepare a surface with some extra flour mixed with powdered sugar. Form the dough into three or four balls, depending on how large you want your finished scones to be. The dough should just barely stay together. Turn out the balls, one at a time onto the flour/powdered sugar board and pat each ball out into a thick circle. I press the ball with one hand while turning it and working the edges with my other hand. Turn over to coat both sides, then roll with a rolling pin in to a circle about 3/4 of an inch thick. Cut with a knife into eighths and place on a baking pan -- I use a paper liner, but if you don't have one, flouring the pan should work.

Bake at 375 degrees about 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Enjoy.

One fun variation is to cut the sugar back to 3/4 cup and add 1/c cup white chocolate chips! Honest.