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By: Georgia Maxwell, Gradlife Ambassador

It’s that time of the semester again where if you want to do any activity other than work you have to put the word “stress” in front of it. So in keeping with the tradition, here’s my special stress scone recipe that was passed down to me by my dear grandmother, who found them on the internet.

While this recipe is specifically for lemon blueberry scones, you can mix and match whatever add-ins you like. You could instead mix in chocolate, dried fruit, or just keep them plain! That’s my favourite thing about this recipe, you can mix it up each time and it’s super easy to make. Although the last time I tried to make them I was so stressed I forgot the baking power which was, well, a tragedy.

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/3 sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking power **do not forget this!!

1/2 cup cold butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup – 2/3 cup of milk

1 lemon

handful of frozen or fresh blueberries

small bowl of milk and a handful of sugar **for the topping – very important!

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl or mixer, whisk together the sugar, salt, flour and baking powder.

Onto a small plate, grate the cold butter with a cheese grader, and then mix the butter into the dry mixture.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract and milk.

Grate the rind off the lemon and add it into the dry ingredients. Add the blueberries into the dry mixture as well.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix everything until the batter is moist and holds together.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Form the dough into balls about the size of your palm and spread them out across the baking sheet.

Put the scones into the freezer for 30 minutes. While the scones are in the freezer, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Once the scones are done chilling, brush or sprinkle each one with a little milk and then sprinkle a healthy amount of sugar onto each one. This step is very important and is what separates the truly superb stress scones from all the rest.

Once all your scones have been dressed, bake them for approximately 25 minutes until they are golden brown and their edges look completely cooked. Makes 6-8 scones.

While I jokingly named this recipe “stress scones,” baking is a really great way to take a break from your mountain of grad school work. Whether you love to bake or simply do not care for it, I encourage you to take some breaks during your end of term push! What other de-stressing activities do you like to do during exams? Let me know in the comments below!