As we are having a picnic lunch I thought these delicious little mini scone morsels would be nice to have with our coffee. They are the perfect size for picnics  and the lemony flavour works well with the dates. They would also be perfect to take to work for your morning tea.

Mini Lemon and Date Scones

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Self Raising flour
• 30 g Butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 8 dried dates, chopped
• Zest of one lemon

Method:

1. Use a small scone or biscuit cutter. (I have have used a 4cm cutter for these scones.)
2. Pre-heat oven to 250C and line a baking tray with baking paper
3. Sift the flour and salt
4. Using finger tips combine the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. (You can also make the scones using a food processor)
5. Stir in the chopped dates and lemon zest
6. Gradually add the milk till the scone dough forms a soft ball.
   Handle the dough as little as is possible and flatten it out gently with your hands forming  it to a thickness of 2 cm
7. Using a small scone or biscuit cutter, cut out the scones and place them on a tray that is lined with baking paper, with the sides of the mini-scones touching each other. (this helps them to steady as they rise and preserves their shape)
8. Brush the tops of the scones with milk
9. Place scones into the oven on the top shelf and bake for 8 minutes then check the colour and leave another 2 minutes to brown to your liking as needed
10. After the colour is perfect, cover with a sheet of foil and bake for 5 minutes more
11. Take out of the oven and place in a basket lined with a tea towel or other cloth and cover the basket loosely
12. Eat them warm or let them cool to store for later
13. Store them in a metal container and eat with a day or two.
14. They can also be frozen and reheated in the microwave