4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
½ cup chopped dried apricots
¾ cup plus 3 tablespoons cold heavy whipping cream, divided
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine flour, ¼ cup sugar, baking powder, and salt, whisking well. Using a pastry blender, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add apricots, stirring to combine.
In a small bowl, combine ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons cream and vanilla extract, whisking to blend. Add to flour mixture, stirring until mixture is evenly moist. (If dough seems dry, add more cream, 1 tablespoon at a time.) Working gently, bring mixture together with hands until a dough forms.
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 4 to 5 times. Using a rolling pin, roll dough to a ¾-inch thickness. Using a 2-inch fluted square cutter, cut 12 scones from dough. Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet.
Brush tops of scones with remaining 1 tablespoon cream, and sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon sugar.
Bake until edges of scones are golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in the centers comes out clean, approximately 20 minutes.