In the town where I grew up, there was a cute little corner cafe on the town’s busiest street. Every time I went there for breakfast, I ordered a scone. They were my favorite–more dense than a muffin but still light in texture and just a touch sweet. Based on my love for that cafe’s scones, I tried my hand at making them at home and failed miserably. I didn’t have the time or patience to painstakingly cut in cold butter and follow the other fifteen detailed steps for scone-making. I resigned myself to buying scones from bakeries and settling with that. But then I found a recipe in my The New Best Recipe cookbook and I thought I’d give it one more try. It’s a good thing I did because this is the method I was waiting for. Made with the help of a food processor, this recipe is super simple and results in scones with that perfect slightly dense, just sweet quality. As for this glazed maple-pecan oatmeal version, well, it seems I’ve found a new breakfast favorite.
Glazed maple-pecan oatmeal scones
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats or quick-cooking oats
- 1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup maple syrup, plus 3 tablespoons for glaze
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 cups lower-protein all purpose flour (such as Gold Medal or Pillsbury)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375º. On a parchment-lined baking sheets, spread oats and pecans into an even layer and toast them in the oven for about 8 minutes, until they are nutty and lightly-browned. Set aside to cool. Increase oven temperature to 450º. When the oats have cooled, set aside 2 tablespoons.
- In a large liquid measuring cup, whisk the milk, cream, egg and 1/4 cup maple syrup until just combined. Remove one tablespoon and reserve.
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Process in four 1-second pulses, until combined. Remove the lid and add butter evenly over the flour mixture. Process in twelve 1-second pulses until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal. Remove the mixture from the food processor and place it in a medium bowl. Stir in the oats. Fold the liquid ingredients in until large clumps form. Knead the mixture in the bowl until it comes together.
- Dust a counter top with half of the reserved oats. Turn the dough onto the oats and then top with the remaining half of the reserved oats. Shape the dough into a 7-inch circle, about 1-inch thick, being careful not to overwork the dough. Cut the dough into 8 wedges and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush with maple/egg mixture.
- Bake the scones for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove baking sheet from the oven and allow scones to cool for about five minutes and then transfer them to a baking rack.
- While you allow the scones to cool to room temperature (about thirty minutes), make the glaze by combining 3 tablespoons of maple syrup and powdered sugar and mixing until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over cooled scones and serve.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8Amount Per Serving: Calories: 125
SOURCE: The New Best Recipe
That is one of my 2 favorite cookbooks.
Which, of course, begs the question: what is the other?
Oh, it’s not foodie at all, but it’s Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything. It was a gift that I never touched for years because I AM ALREADY A GREAT COOK. But it actually isn’t as condescending as the name implies. If I open an actual cookbook, it’s one of those two.
They were delicious!! A little confusing about when to add the oats…was it combined with the nuts? I winged it and they came out great.
I am skeptical that they are only 125 calories per scone…10 tablespoons of butter??!!