craftygal fridge - Recipe for Maple Walnut or Cheddar Cheese Scones

Can’t find maple cream in your neck of the woods?

Here’s a brief history of scones and many recipe variations.

Tips for hunting down those Chinese fighting muffins online.

Everybody Must Get Sconed

by Jan

There’s nothing like a fresh batch of scones on a pleasant weekend morning. So filling for such a reasonable-sized treat--and so many flavor options! Sure, you can run out to the coffee shop and pick up a pre-baked batch, but then you run the risk of being disappointed by an empty tray that once held your favorite variety, or even worse, a stale scone. If you have thus far escaped the latter situation, rest assured that it’s a dreadful experience, and over-zealous pitching of the offending baked "good" has resulted in the denting of many a waste receptacle. Remember the Chinese Fighting Muffins from the Charlie’s Angels movie? Well, if the girls ever found themselves in a serious jam, a stale scone could definitely do the trick.

Whipping up your own batch of scones is easy enough anyway, and you probably already have the ingredients on hand. Our time-tested recipe has two variations: one sweet (maple walnut) and one savory (cheddar cheese). An added bonus of this recipe is that there’s no need to shape or cut individual scones out of the dough. With these directions, you’ll make one big, tasty mother ship of a scone with perforations for breaking off individual servings. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached flour

1/2 cup sugar (plus 1 tsp if making the maple walnut variety)

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

3/4 stick (6 Tbsp) butter

1 egg, beaten (reserve 1 tsp for glaze)

1/2 cup cream or milk

1/2 cup walnuts and 1/4 cup maple cream or

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

To keep your scones tender, and avoid Chinese Fighting Muffin Syndrome, pop your mixing bowl in the freezer for a few minutes before starting, and keep the butter and milk chilled. Also, you should work quickly and avoid over mixing.

Stir together the dry ingredients in the chilled bowl.

Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two knives. Stop before it makes paste.

Reserve 1 tsp egg, and combine remaining egg with milk. Add liquid to flour/butter mixture and stir until moistened. Turn dough in the bowl until it sticks together.

Mix in walnuts or cheese.

On a greased cookie sheet, pat dough into a circle about 3/4" high. Use a fork to score the dough in wedges, as seen here:

Brush with 1 tsp of egg and sprinkle with 1 tsp of sugar (if desired.)

Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees. The top should be lightly browned when they are done.

If you’re making the maple walnut scones, spread the maple cream on top.