What better treat to make for Christmas morning than a warm, melt-in-your-mouth scone!  I learned how to make these scones at the Baking Education Center at King Arthur Flour in Norwich Vermont.  It was phenomenal class.  I am a self-taught baker (i.e. I learn by baking experiments gone bad), which made this class very enlightening. I learned more about baking in the first 15 minutes than I’ve learned from years of baking in my home.  So, thank you King Arthur for your cooking classes.  If you live in the area, or even if you don’t, you should take a class. You can check out the school, the store, and the café here.  This recipe comes from King Arthur Flour as well so all credit to them for these wonderful scones.

I flavored my scones with cinnamon chips and a thick vanilla syrup (Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste) which gives them an extra hit of flavor. I also topped them with sparkly white sugar.  But you can flavor your scones with whatever combination of flavors you want or whatever is on hand in your pantry.  When you take a class at King Arthur, they have every chip, dried fruit, nut, and spice available for you to choose from.  The selections are almost paralyzing.  Once I settled on cinnamon vanilla, I was quite happy. And I had already made a deal with my friend, who selected currants and walnuts, that we were to split our takes in half at the end of the class.  It was a win/win!

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chilled, unsalted butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg yolk (save the white for topping scones)
1/2 cup cinnamon chips (or whatever flavoring you like)

For the topping:
1 egg white
Sparkling sugar

Method

1. Place the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
2. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives.
3. Whisk together buttermilk and egg yolk and stir into dry mixture until it a dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface and gently and quickly knead in the optional cinnamon chips (or dried fruit, nuts, etc…). Pat the dough into a flat disk about 7 inches across and cut it into wedges.
4. Transfer the disk to a parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheet. For crispier scones, separate the wedges.  For softer, higher rising scones, leave them in a circle.
5. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg white and sprinkle with white sugar.
6. Bake them in a preheated 375 degree oven for 25 to 27 minutes, inspecting at the midpoint to admire and turn.
7. Remove scones from the oven when they are light, golden brown and cool on a wire rack.

I’m sure you noticed that these scones are made with whole wheat, so a tad on the healthier side. But if you want to go full tilt health nut, you can make the following substitutions:

1/2 cup canola oil instead of butter
3/4 no fat plain yogurt instead of buttermilk
1 Tbsp egg beaters instead of egg yolk
1/2 cup dried fruit instead of cinnamon chips
No sparkly sugar (eh, what the heck, live a little and keep the sparkly sugar!)

Bring It

These scones are the perfect gift to bring to a friend’s house if you are visiting for the holiday.  Bring them with a jar of your favorite jam and a bag of coffee beans.  You are sure to get invited back!