Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Maple Oat Scones

An easy recipe for soft breakfast scones featuring oatmeal, walnuts, and a sweet maple glaze. The perfect accompaniment to your morning cup of coffee or tea. Skip to recipe.

Scone Close Up with Walnuts from Maple Oat Scones by www.smokeandvanilla.com - An easy recipe for soft breakfast scones featuring oatmeal, walnuts, and a sweet maple glaze. The perfect accompaniment to your morning cup of coffee or tea. http://bit.ly/2oXG9px
Maple oat scone with walnuts

In college I worked in several different independent coffee shops. One of them sold these amazing maple oat scones with a light and sweet maple glaze and I probably averaged one scone for every morning shift I worked. I would have eaten them during afternoon shifts, but they always sold out. Yes, a similar product is (was?) available at everyone's favorite corporate coffee giant, but these were fresh baked daily and infinitely superior in every way (not that I'm biased).

Scone from above from Maple Oat Scones by www.smokeandvanilla.com - An easy recipe for soft breakfast scones featuring oatmeal, walnuts, and a sweet maple glaze. The perfect accompaniment to your morning cup of coffee or tea. http://bit.ly/2oXG9px
Maple oat scone from above

I'll be honest, I was a little nervous to try making scones for the first time. Until recently, I had only used my food processor a handful of times and the idea of working quickly enough to keep the butter cold for a recipe I'd never before attempted seemed daunting. I've watched enough Food Network to know a thing or two about the process which definitely helped ease my concern. The first time I made these, they came out flat and pale because 1) I was using old baking powder and 2) I forgot to do the egg wash step. Overall they were tasty, but I wasn't happy with the consistency of the glaze (sorry, Ina).

Before and after baking, glazing, and adding walnuts from Maple Oat Scones by www.smokeandvanilla.com - An easy recipe for soft breakfast scones featuring oatmeal, walnuts, and a sweet maple glaze. The perfect accompaniment to your morning cup of coffee or tea. http://bit.ly/2oXG9px
Before and after baking, glazing, and adding walnuts

For my next attempt, I tweaked the flour ratios in the dough a bit and tried out a different glaze recipe. The flavor was closer to what I wanted, but the glaze still didn't do it for me. On my third try, I used fresh baking powder (so important, can't stress this enough!) and I did bit more research into the maple glaze until I found a recipe that sounded more like the one I remembered. These scones rise nicely and the light maple flavor is complemented by the inclusion of oats and whole wheat flour. At the request of the Hubs, I added chopped walnuts to the top of the scones after glazing, next time I'll add them directly to the batter too.

Give them a try! In my opinion, nothing is better on a Saturday morning that a hot cup of coffee with a warm, freshly baked breakfast pastry... Happy baking!

Maple Oat Scones by www.smokeandvanilla.com - An easy recipe for soft breakfast scones featuring oatmeal, walnuts, and a sweet maple glaze. The perfect accompaniment to your morning cup of coffee or tea. http://bit.ly/2oXG9px




Ingredients:
For the scones:
1 1/2c all purpose flour
3/4c whole wheat flour
1/2c quick cooking oats
1T baking powder
2T dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1t salt (*see tip)
1/2c cold butter, cubed (*see tip)
1/4c cold buttermilk (*see tip)
1/4c pure maple syrup
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 egg with a splash of milk or water for egg wash
1/2c walnuts, chopped (optional)

For the glaze:
1c powdered sugar
1T pure vanilla extract
2T pure maple syrup
1T milk

Instructions:
For the scones:
  1. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a non-stick silicone baking mat and pre-heat oven to 400𝆩F.
  2. Whisk together flours, oats, baking powder, dark brown sugar, and salt. (* see tip)
  3. Transfer flour mixture to the work bowl of your food processor, add cold butter, and pulse until butter forms pea-sized clumps (~40 pulses). (*see tip)
  4. Add buttermilk, maple syrup, and eggs and pulse just until dough comes together (~30 pulses).
  5. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface, knead once or twice, and then shape into circle (dough should be 3/4in thick).
  6. Using a knife, cut into 8 equal pieces.
  7. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat dough with egg wash.
  8. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until just cooked and beginning to brown
  9. Allow scones to cool for 5-10 minutes before glazing.
For the glaze:
  1. Whisk together all ingredients in a sauce pan over low heat.
  2. Stir until smooth.
  3. Drizzle over cooled scones.
Tips:
  • I never have unsalted butter on hand (whoops!). Instead, I use salted butter and cut the salt down to 1/2t. In addition, pull the butter directly from the fridge, cube, and then put it into the freezer until you're ready to add it to the food processor. It's important that the butter is COLD!
  • I never have buttermilk on hand either, but as mentioned in an earlier post, you can fake it by adding 1t distilled vinegar to 1/4c milk and allowing it to sit for a few minutes.
  • Despite my other substitutions, I definitely recommend using real maple syrup here!
  • I whisk together the dry ingredients before adding them to my food processor because I only have a 9 cup work bowl and it doesn't quite mix them to my satisfaction. If you have a larger work bowl, you can skip the whisking step.
  • The original recipe suggests using a stand mixer instead of a food processor. I prefer the food processor, but have made perfectly good scones using both methods.

Are you a fan of scones like us? Have you tried out this recipe? We'd love to hear from you in the comments!


2 comments:

  1. I will take a dozen to go please! I love scones and can hardly wait to make these over the weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love scones, haven't made them for a while. My hubby needs this hint too, would be nice for his birthday :)

    ReplyDelete