Hello! I am happy to be back in this space after our summer break. I was happy, too, to come home after a holiday on the Carolina coast visiting family. I love to travel and to get away from our routine, but as I get older, homecoming becomes more and more sweet. After I have been away, I have renewed vigor for work at home and in the studio. I am easily charmed by my neighborhood, my natural surroundings, and the domestic chores that felt like drudgery in the days before I left.
The morning after we returned home, I woke up early (still on east coast time), craving something warm and wholesome and baked from my own oven. I thought of the wholegrain maple scones I make from time to time and set to work. Soon, I had good black coffee in my favorite mug and a warm, crumbly scone on my plate and all was right with the world.
I have posted pictures of these scones on Instagram a few times and always receive requests for the recipe, so I made them one more time this morning, so I could jot down notes and snap a few photos. The glaze on these is completely gratuitous, but pleases my daughter to no end, so I always drizzle it on. A sweet alternative would be to press a few slices of nectarine or plum into each scone before baking—I am going to give that a try next time.
Wholegrain Maple Nut Scones
1 cup oats
1 cup wholewheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut in cubes
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup cream or half and half (milk is probably fine, but I always use cream)
1 egg
2/3 cup chopped nuts (I prefer pecans in these, but here I used almonds)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place oats in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until ground. Add flowers, sugar, baking powder, salt, syrup and butter to the bowl and pulse just until butter is incorporated. Mix the egg with the cream and then add to the food processor with the nuts. Pulse a few times just until combined. Don’t over-mix! Turn out dough onto floured board and pat out to a 8-9 inch circle. With a knife, cut dough into eight equal wedges. Place the scones on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-14 minutes until just browned. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then drizzle with glaze if you wish.
For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon water
1 inch piece of vanilla bean
Add powdered sugar to a bowl with syrup and water. Scrape the seeds of the vanilla bean into the bowl and stir until smooth. Add more water to thin if necessary.
