I’ve had scones on the brain since the last time I made them, which feels like it was ages ago. There’s something awesome about scones that makes me want to keep eating them all the time and forever. It might be all the butter and cream, to be honest. Since I have been dreaming about scones, I couldn’t decide what flavor to make them. I’ve had success with pretty much any flavor in my house because apparently, I’m not the only one with a scone fixation here.
I’m not sure if I mentioned it here before but I am done with pumpkin for the time being. I went HAM last year with the pumpkin recipes and decided this was the year for apples. Pumpkin anything seems so played out these days. Like, Starbucks brought out the Pumpkin Spice Latte in August. AUGUST! It wasn’t even remotely close to fall weather then! I don’t know but that kind of takes out the novelty of things when they’re brought out too early; kind of like putting Christmas decorations on sale in September. As much as I love Christmas and the holiday season, it’s not time for that yet.
For me, this is apple season. I already made and posted one apple recipe this season, but I have a couple more up my sleeve. When my dad isn’t ranting about his OTM (one true muffin), he’s eating apple things. With that in mind, I set out to make apple cinnamon everything and I’m not even done. For today though, let’s talk about scones.
Like I mentioned before, there’s something about scones. I still don’t know what it is but there’s a distinct scone taste that only certain scones have. I briefly mentioned it the first time I made them here but I can only imagine it has something to do with butter. Speaking of that first time, I used the same recipe but modified it to use apples and cinnamon for a more seasonal offering.
Besides swapping out the orange for apples and cinnamon, I opted for cream instead of milk. Decadent much? Hell yes! I just feel that butter and cream both belong in scones at the same time. No other way about it. For the apples, I used McIntosh because it was the only kind I had around. They’re not the optimal apple to bake with though, and work better when used in conjunction with other apples. For example, my one true apple is the Granny Smith. It’s perfect for baking because its flavor is still there, they’re sturdy, and still have a bit of bite to them even after being baked. If I make these again, I’ll definitely change the apples from McIntosh to Granny Smith (and suggest you do the same, too). I also grated the apple instead of chunks because I wanted the flavor to be ‘equally distributed.’ Might’ve backfired on me but it can probably work with a Granny Smith, as opposed to the soft McIntosh.
Even though I had slight moisture issues with this batch (again), they came out delicious. Unfortunately, they spread out quite a bit in the oven and barely held their shape. This probably happened for two reasons; the butter got too soft in the batter and because of the excess moisture. And then because of my choice of apple, their flavor kind of disappeared in the scone. Upsetting but nothing too bad. They still had that scone taste that I love, and were very cinnamon-y. I topped some of them with a cream and cinnamon glaze to amp up that fall flavor. SO GOOD!
Mind you, these aren’t very photogenic. As much as I tried to make them look appetizing, it didn’t really work. Trust me when I tell you they were delish, especially since they were gone within a day. I guess I’m really not the only one with a scone fixation!
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp of salt
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 sticks (1 cup) of unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- about 1 cup shredded apples
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Creamy Cinnamon Glaze
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp powdered sugar, sifted
- 3 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two sheet pans with parchment and set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon, and sugar. Mix well.
- Cut in the butter, either with a pastry cutter, forks or your fingers, into the dry ingredients. Continue until the butter chunks are about the size of peas.
- Add the grated apple and mix well.
- In another small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla extract. Stir the wet into the dry ingredients until dough comes together and everything is well moistened.
- Divide the dough in half and form each into a ball. Flour a clean work surface and pat down each ball to form a 6-7″ circle. Roll out the circles until they are 3/4″ thick. Cut each round into 8 wedges. Repeat with the second dough ball.
- Arrange the wedges on the pans without any crowding. Sprinkle with sugar (optional), and bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm if unglazed.
- For the glaze:
- In a small bowl, sift the powdered sugar. Add the cinnamon and whisk together.
- Add in the heavy cream and vanilla, and mix until sugar is moistened. Stop here if you like your glazes thick. If not, add in the milk.
- Drizzle or dip your cooled scones in the glaze. Set the glazed scones on a wire rack to set.
Adapted from this recipe
