Toasted Almond Scones

Toasted Almond Scones

Now that school's started I've been thinking about trying to focus some of my baking on easy-take-with-you breakfast items. The first of which on my list is scones!

I adore scones, but haven't had too much luck making them. My first try was some Strawberry Sunrise Scones, and they came out way too doughy and soggy. They were underdone, yet I had put them in for way over the recommended baking time. So, they tasted okay but not premium scone quality. I also made Ina Garten's famous Cheddar Dill Scones, which was probably the WORST baking experience of my life. They were absolutely terrible. I can laugh about it now, but back then it wasn't so funny. 4 cups of flour was in the recipe and more was needed for kneading, but before you even took a bite of the finished product, you could taste the flour that was inhaling into your lungs. What I mean is; no cheddar taste + no dill taste + all flour taste = TERRIBLE!

It had been a while since my bad scone experience and I was ready to try again. I found a recipe for Toasted Almond Scones and had to try it. I love almonds and this recipe has it in three ways; almond extract, almond slivers, and ground almond.

It was simple enough to make. The only tricky part for me was cutting in the butter in which I gave up using the pastry cutter and found my hands worked fine.

I did eat them, though. I don't like tossing any recipes so I just slathered it in butter then added strawberry or blueberry jam on top of that. Then they were "okay". I probably did something wrong, so don't be afraid to give them a try. also, if anyone has a no-fail scone recipe, it would be greatly appreciated. I love scones, but they just don't love me!

Toasted Almond Scones

Ingredients:
1 cup blanched almonds (whole, slivered or sliced), toasted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup cold heavy cream
1/4 cup cold whole milk
1/8 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional for topping)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Divide the toasted almonds in half. Finely ground 1/2 cup in a food processor or blender with the sugar, taking care not to over grind the nuts and end up with almond butter. Finely chop the other 1/2 cup.

Stir the egg, cream, milk and almond extract together.

Whisk the flour, ground almonds and sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly.

Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork just until the dough, which will be wet and sticky, comes together. Don’t overdo it. Stir in the chopped almonds.

Still in the bowl, gently knead the dough by hand, or turn it with a rubber spatula 8 to 10 times. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it in half. Working with one piece at a time, pat the dough into a rough circle that’s about 5 inches in diameter, cut it into 6 wedges and top each scone with a few sliced almonds, if you’re using them. Place them on a baking sheet.

At this point, the scones can be frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight. Don’t defrost before baking—just add about 2 minutes to the baking time.

Bake the scones for 20 to 22 minutes, or until their tops are golden and firmish. Transfer to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving, or wait for the scones to cool to room temperature.