panettone scones

Panettone was one of my Mom's favorite Christmas holiday treats. She used to like it for breakfast, toasted, and with butter. 

After graduating from pastry school I used to bake her panettone every Christmas. I'm sure that she would have loved my panettone scones but I bet they have a pastry chef in heaven that can make them for her.

I adore the taste of candied citron in panettone. And strangely I also like the currants and golden raisins too which normally are not my fave in baked goods. Citron is an ingredient that I don't have regularly in my pantry. Luckily I had it and felt inspired by memories of my Mom so instead of waiting for panettone bread, I whipped up panettone scones.

Before we get started with the recipe, this is citron. It's candied. It's Italian. And it's delicious. My husband bought me this gorgeous sweet thing from Di Palo's here in NYC's Little Italy, but you can probably find it online or maybe your city's Italian specialty food store. In a pinch, you could use candied orange and lemon peel.

Panettone Scones
original recipe of Dreamy Cream Scones taken from America's Test Kitchen Cookbook tweaked with my very own adaptations

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1/4 cup roughly chopped citron or candied orange and lemon peel
2 tablespoons currants
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon Fior di Sicilia extract or vanilla extract

1 egg - beaten for egg wash
powdered sugar for dusting - optional

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In your food processor combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. A few pulses. Or in a large bowl, whisk together. In a measuring cup, mix together heavy cream and Fior di Sicilia or vanilla extract (if using) and set aside.

Add in your butter cubes and with short pulses, cut in butter until it resembles a coarse meal. If doing this by hand, use two knives or a pastry cutter/blender and cut in your butter.
Add your citron, currants, golden raisins and lemon zest. Pulse a couple of times or stir in. Transfer mixture into a large bowl.

With a rubber spatula, stir in your heavy cream and extract until dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.

Transfer dough and all floury bits onto a clean work surface and gently knead dough until it comes together into a rough, sticky ball, 5 - 10 seconds. Lightly flour your work surface and gently press out dough until it's 3/4 inch thick. With a 2-1/2 inch round cutter, cut out scones. 

Place them 2 inches apart on your parchment lined sheet. Brush tops with egg wash and bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. 

Serve warm or at room temperature dusted with powdered sugar.

oat & maple syrup scones

I have been on a scone binge lately and this is the second kind of scones I've made in the past few days. Don't worry, the first batch I shared/gave away and I have plans to do the same with these.


Oat and maple syrup scones have been on my to-bake list. Although I do have another recipe, when I came across this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Smitten Kitchen, I just knew I had to make them. Mine didn't come out as pretty as Smitten Kitchen's did, so a sweet camouflage of maple syrup and powdered sugar turned them from ugly to pretty tasty.....


Oat and Maple Syrup Scones
recipe taken from the blog Smitten Kitchen but adapted from Breakfast Lunch Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery
Makes 10 - 12 scones


1 3/4 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting surface
1/2 cup (80 grams) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (35 grams) rolled oats ***Smitten Kitchen used quick-cooking, I used whole rolled oats***
1 very heaped tablespoon baking powder ***My heap looked like 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons***
1 very heaped tablespoon superfine (caster) or granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Scant 3/4 cup (160 grams) cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup milk or buttermilk ***I didn't have either, so I used heavy cream***
1 egg, beaten (for glaze)


Preheat your oven to 400˚F (200˚C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or butter a baking tray.

Whisk flours, oats, baking powder, sugar and salt together in a large bowl.

Add your small pieces of butter.

With a pastry blender or your fingertips, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.


In a small bowl, combine milk/buttermilk/heavy cream (whatever you're using) and maple syrup, then add these liquid ingredients to the butter-flour mixture. By hand or with a rubber spatula, bring everything together to form a softish dough. ***Since I used the heavy cream, it needed more liquid. I had to add an additional 2 tablespoons.*** If it feels too dry, add a little more milk but not enough that the dough is sticky. 


On a lightly floured surface, pat or roll the dough out until it is 1 1/4 inches (3 cm) tall/thick. Using a 2-inch (5 cm) cutter, cut the dough into rounds and place them on your prepared baking sheet/tray so that they almost touch. 

***The scones in the pic to the right are spaced out on my baking sheet, not almost touching each other at all. I then moved them closer together after reviewing the recipe.***

Glaze the tops with the beaten egg and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the scones are lightly golden.

The scones will stick together, so pull them gently apart when they've cooled a bit.
Serve warm.

I thought that these scones were down right ugly, so I mixed up a glaze of 1/3 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 1 tablespoon heavy cream and a few drops of water. The glaze should have the consistency of heavy cream. Drizzle the maple glaze on top of the warm scones and garnish with a few oats.  

toasted almond scones

It's February 1st and it feels strangely like spring is in the air. The norm would be freezing cold and snowy, but today's forecast is a crazy high of 60˚F and a chance of a shower.


I'm meeting up with some of my bestest girlfriends this morning for a play date with their kids. I of course will be flying solo but will have toasted almond scones in tow.....


These scones have a quadruple threat of almond in them: ground toasted almonds, chopped toasted almonds, almond extract and sliced almonds sprinkled on top. I spooned raspberry jam in the middle of half of them because I just love a combo with almond and raspberry.


Toasted Almond Scones
taken from the app Baking with Dorie
Makes 12 scones


INGREDIENTS
1 cup blanched toasted almonds (whole, slivered, or sliced)
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder (double-acting)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick of unsalted butter (chilled and cut into small pieces)
1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)
2 - 4 tablespoons of raspberry jam (optional)


Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400˚F.


Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.


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


Whisk the flour, ground almonds, remaining sugar, chopped almonds, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. ***Or pulse a couple of times in your food processor***


Stir together egg, heavy cream, milk, and almond extract. Set aside.


Drop the 1 stick of butter into your flour mixture and using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. ***Since my food processor was already being used, I dumped my flour mixture back in and then I dropped my butter cubes right on top*** Quickly, working with your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly. ***Or if using your food processor, give the butter and flour mixture a few pulses. There should be big and little "pebbles" of butter throughout*** 


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. ***I poured my wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and pulsed a few times until the dough came together slightly. Be careful not to over process***


Still in bowl, gently knead the dough by hand or turn it with a rubber spatula 8 to 10 times. ***I lightly floured my surface, turned the dough out, and gently gathered it together***


Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide in half. Working with one piece at a time, pat the dough into a rough circle that's about 5 inches in diameter, cut into 6 wedges and top each scone with a few sliced almonds, if you're using them. (At this point, the scones can be frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight. Don't defrost before baking - just add 2 minutes to the baking time.)

***If you want to add raspberry jam to them, gently press your thumb into the middle of each scone and spoon a heaping teaspoon into the indentation. You can also sprinkle with sliced almonds too!***


Place the scones on to your prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 - 22 minutes or until their tops are golden brown. Transfer the scones to a wire rack and cool to room temperature.