As several readers have pointed out, there are no recipes in Baker’s Blues. There are reasons for this, which I won’t go into here, but I want to assure those who are interested that most of the food described in the book is very real, and I fully intend to share the recipes. Eventually.

So in response to the many requests—well, both of them—I’m posting the recipe for the scones mentioned on page 362 of the paperback, the same ones Geoff and I had for our breakfast at Aspen Vista last Sunday—a perfect Autumn morning in New Mexico…

The Bread Maven’s FESTIVAL SCONES

The name of these scones derives from the fact that there’s so much color and crunch going on here that they’re pretty celebratory.

Ingredients

4 C unbleached all purpose flour (or 3 C all purpose and 1 C white wheat flour)
½ C packed light brown sugar
1 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
12 TBSP cold, unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks) cut into small cubes
2 large eggs
1 C cold buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 C pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 C shredded unsweetened coconut
1 C dried fruit (any combination of raisins, cranberries, cherries, apricots, currants) coarsely chopped
⅓ to ½ C chopped candied lemon peel or citron

Directions

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400° Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Dump the dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse to mix.
Add the butter all at once and run for 15 seconds, then switch to pulse until mixture becomes moist crumbs. (Be careful not to overwork. You don’t want a big ball of dough.) Remove the blade from the processor and dump mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add the chopped nuts, fruits and lemon peel and toss to combine.
In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla together.
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon just until there is no flour visible. To ensure a tender scone, don’t stir a second longer than necessary.
Use a half cup measure or an ice cream scoop to portion out the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between. With wet fingers, smooth a little place on top of each scone and sprinkle with raw sugar.
Place baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let cool for five minutes on a wire rack, then remove scones with a metal spatula and transfer to a wire rack.
Serve hot, warm or room temperature.

Festival Scones can also be frozen unbaked and baked without thawing. Just add an extra 5-10 minutes of baking time. And be sure to use double acting baking powder like Red Star or Bob’s Red Mill to ensure the scones rise well after freezing.

 

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