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Apple Bacon Scones

Author: Cynthia

Ingredients

  • 3 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup corn meal
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt (I prefer to use fine grind salt. It distributes through baked goods more evenly. Save your coarse grain Kosher and Sea Salts for savory cooking.)
  • 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes. I actually like to cut it up in advance and put it in the freezer. I'm quirky about chilling my fat 😉)
  • 2 - 3 apples, peeled and cored and cut into ½-inch cubes
  • 6 strips thick cut bacon, cooked and chopped into about ½ inch pieces. Chunks of bacon 😳. Can I get a "Hell Yeah?)
  • ⅔ cup buttermilk, low fat or full fat. Whatever you can find, although I'm using bacon here, so I go for full throttle full fat.
  • ⅔ cup heavy cream. See above regarding fat content. We're going for it.
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract (I like the little specks of vanilla in the paste, but it is more pricey and can be hard to find. Extract is fine.)
  • 1 tablespoon REAL maple syrup. It makes a difference. Mrs. Butterworth need not apply.
  • Coarse sprinkling sugar or raw sugar for optional sprinkling if you're not into glazed baked goods.

Maple Vanilla Glaze

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
  • 3 tablespoon REAL maple syrup. Emphasis on REAL. Can you tell I don't like fake "pancake syrup"? 😖
  • 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Instructions

  • This recipe should make about a dozen delicious scones. Preheat oven to 375°. Place oven racks in top and bottom third of oven. Pulse first seven ingredients (the dry ones) in a food processor fitted with the blade until combined. Add your very chilly butter in and pulse until it resembles damp sand or coarse cornmeal, whichever comparison you prefer. If you don't have a food processor this can be done by hand, using a pastry cutter, two butter knives, or your fingers to break up the butter. I prefer the food processor. In the end, it should look like the picture below. Fun Fact: At this point you can go rogue and make any scones you want! This is a basic scone mix that you can customize in any way you'd like! If you want you can even substitute the ½ cup of cornmeal for another ½ cup of all-purpose flour if you want to go with a more delicate mixture. The scone world is yours! Be free! Or keep going, because these are pretty darn good.
  • Dump the flour mixture into a large bowl and add the apple and bacon pieces. Mix up with clean hands or a couple of big spoons. I actually like to use two rice paddles, but we've established that I'm quirky. I like the way they get underneath ingredients and gently mix things without flinging them all over the counter and my body. I can be extra 😊. Scoop a little well in the middle of this mixture.
  • Mix your wet ingredients; buttermilk, heavy cream, vanilla, and maple syrup. Add to the well you just made in your scone mix. Using your clean hands, a rubber spatula, or if you're cool like me, two rice paddles mix everything together until fully combined without overmixing. You really just want to get it to the point that there isn't a lot of loose scone mix and everything is moistened.
  • Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper sprayed with a light amount of non-stick spray. Form scone dough into about ½ cup balls and place on parchment paper. I put 6 scones on each baking sheet to allow room for growth. If you would prefer not to use the maple glaze after baking, why?! Also, that's fine. This would be the time to sprinkle a little coarse raw or sparkling sugar on top if you have it.
  • Bake for 30 minutes in 375° oven, turning trays and swapping them on the shelves (top to bottom, bottom to top, you know) halfway through. Scones should be golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of one should come out clean. Allow to cool on a rack for 15 minutes before glazing or munching. Let's go make the glaze.

Maple Glaze

  • Follow along if you can. Put powdered sugar, vanilla, maple syrup, and cream in a bowl. Whisk until glazy. Done. Brush or drizzle glaze over warm scones and enjoy. That's not an order to "ENJOY" or anything. These are good. You will enjoy them. Nom.