Caramel Scones from The Careless Cook

 

Caramel Scones from The Careless Cook

 

I was still on the edge of sleep at 0800, but someone had a meeting to attend and it suddenly became my job to furnish coffee compatible knick-knacks for twenty-five hopeful ladies.  Most mere mortals would balk, or lack the confidence of The Careless Cook.  But, The CC never backs or bakes away from a challenge. 

 

I’m certain you assume he had a splendid recipe at hand; something that would flutter the hearts of the hopeful.

 

Sadly, he did not.  And, a search of Chef Google’s recipes revealed a tangle of either special ingredients, or lengthy and boring procedures that might cause The Careless Cook to begin drinking early, or race to the local grocer for cellophane packaged pastries created in a chemistry lab.  Could he inflict such culinary insults on the helpless?  No, he could not.  By helpless, he meant ladies who had outlived two or more husbands and raised a flock of children mostly single-handedly.

 

But wait a minute, thought this King of the Kitchen, What if I know a shortcut through the woods to grandmother's gullet?   Perhaps he’s found a way to avoid grating the butter, and not letting the dough rest until Santa knocks on the door, and eliminating hand mixing until the fingers lose their purpose?  Of course he has! 

 

Lesson number one:  A food processor beats the tactile massaging of, well, whatever.   I may have to rethink that, but I know for sure it’s handier than kneading by hand.  Close call.

 

So sifting through Chef Google’s repertoire, here’s what I came up with.

 

Caramel Scones from The Careless Cook

 

Heat oven to 400ºF or 200ºC

 

2 cups all purpose or bread flour (more for dusting)

2 ½ tablespoons of baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 stick of butter, cut into small chunks

½ cup brown sugar

white sugar for dusting

1 ½ apples (about 1 ½ cups) peeled and diced

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 egg

½ cup buttermilk (or use regular milk or cream or coconut milk)

 

Make your own caramel sauce for drizzling, or use the commercial version.

 

Toss everything, except the white sugar and the diced apple, into the food processor.  Turn it on and leave it on until a dough is formed. If the dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour. 

 

Dust the counter with flour and roll out the dough to about half an inch thick.  Scatter the diced apple evenly over the dough.

 

Fold the dough onto itself until the apple bits are evenly distributed.

 

Roll the dough out again.

 

Cut to your own specifications. Wedge shape is the norm, but I cut the dough in small rounds, using what used to be a tomato-paste can. Matter of fact, all my round cutters used to be vegetable cans of one size or another.

 

Put the scones on a baking sheet, dust them with white sugar, and slide them in the pre-heated oven.

 

Bake for 12-15 minutes.  As I keep reminding everyone, all ovens are different.  In my case, it took the full 15 minutes.

 

When the scones come out, drizzle caramel sauce over each.

 

Hint:  If you use commercial caramel sauce, pour some in a bowl and use a spoon to drizzle.

 

I prepared enough scones for the feisty twenty-five.  No complaints and no scones came back!  Best of all, I was soon back in bed for an early nap, followed by a short trip to a delightful coffee shop.  Just for coffee, you understand.  The Careless Cook doesn’t consume their chemical concoctions.