Scones with Macadamia Nuts by The Careless Cook

 

Scones with Macadamia Nuts by The Careless Cook

 

As my three faithful readers know, The Careless Cook is a proponent of regarding a recipe as a mere starting point, a rough guide, a batting of beautiful eyes from across the room, not a date, not a marriage, nor the last word on what goes in the oven.  No change in attitude when I first looked at this scone recipe.

 

The original recipe called for an egg.  I didn’t have an egg.  Of course the Kitchen Warrior did not let that stop him, and neither should you.

 

Then, there was another item that was not on hand. Heavy Cream.  Can you really make scones that taste like scones without something so essential as Heavy Cream?  Yes.  Will it taste OK?  Yes again.  Better than OK!  Rave reviews!

 

So, hopeful readers, what are the secrets to guide you to success?  Only a few: ingenuity, creativity, and no fear of failure.  Don’t worry about the last one, I got you ready! And ditto, you can skip the first two as well.  And if you don’t care for The Careless Cook’s standby ingredients and prefer to go back to the traditional way, he’s got you covered for that too. 

 

Time to stop the chatter and get cookin’, but first heat the oven to 400ºF!

 

Ingredients

 

2 cups all purpose flour 

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon table salt

2 ½ teaspoons of baking powder

½ stick butter, chilled (straight from the refrig)

1 cup of oat milk (or ½ cup heavy cream and one egg)

(more oat milk or heavy cream for painting the scones before baking)

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract 

About 70 whole, salted Macadamia nuts (this bit of salt joins wonderfully with the sweetness of the scones)

 

Puttin’ It Together

 

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Use a box grater to grate the butter and add the butter and work it into the flour mixture.  I used a dough cutter, but a couple of forks will work.

 

Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl.

With me so far?

 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula or your fingers or anything else you have handy.  Keep mixing until you have the dough completely blended.

 

Using a tablespoon, drop the dough, spoonsful by spoonful onto a baking sheet.  This made 23 small scones for me. But don’t worry about the small size, they SPREAD while baking.

 

Paint the scones with oat milk or heavy cream.

 

Lightly mash in three macadamia nuts on each scone.

 

Place the scones in the oven and set your timer for ten minutes. Check to see if the edges of the scones are browning, as well as the macadamia nuts.  EVERY OVEN IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT, TEMPERATURE WISE.  I needed another 3-5 minutes.

 

The scones will flatten while baking and may stick to the baking sheet a bit.  I used a metal spatula to loosen them and gently lift them onto the counter to cool.

 

Time for a second cup of coffee. Don’t be ashamed to sip in a slosh of your favorite gift from Scotland.

 

I made these for a ladies group. Older ladies. Very grateful ladies, insuring that I will bake for them again and again.