100 percent whole wheat fig and date scones

 

Scones seem to be another one of those baked goods that have made the transition from having just the right amount of British sweetness (and the concomitant blandness of course, sorry Brits) to having an outrageous amount of sugar and generally topped with some sort of sugary glaze (I’m pointing my finger at you Starbucks). The other baked good that I have in mind is muffins. I mean when in the hell did a muffin become a meal? Those things are huge now! See Kevin James here for more on the topic.

 

Now I am not one to complain about having a baked good for a meal, indeed my very own mother often has it no other way, but if we are going to indulge ourselves with a baked good, why not indulge me and try out one of these scones!

The nice thing about these scones (and to be fair nearly any baked good) is that you can freeze them and thaw them out in the morning when you’re rushing out to wherever it is you needed to be 5 minutes ago. In fact, if you just wrap it in foil all you have to do is pop it in the toaster oven and forget about it (much like you can do with these waffles). Well forget about it until right before you’re about to leave and you can have yourself what is for all intents and purposes a freshly baked pastry. P.S. Did you know that whenever you see those ‘baked fresh’ signs what they really mean is ‘we got the loaves from the factory 90% baked and finished them off in our huge super impressive made to look awesome but not be that functional ovens’ (I’m looking at you Mr. Whole Foods and Fresh Market). Try these out and enjoy some whole grain goodness! And if you really want to enjoy these why not get yourself out for a good run in the morning and eat these with some awesome Greek yogurt parfaits and some good company!

 Adapted from here

Makes 8

1 3/4 cups white whole-wheat flour

1/3 cup sugar  (or less if you want!)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 large egg

1/2 cup buttermilk plus up to 1 tablespoon, if needed

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/3-inch cubes (or less… or more!)

3/4 cup quick-cooking oats (not instant, or hell if you’ve got is instant use those)

1/3 cup roughly chopped dried figs

1/3 cup chopped dates

1/3 cup almond halves

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, 1/2 cup buttermilk and vanilla.

Add the cold butter cubes to the flour mixture and use your hands to work them into the flour, breaking up and flattening some of the chunks as you go, for 1 to 2 minutes, or until you have some shaggy pieces and some small chunks of butter remaining (you can also do this with a pastry blender). You will still have plenty of loose flour, not a cohesive dough. Don’t worry about it, it will come together! See below for example.

 

 

 

 

 

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir for a few seconds to barely moisten the flour. Add the oats, figs, cherries etc.  and almonds, and stir gently just until ingredients are combined. The dough will be thick and will not come together into a ball. If you still have some dry oats or bits of flour at the bottom of the bowl, add up to 1 tablespoon of buttermilk, a few drops at a time, so that all of the ingredients are just moistened. You don’t need a wet dough in order to pat it together in the next step.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat it together into a ball with floured hands, kneading once or twice. Flatten the ball into a thick disk and roll it into a circle, about 8 inches in diameter and 3/4-inch thick.

 

Lightly dust the dough and work surface with flour as needed to prevent sticking. Cut the dough into 8 wedges with a large, floured knife and transfer the cut scones to the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch of space between the scones.

 

 

 

 

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until bottoms are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

To freeze, cool completely and transfer to a zip-top freezer bag. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator or for 1 to 2 hours at room temperature. Or if you were smart enough to put them in foil (i.e. ferl for the Katcarms out there), just pop em into the toaster oven for a few minutes before you head out!