Hi all,
This week I started house training my 16-week old puppy up at my parent’s house in New Hampshire. We were greeted with 18-inches of snow upon our arrival, and had to wait for our driveway to be plowed before we were able to get into the warm house and unload the dogs after our long car ride. It has been a very cold and damp week spent tromping in and out of the house trying to get Chip plenty of time outdoors. This recipe for Maple Walnut Scones stemmed from the need to come home to something warm after being out in the blistering cold for long periods at a time.
The recipe is also inspired by maple sugaring season in New Hampshire, which is the time of the year when sap from maple trees is collected. During this period, the temperatures are above freezing during the day and drop below freezing at night, making the sap flow from maple tree to maple tree. If you walk around the back roads of NH you might notice systems of long plastic tubes weaving their way around tree trunks. The maple sap runs through the plastic tubes and flows into collection buckets where all the sap is gathered before being boiled down to create maple syrup.
There are many local maple sugaring festivals around these parts where producers invite the public into their sugaring houses to appreciate their craft. It’s a huge amount of work and is a passion project for many folks up here. You’d be shocked to know just how much sap (and firewood) is required for a single gallon of maple syrup. It takes 40 gallons of sap to yield just one gallon of maple syrup, which is why those half gallon containers of maple syrup at the grocery store are so costly.
My Maple Walnut Scone recipe is dedicated to all of the beautiful maple trees that surround me and all the producers hidden in the hills up here. The first iteration of this recipe was quite delicious, but I decided to make some changes to enhance the maple flavor. I removed the pecans, added more walnuts, and added a touch of molasses to the maple syrup that helped sweeten, bind and heightened the maple flavor overall while providing moisture to the scones.
This recipe will be one that I will be coming back to again and again this time of year. I will also take it back with me when I am back in the bustling city and am longing for the peaceful, magic mountains of New Hampshire. There is nothing more soothing and breathtaking than wandering through the forest admiring all that surrounds you.
I hope you enjoy this recipe & until next time,
Kristen
Maple Walnut Scones
Ingredients:
Yields 8 servings
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour, plus more as needed
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ pound chilled butter (1 stick), diced
Zest and juice of one clementine or small orange
⅓ cup chopped toasted walnuts, chopped
⅓ cup of cranberries
½ cup of currants
⅓ cup maple syrup
1 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
¼ tsp each cinnamon, clove, cardamon, nutmeg
1 large egg
3 tbsp of heavy cream, more as needed
2 tbsps white sugar
Vegetable oil or nonstick spray for greasing baking sheet
Instructions:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the cold diced butter to the bowl and using your index finger and thumb, break the pieces of butter apart, cutting them into the flour until they are about pea-sized. Place the bowl in the fridge while you prepare the maple soak.
Step 2: In a medium pot, combine the maple syrup, molasses, zest and juice of a clementine or small orange, spices, dried cranberries and currants and vinegar. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat and season with spices and a pinch of salt. Add the walnuts to the warm syrup and stir to combine. Turn off the heat and let it cool slightly.
Step 3: In a small bowl, whisk the egg and 3 tablespoons of cream until the mixture is completely smooth.
Step 4: Remove the flour and butter mixture from the fridge. Add the cooled maple syrup and dried fruit mixture as well as the beaten egg. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and once a saggy dough forms dump the entire contents of the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead very lightly until the dough comes together to form a relatively smooth dough, if the mixture is too floury, add a small drizzle of heavy cream until the dough forms. Shape into a disc about 10” in diameter.
Step 5: Cut the disc of dough into quarters and then cut each quarter in half to get 8 evenly sized pieces. Transfer each piece of dough onto the prepared sheet pan. Lightly brush each piece of dough with the cream mixture and sprinkle with the remaining white sugar.
Step 6: Place the sheet pan in the oven and bake for about 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking process. Immediately remove from the sheet pan and serve immediately with plenty of butter.