I made these one Christmas for my bonus son, and he has asked about them every visit since! Who am I to deny the boy some apple deliciousness?
I started with a recipe by King Arthur flour and adapted it to our preferences. I am pretty loose and free with my spice measuring so I will list what you should start with and then put what I use in parentheses.
Yummy Apple Cinnamon Scones
You’ll need:
pan/parchment paper lightly floured (can also bake on silpats)
2 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp apple pie spice or ground cinnamon ( 1-2 tsp apple pie spice AND 1/2-1 tbsp ground cinnamon)
8 tbsp cold butter
3/4 cup chopped fresh apple (1- 1 1/2 medium apple cored and diced, skin optional)
3/4 cup cinnamon chips (1/2 bag cinnamon chips)
2 large eggs (can leave out entirely and add extra apple sauce)
1 tsp vanilla extract (closer to 1 1/2 tsp AND scant almond extract)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce ( 3/4 cup unless no eggs then 1 cup)
As you can see, I am big on flavor! Supposedly, leaving eggs out makes things healthier; plus, I was out of eggs one day and got creative. Either way, the scones are delicious.
These are only kind I have found in my area.
In a large bowl, mix the base ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and spices. Add in your cold butter, since I used stick butter it was about 1/2 a tbsp thick per pallet. You can use a fork if you don’t have a dough kneader. Once the dough in incorporated, slice and add your apple chunks and cinnamon chips. Just toss with fork to evenly distribute.
In a small bowl, mix together the eggs (if you are using them), vanilla (or almond), and applesauce (whatever your quantity). After all has been thoroughly combined, add this to your larger bowl. Once everything is moistened and holding form, scrape out the bowl onto your floured pan or parchment paper.
Honeycrisp pictured (Macintosh also works very well)
Now, you have options: large, mini, or free formed scones.
For free form, your oven temp is 375, and you will need to lightly grease the pan/paper or use ungreased silpats. Just scoop out with an icecream scoop in approximately 1/3 cups, then follow on to freezing and baking.
For this recipe, I did mini scones. Halve your dough, and form into each half into a ball, set one to the side. Gently flatten the ball to about 3/4in thickness and maintain roundness. Cut with a COLD butcher knife (there is probably a better name, but the really large knife in your drawer? Use that one). I held mine under cold water for a few seconds to get it nice and chilled. Cut the flattened dough into 8 triangles (like a pizza!). Repeat for other dough ball.
Now, you will need to put the triangles into the freezer. I have a skinny freezer and ended up using a large pan in my deep freeze. They only go in for 30 minutes, so not really long enough to freeze. If your pan to bake them on fits in your freezer, then you are a lucky baker!
Set your oven 425 (ONLY FOR SCONE SHAPE; 375 for freeform, remember?) and let it heat while the scones chill. Has it been half an hour? Well, pop those scones into the oven. Bake for about 20 mins (30 FOR FREE FORM). You are looking for golden brown crust and cooked all the way through. If the edges still look doughy, they need to bake longer.
Serve warm! Once any left overs have cooled (that is, if you are not surrounded by bottomless-stomached boys!) wrap tightly in plastic wrap or an airtight container. Will store at room temperature for a few days.
