There is just something special about the freshly-baked taste of baked goods, isn't there? I don't know about you, but I'm a huge fan of scones. When I spotted this recipe in America's Test Kitchen's The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook I knew I had to make it and share it with you. This cookbook is wonderful, and I've already shared a few recipes from it with you. Like Chicken and Orzo Pasta, Spinach and Feta which is a great go-to recipe for weeknights and Key Lime Pie for Two. The Sweet & Sour Sticky Ribs recipe is also from that cookbook, but I adapted it for a larger crowd. I wanted leftovers!
If you have a small family, you may not want to make a big batch of baked goods. Especially baked goods. You want them to be fresh and moist. However if you have a small family and you make a big batch then you run the risk of your baked goods going stale before you've had a chance to enjoy them all. No fun at all. I love the idea of making things in smaller batches because I am currently in a small family and some larger scale recipes are difficult to adapt.
These would taste great with jam, honey, clotted cream or simply dressed with butter. I also love the idea of maples and pecans. The original recipe used dried currants, which would be just as delicious, I'm sure. I just wanted a quintessential breakfast treat and maple syrup seems to fit the bill perfectly.
Also, I decided to make my first recipe video for this blog. I've had my camcorder sitting around in plain sight and every time I walked past it, I kept thinking to myself, "I need to put that thing to good use." Well, I finally did. I'm still learning my way around its features. I had a blast making this video so you can expect many more to come hopefully. I am inspired by the style of Amber at Sweet Ambs Cookies. Isn't her work amazing? I was also inspired by this beautiful video of a Rustic Pear Tart recipe by Eric and Liz Berget at Carpe Season.
I hope you enjoy this first little video.
Maple Pecan Scones for Two
Ingredients
Scones
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans toasted
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 3 tbsp. salted butter cut into 1/4 inch cubes
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp. pure maple syrup
Glaze
- 3 tbsp. powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp. pure maple syrup
Instructions
Scones
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with wax paper and spread chopped pecans in a single layer on baking sheet. Toast pecans for 3-4 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Set oven to 375 degrees.
- Combine cream and maple syrup. Set aside.
- Mix flour and baking powder. Scatter butter over top and mix with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
- Add toasted pecans and stir to combine.
- Stir in cream and syrup mixture until dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.
- Turn dough onto lightly floured counter and knead until rough, slightly sticky ball forms, about 15 seconds. Shape dough into 5-inch round, about 3/4 inch thick. Cut dough into 4 wedges.
- Place wedges on the same baking sheet you used for the pecans. Bake until scone tops are light golden brown. 18-22 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Transfer to wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes.
Glaze
- While scones bake, whisk powdered sugar and maple syrup together in bowl. Once scones are cool, drizzle with glaze. Let glaze set for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Facts
Nutritional information provided is for one serving and is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
These sounded great so we made them. Two comments:
1. You don't mention when to add the pecans in the printed recipe but of course they are added between steps 4 and 5 in the video.
2. They were extremely crumbly. What about adding an egg with the maple/cream mixture? Most scone recipes have an egg in my experience.
Hi Carl,
Thanks for the heads-up regarding the pecans. I've corrected the recipe. I can't speak to your results by adding an egg because I haven't tried it with an egg. I ended up with a crumbly texture outside and a soft, cake-like texture inside, which is to my liking. If you would rather have something more cake-like throughout, you can maybe try adding an egg as you suggested or I would suggest experimenting with the amount of cream. You may need to use more. Thanks for your comment!