This is the first time I am singing lyricals about scones:D I tell you these scones are the best I have made so far... looking at the photos, I am convinced that these scones are going to be delicious and I was right:D
I quickly gather my ingredients and have these scones in the oven within 30 minutes! I didn't sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar topping but followed the chinese recipe and glaze it with some lemon icing after the scones are cooled. It was awesome good!
The recipe is adapted from Happy Home Baking and here if you can understand chinese. Plenty of photos to drool over at those sites! :)
Banana Walnut Scones (my modifications in blue)
Ingredients:
(makes 12) (I cut mine into 8 for each portion and get 16 mini scones)
200g cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
30g brown sugar(I used white sugar)
1/4 teaspoons salt(omitted)
80g unsalted butter, Cold, cut into small cubes(I used salted butter)
80ml fresh milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
50g walnuts, coarsely chopped
135g banana (skin removed), diced into small cubes
extra 1 tablespoon milk for brushing (omitted)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)(omitted)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar (optional)(omitted)
- Lightly toast the chopped walnuts in a frying pan over low heat. Set aside to cool completely.
- Sieve cake flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add in caster sugar, salt, whisk to combine.
- Place cold, diced butter into mixing bowl. With a fork or a dough scraper, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. (It is important that the butter be cold so when it is cut into the flour mixture it becomes small, flour-coated crumbs. If the butter starts to melt away during this process, stop and place the mixture in the freezer for 10-15 mins to prevent the butter from melting further. Continue the process when the mixture is well chilled.)
- Make a well in the centre and add in milk and vanilla extract. Give a few quick stirs with a spatula. Add in the chopped walnuts and diced bananas. Fold in with a spatula just a few times to make the mixture comes together to form a shaggy mass.
- Gather up the mixture and place it on a lightly floured surface. Divide the mixture roughly into two portions. Dust hands with some flour. For each portion, gather and pat the mixture to form a combined dough. The dough will be soft, sticky and appear shaggy and lumpy. Do not over work the dough. (Over handling the dough will cause gluten to develop, and the resulting scones will turn hard.)
- Place the two doughs (at least 2 inch apart) on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Pat down each dough to form a disk, with a thickness of at least 1 inch. Cut each dough into 6 portions (I used a dough scraper). I cut mine into 8 mini pieces. Move each portions slightly apart leaving a small narrow gap in between each portion.
- Brush top with milk. Mix together ground cinnamon and sugar, sprinkle the top of the scones with the cinnamon sugar mixture (this is optional). I skipped this step.
- Bake in preheated oven at 180degC for 28mins or until lightly browned. Transfer to wire rack to cool. I glaze the top with lemon icing before serving.
*Scones are best served freshly baked. Any leftovers can be kept in airtight container. Brush or spray some water over the scones and warm them in the oven before serving.
*To enjoy freshly baked scones for breakfast and to save some time, Steps 1 to 3 can be prepared the night before, cover the mixture and leave to chill in the fridge. The following morning, preheat the oven and continue from Step 4 onwards.
I had leftover scones at room temperature and shared some with my colleague and we agreed that they are still very delicious:D
