Scones are one of the only things I’ve made where I’ve tried (and kept track of) many changes to a recipe over time and gradually evolved it. Here’s my current favorite version:

Maple-Pecan Scones(makes 16)

First, preheat the oven to 425 (don’t you hate recipes that don’t tell you to preheat the oven until late in the recipe?)

You’ll need:

  • 2 & 1/2 cups white flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour (I’ve tried more– this is about as much as I can fit in)
  • 1 & 1/2 cups chopped pecans (for even better scones, chop half of these pecans coarsely, and grind the other half into a powder, almost a “pecan flour”, in a food processor).
  • 2 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 11(!) Tbsp cold butter
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup (plus a little extra to brush on) (real maple syrup, of course)
  • A cast iron skillet

The process:

  1. Combine the flour, pecans, baking powder, and salt.
  2. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender, keeping it coarse! (pea-sized bits, don’t overdo it). I usually cut sticks of butter into 1 Tbsp squares with a knife first, then cut in those squares.
  3. Add the milk and maple syrup.
  4. Mix lightly, turn out onto a floured counter, and gently knead together, just to make it stick together.
  5. Add a bit of milk or flour if needed to have a sticky, slightly crumbling dough.
  6. Divide the dough in half (you can refrigerate half if you only want to make 8 scones now).
  7. Squeeze each half into a ball, then roll into a thick (maybe 3/4" thick? I’ll have to measure it next time) 7" diameter circle, and then cut into 8 wedges
  8. Put these wedges into a greased cast iron skillet.
  9. Brush the tops with maple syrup.
  10. For extra credit, put a half pecan on top of each scone.
  11. Bake at 425 for about 18 minutes (they should start to brown, your oven may vary, mine may be a bit on the cool side).