Awesome looking scone recipe!

[kima]

Man, I am on a posting frenzy!! Can you tell DH is away? Yes I need a life!
I have not made these but I am going to tomorrow-I can't find hazelnuts though. In all your expert opinios-should I hold out for the hazelnuts and if not what could I sub instead??
This is from Bon Appetit August 2001.

Hazelnut and Dried Pear Scones
3c. flour
1/3c.plus 1 Tbsp. sugar
2 1/2tsp. baking powder
3/4tsp. salt
1/2tsp. baking soda
3/4c. chilled, unsalted butter,cut into 1/2inch cubes
3/4c. chopped dried pears
3/4c. chopped,toasted hazelnuts
1c. plus 2 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp.grated orange peel
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 400 deg.
Mix flour,1/3c. sugar,baking powder,salt and soda in processor. Add butter;cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Transfer to a large bowl. Mix in the pears and nuts. Add 1 cup milk,vanilla and orange peel. Stir until the dough holds together
Turn dough onto

lightly floured work surface. Divide dough into 4 balls. Flatten each into 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick round. Cut each into 4 wedges. Place on large, ungreased cookie sheet, spacing evenly.
Mix cinamon and remaining 1 Tbsp. sugar in small bowl. Brush 2 Tbsp. milk over scones. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar over scones. Bake until scones are cooked through and are firm to touch, about 15 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature

Dare I make these with DH away????:D

[Canice]

Mmmmm....pear scones!
Hazelnuts are pretty much my favorites (think: Nutella) but I wouldn't be shy at all about replacing them with pecans. In fact, I'll replace just about any nut with pecans!
Are macadamias a suitable replacement, since they are - like hazelnuts - fairly soft inside??

[Mamasue]

Kima....they sound good...did you wind up making them! :)

[bh7166]

Definately hold out for hazelnuts....ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTIONS!!!! I love them...definately worth the price and effort to me....

[claire797]

Wow. I am really surprised you can't find hazelnuts. I live in Texas and we have plenty of hazelnuts here year round. Don't they grow hazelnuts in the pacific northwest or am I wrong?

[kima]

Hi! Well I am car-less (and clueless) in Victoria this weekend so I could only check the evil Safeway near my house (I just don't like this store-really expensive, unfriendly,terrible lighting etc.)I really want to use hazelnuts and I think I can get them here. So I will look Tuesday. If anyone makes these before me, please send me one...okay I'll settle for a review!:)

[claire797]

Are you going to make the scones today Kima? I'm thinking about making them because it's a rainy day and they sound good. I haven't decided for sure. I don't have any hazelnuts or dried pears around the house and I'd need to venture out to Central Market in the rain to get them.

[SQ]

I took the plunge and gave these a whirl this a.m. Yum, yum, yum. Thanks Maureen, these are awesome! My family is eating them right now. Here are the changes I made:

Reduced 3/4c. butter to 1/3 c.
Reduced sugar from 1/3 c. plus 1T. to 1T. plus 1t.

I also used 1t. lemon peel instead of orange peel b/c I only had lemon.

If you like things sweet, don't reduce the sugar as much as I did. But these are really yummy!

[aggie94]

Originally posted by claire797
Don't they grow hazelnuts in the pacific northwest or am I wrong?

Yes, they do. There are lots of hazelnuts, aka filberts, grown in the NW, or at least in Oregon.

[kima]

I still haven't made these-I can't find hazelnuts in regular grocery stores so will make a trip to a well stocked HF store.
Thanks for the review SQ. It is nice to know that you can cut the fat back alot.I think I will probably adda bit more sgar than you did-my family tends to like things a bit swet. Now on the hunt for hazelnuts!!:)

[kima]

Just wanted to report back that I finally got to make these this afternoon. Oh my they are (were) good. I cut the fat in half but otherwise kept things the same.
The hazelnuts definately made these special-I would accept no substitutes!;)
You could however use different dried fruits with good results I imagine.
I think thse are the best scones I have ever made!:)

[claire797]

I'm glad to know these are good with half the fat. I'm going to try to make a batch too. I think I may skip the dried pears though.

[knunes]

Report: Thanks to all of you brave souls who play with recipes (I never did until I started reading this board), I used sliced almonds that I chopped, and dried apricots which I chopped. I was in such a hurry that I grated neither orange peel nor lemon peel. I cut the fat in half, but left almost all of the sugar in and didn't find them sweet at all. They were very good. I did buy some hazelnuts today so will try them again with the hazelnuts, but am going to stick with the apricots.

Question: I am going to a little island in Maine this weekend where there will be no food processer. Has anyone done these by hand with a pastry blender? How much blending does it take to get it to a coarse meal? Will my hand fall off first?

Another question: The first time I made these, I cooked half of them right away, and froze the others on a cookie sheet. I thawed the others today and cooked them and they came out just as good. Do you think I could cook them and freeze them and have them come out just as good? Thanks.

[claire797]

Originally posted by knunes

Another question: The first time I made these, I cooked half of them right away, and froze the others on a cookie sheet. I thawed the others today and cooked them and they came out just as good. Do you think I could cook them and freeze them and have them come out just as good? Thanks.

That's interesting. I did not know you could even freeze scone dough at all. That is, I thought the freezing process would mess up something in the chemical reaction of the leavening.

As for baking and then freezing, yes. I do this all the time. I bake scones, let them cool completely, then I wrap them individually and freeze.

[knunes]

Thanks Claire. Depending on how much time I have, I might do that. Another idea I have is maybe to make the scones Sunday morning, form them into the circles, bring them up like that, then cut them into wedges the next morning and cook. Think THAT would work?

[GeckoGirl]

I made these yesterday, but used almonds and dried cranberries. Very, very good. Question though- the dough was sticky, sticky, sticky. Almost impossible to work with. Did I do something wrong or is that just the way scone dough is?

Oh, and as for mixing without a processor, I cut in the fat with 2 knives then used my hands in just a kneading motion. Didn't take long at all!

Lynda

[knunes]

Lynda,
I do find scone dough quite sticky. I just flour my hands and hope for the best.
I made these with toasted hazelnuts and apricots in Maine my first morning there and they were a big hit (2 knives). This morning I tried a Yankee magazine recipe for maple walnut scones (no sugar, but 1/2 c. maple syrup and 1 c. walnuts, with maple syrup brushed on top). They too, were a hit. Scones are a good thing!

[AmyJane]

MAUREEN, thanks for a great scone recipe! I LOVE to make scones and have only made them with dried cranberries and raisins. However CL had a coffee scone recipe that I tried for a brunch once, and they were a hit! I can't wait to get some walnuts and dried pears and whip up a batch of these. I will try cutting the fat also. Did you (or anyone else) chop the hazelnuts in a little mini-chopper or food processor?

Trader Joe's sells hazelnuts (and other nuts) at great prices. Too bad TJ's isn't up in your area. I know b/c I'm planning to move to Vancouver, B.C. next year and am already mourning the loss! :D