The Secret Scones

It's my birthday, and I'm giving you the best scone recipe <3

(aurora borealis from my yard last week!)

I turned 41 yesterday. I’m feeling both immensely lucky to have beautiful friends, family, and partner, and work that I feel is important and nourishing. And also, full of grief for the earth and so many of the people on it. Birthdays are usually really hard for me, and I suppose this year is both different and the same.

I’m going to keep this brief, as I’m off to volunteer teaching history to local teens, and then to call doctors offices, and then to ship copies of the new book from Nine Syllables Press, and then to (hopefully) work on my thesis, due very soon.

Some of you know that over a decade ago, I ran a bakery and cafe called Wheatberry. We made a lot of delicious things (I’m totally biased, obvs), but the thing we made that people were truly obsessed with, were our scones. These scones aren’t like the ones you’ve had before. Full of oats and whole wheat flour, which makes them more moist and tender and flavorful. For a long time, I saved this recipe, thinking that maybe I would publish a cookbook. But who knows if I ever will, and in the meantime, I don’t want to keep hoarding the recipe, so here you go.

(bees sleeping in my cosmos)

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The Best Scones

AP flour 165 grams

whole wheat flour 58 g

sugar 87 g

baking powder 7 g

salt 3 g

cold butter, cut into small pieces 132 g

rolled oats 141 g

dried, sweetened tart cherries 67 g (you can use other fruit/nuts/choc chips as desired)

buttermilk or milk 128 g

Sift together your flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. (Sifting them together ensures that you don’t end up with a gross clump of baking powder that tastes terrible. Trust me—sift!)

Place dry mixture in a stand mixer, or a large bowl and add the pieces of cold butter. Mix on medium speed, or use a pastry cutter to mix by hand. You’re going for a sableé—combining the dry mix with butter until it resembles coarse sand.

We made the original scones with sweetened dried cherries, but you can use other fruit or nuts. Just avoid very wet fruit, like fresh berries (you can roast these a while on low heat to draw out some moisture, then use them).

Add the rolled oats and fruit/nuts/etc and stir a couple times to distribute them evenly, then mix in the milk/buttermilk just until combined. The dough will be moist and a bit sticky, but should come together (it should not be a puddle of goo).

Shape the scones as you like. Personally, I dust my counter and hands with a little flour, shape the dough into a disc about the size of a small plate, then cut it into 6 wedges (like cutting pie slices).

Now you have a choice—you can freeze the dough just as it is, or refrigerate it to bake the next morning, or bake them right away. Because of the whole grains, these scones are hearty and will keep quite well, but of course they’re most delicious fresh out of the oven. When you’re ready to bake them, you can put them straight from the freezer or fridge onto a baking sheet and into a preheated 375 degree F oven. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until golden brown (they will have an internal temp of 190 degrees or above when fully cooked). Best served warm, but again, these travel well, and reheat well—just give them a lil toast.

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I sincerely hope you enjoy these, and that some nourishment and pleasure find you this week.

with love and rage,

Adrie