Bacon & Date Scones

I will apologize in advance for this post. It will jeopardize your healthy lifestyle.

Apparently I live in the 3rd healthiest county in Arkansas, according to an article in our local newspaper Like everyone, I try very hard to be healthy. I try to walk a couple of miles nearly every single day. Water is my drink of choice (except for maybe a glass of wine or a martini). I take multivitamins to make sure I'm receiving all my nutrients. I take two fish oil capsules to help keep my cholesterol in check. I don't eat fast food. I use olive oil instead of butter, eat beef only occasionally, substitute brown rice for white rice whenever possible...you know...all those things "they" tell you do, whoever "they" happen to be.

But when I come across an idea for a recipe as tempting as Bacon & Date Scones....well, I just throw caution and healthy diet to the wind. I can't help it. I'm just a livin' on the edge kinda gal.

There are generally two types of scones: European and American. The scones we make here in the U.S. tend to be more sweet (we love our sugar!) with a drier, flaky crumb. By contrast, European scones are less sweet and have the tender crumb of a drop biscuit. I like both types, but I thought the lighter texture of the European style scone would lend itself best to the bacon and dates.

I used medjool dates for this recipe, which just happened to be available in bulk at Fresh Market when I made the trip there last week. The date pieces sold prepackaged are covered in sugar to keep the pieces from sticking together, but would have provided additional sweetness to the finished scone that I didn't want that.

This morning, Tom cut his scone horizontally and toasted it. It really brought out the flavor of the bacon.



I swear to you these babies are worth every extra mile you have to walk.

Bacon & Date Scones

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

• 8 slices bacon
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup medjool dates (about 8), pitted and coarsely chopped
• 6 tablespoons cold butter
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ¼ cup sour cream
• 1 egg
• Turbinato or raw sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

If you are not using a scone pan, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium high heat until just crisp. Transfer the cooked bacon to paper towels and allow to cool. Reserve the bacon drippings.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, ⅓ cup sugar, baking powder and salt.
Coarsely chop the cooled bacon and add it to the flour mixture. Add the chopped dates and toss to coat well. If the date pieces stick together, break them apart.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream and egg and set aside.

Using a coarse grater, grate the cold butter into the flour mixture. Toss well with a rubber spatula to combine.

Add the buttermilk mixture and stir quickly until mixture comes together. Do not over mix or the scones will be tough. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and briefly knead the dough (just a couple of times) and quickly form the dough into an 8-inch circle. Cut the circle into 8 wedges. Transfer the scones to the baking sheet or a scone pan sprayed with cooking spray. Let the scones rest for about 10 minutes.

Brush the tops of the scones with the reserved bacon drippings and sprinkle with raw or Turbinato sugar.

Bake for 16 to 18 minutes until slightly golden brown and a tester inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean.

Orange Infused Cherry Scones with Orange Glaze

The TLC channel has a new series, "Best Food Ever", narrated by actor John Goodman. I missed the first episode, Sensational Sandwiches, but recorded and watched the second episode  - Bodacious Bakeries - last night during which they counted down the top 10 bakeries in the country. By the 30-minute mark, half way through the program, my teeth hurt just watching people ingest all that sugar.

One bakery/cafe, the name of which I cannot recall, offered their version of French toast: homemade peanut butter thickly slathered between two over-sized slices of challa bread, then dipped the "sandwich" in a mixture of eggs, cream, cinnamon and sugar and fried it on a flat top grill. As if that wasn't enough, the chef served the dinner plate sized fried sandwich doused with a hot syrupy mixture of sliced fresh bananas sautéed in butter and brown sugar. They called it breakfast. I call it a monumental sugar overdose.

Give me a cup of good coffee or a cappuccino and a tender scone for breakfast or brunch and I'm a happy camper.

But, more often than not, most scones offered in bakeries, coffee houses and grocery stores are too sweet for my taste. If the scone is covered in a sugary glaze, I usually take a pass.

This scone was posted by my niece, Nichole, and even though I'm not fond of glazed scones I felt I had to be true to the recipe the first time I made it. But, I have to admit that, although the orange glaze was delicious, I will not glaze them next time.

These scones were good, very tender and dense with a nice hint of orange and just enough sugar (3 tablespoons) to barely sweeten the dough. I will certainly make them again.


Orange Infused Cherry Scones with Orange Glaze
by Nichole Gordon

For the scones:

• 1/2 cup snipped dried sweet cherries (Nic also suggests substituting cherries with golden raisins)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 to 2 teaspoons graed orange peel (I used 2 heaping teaspoons)
• 1 egg
• 8 ounces sour cream (I used light sour cream)

For the glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon orange zest (this was my addition and not in the original recipe)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place the snipped cherries in a small bowl and cover them with boiling water. Set aside for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Slice the butter into pieces and cut into the flour mixture until it begins to look like crumbs.

Drain the cherries well, then add them to the flour mixture along with the orange zest and toss to make sure they are well coated.

Make a well in the center of the mixture and set the bowl aside.

In a small bowl, beat the egg, then work in the sour cream and egg are well combined. Add the egg/sour cream mixture all at once into the well you created in your flour mixture. Nic found that the best way to combine the mixtures together is with a fork. I agree. You may find the finished product a little dry, but that's okay.

Lightly flour your work surface. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead the dough by folding and gently pressing the dough until it is smooth in appearance. Lightly roll your dough out into a circle about 7-inches in diameter. Cut the dough into 12 pieces (much like a pie). I used a scone pan, which has 8 sections. My scones were a little larger than Nic's.

Place the wedges 1-inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Because mine were larger, I baked them about 16 minutes.

When the scones are done, remove them from the baking sheet to a wire rack and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before glazing.

To make the glaze, mix all the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth. If the glaze appears too thick, add more orange juice a teaspoon at a time to be sure it doesn't get too thin.

PRINT THE RECIPE HERE

Fig & Pistachio Scones

Every Christmas holiday, I bake several different kinds of cookies and give several of each kind to family, friends and neighbors. This past Christmas, goody bags were shipped to as far away as the west coast and as close as next door.

I baked quite a bit this last Christmas, though you would not have guessed it from reading my blog. I don't recall sharing any of my baking ventures this year and I won't be doing so in this post except to say I baked the following:

• Chai- flavored Snickerdoodles. This was my second year for these and they are pretty popular
• My mom's Chocolate Bourbon Balls, except this year instead of using bourbon, I used Raspberry Schnapps. What's not to like about raspberry and chocolate?
• Jam Thumbprints. Basically just a shortbread cookie rolled in coconut with a little raspberry jam filling a slight indentation
• Norwegian Spritzers. A very simple, buttery shortbread cookie sprinkled with colored sugar

I added a new goody this last Christmas ~ Fig & Pistachio Biscotti.

One of my favorite food bloggers is Marie @ Proud Italian Cook. If you want to be inspired to cook truly authentic Italian cuisine, or you just love looking at beautiful photos of sumptuous food, you need to check out her blog.

Shortly before Christmas, Marie posted a recipe for Fig & Pistachio Biscotti and I decided to give the recipe a try. Long story short, one batch led to several batches and the feedback from my cookie recipients was unanimous. The biscotti was, by far, the biggest hit.

I haven't made the biscotti since Christmas, but last week I decided to try to make Fig & Pistachio Scones. I used the basic recipe that I used to make Pink Cherry Scones, but with a few changes, and the results were amazing.



Fig & Pistachio Scones
by Terri Powers for Terri's Table

• 2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar (a little more for sugaring your board and sprinkle on top)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons cold butter
• 2/3 cup half & half
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pistachio flavoring
• 1 scant cup dried black mission figs, chopped
• 1/3 cup shelled, roughly chopped pistachios

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Measure the half & half into a 2 cup measuring cup. Add the egg and pistachio flavoring and whisk together until combined. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, 4 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until the flour mixture resembles corn meal. Add the figs and pistachios and mix together well.

Add the wet ingredients and, using a fork, mix with the flour mixture until just combined. Do not over-mix. Dump the mass onto a sugared work space and with your hands, form into a mound.

Flour a rolling pin and roll out the dough into a circle about 9-inches in diameter and about 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch thick. Using the cutter of your choice (I use a metal cutting board scraper), cut the circle of dough into 8 even pieces and place on baking sheet



or in a scone pan.

Bake 16 to 20 minutes until lightly brown. Remove the pan from the oven and cool the scones on a wire rack. If you use a scone pan, remove the scones from the scone pan immediately and cool on a wire rack.

YOU CAN PRINT THE RECIPE HERE