When done correctly, scones can be tender, moist, and delicious! I hate dry scones, don’t you? These scones are far from that: tender, delicious, and full of cinnamon flavor. The maple glaze adds the final french toast touch. If you love french toast, you’ll love these!
Like I mentioned above, these scones are modeled after one of my favorite breakfasts: french toast. Drenched in maple syrup with a pool of butter, of course. In this case, the maple is infused into the glaze and the butter (plenty of butter!) is dispersed throughout the dough.
Let’s talk about the butter for a second, shall we? For this recipe, I froze my butter and grated it into the flour mixture rather than cubing it and using a pastry cutter. For me, this was a lot easier to quickly “chop up” the butter into the flour with a spoon, rather than breaking through butter cubes. It’s very important to use cold butter in scones, in this case: frozen. The cold butter creates little pockets in the dough which are really important in achieving the correct texture.
Another surprising ingredient? Applesauce.
Keep in mind, these are not apple flavored scones, in fact you can’t even detect the apple flavor at all after they are baked. The applesauce adds a little extra moisture to the batter. Also, try not to over manipulate the batter – nobody likes a tough scone! When making these, keep in mind that scones are best served on the same day: straight out of the oven.
If you can’t get around it, go ahead and make them the night before and hold off on the icing. In the morning, simply pop them in a 300 degree oven until they’re warmed through and then glaze them. Trust me, whatever you do, the flavor, texture, everything is 100 times better when warm. There’s nothing better than having their cinnamon smell waft out of the oven in the morning.
Warming them in the microwave has the tendency to affect the texture a bit, but I had no problem scarfing one down for one of my early morning days :)
1½ cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon coarse sugar (optional)
¼ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
1-2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Place butter in freezer and preheat oven to 400 degrees. The butter needs to be in the freezer at least 20 minutes, the longer the better.
Combine flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine egg, vanilla, applesauce, and cinnamon. Whisk together and set aside.
When butter is frozen, use a cheese grater to carefully grate the butter into the flour mixture. Work quickly, as you want the butter to stay frozen. Use a spoon to stir together the butter, using the edge of the spoon to "chop" the butter into the flour mixture as you go. The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs.
Pour the liquid and flour mixtures and mix until just combined. Roll into a ball and press into a 6 inch disk on a floured surface. Cut dough diagonally three times to make six scones. Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired.
Place on a silicon baking mat. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes. The edges of scones should be a light golden brown. If you're using a metal baking pan with no mat, be sure to keep an eye on them so the bottoms down over brown.
Cool for 5-10 minutes on a wire cooling rack. Meanwhile, make the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon of the maple syrup. The glaze should be slightly thick, but pourable. Add remaining 1 tablespoon of syrup if needed. Drizzle glaze over warm scones and serve immediately.
Store leftovers in an airtight container. Scones are best enjoyed served warm on the first day. You can reheat the scones by preheating the oven to 300 and placing the scones in the oven for a few minutes until warmed through.
