Baking with Carla: Maple Cinnamon Scones

I love scones. Scones were the first non-Italian sweet treat that I made when I moved to the US. They were also the first non-Italian treat that I made for Wally, knowing how much he loves them. The first time he tried them, he took a bite and exclaimed:” These are soooo good, Amore!” Since then, he just can’t eat store bought ones. Not even those made in good bakeries. Those rare times he has a craving and buys one, he kind of regrets it. He knows that they will never be as good as the ones I make. At least, that’s what he says. I usually don’t have much faith in my skills but I have to admit…I do make good scones. I don’t know if I would think they are better than any other scones you find around….but they are usually pretty good.

That said, I don’t know why I never make scones with Carla. I made them the second time I’ve met her but never again since them. It was time to fix the situation but I did not want to make the usual chocolate chips scones so I went for maple cinnamon ones. I know she loves both maple syrup and cinnamon so it sounded like a great idea.

I adapted the recipe from The Salty Spoon. I have to admit, though, that I would not consider these to be the best scones I’ve ever made. The texture was simply fantastic: so soft inside with a nice slightly crunchy outside. But the flavor was a bit “whatever” (as I say when something does not really gain my favor). I think they need something else….maybe more maple syrup. I don’t know, I need to work more on them. In the meantime, they were a great start to remind me why I love scones so much. If you guys have a great maple cinnamon scones recipe, I would be super happy to hear about it and try them again with Carla.

Maple Cinnamon Scones

Ingredients

Makes 8 scones

210 g (7.5 oz or 1 2/3 cups) all-purpose flour

30 g (2 tbsp) sugar

15 g (1 tbsp) baking powder

30 g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter

120 g (4.3 oz or ½ cup) sour cream

30 ml (2 tbsp) milk

30 ml (2 tbsp) maple syrup

5 g (1 tsp) cinnamon

a couple of spoons of extra milk to brush

Method

Preheat the oven to 400F degrees and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a big bowl, combine the flour, the sugar, the baking powder and the butter and quickly mix with the tips of your fingers until the butter is coated with the dry ingredients. As usual in the case of scones, don’t overwork the dough so be sure to be very quick.

Add the milk, the sour cream, and the maple syrup and quickly stir, just until the ingredients are combined. Finally add the cinnamon and stir again until the dough just stays together.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead just a few times until the dough is a bit more compact. Transfer the dough onto the prepared baking pan and pat it down into a disk. Cut the dough into 8 parts, making sure you don’t go all the way down into the dough with the knife.

With a pastry brush, coat the dough with little milk and if you want top it with some extra cinnamon.

Bake for about 15 minutes (I needed to bake it for about 20 minutes but my oven slightly under-bakes!).

Let the scones slightly cool down on a cooling rack before serving them. They sure are best when they are still warm!

Have a sweet day!

Source: adapted from The Salty Spoon