Less like traditional shaped scones and more like Irish drop biscuits, these beautiful bundles are filled with dried fruit and walnuts. I inherited this recipe from a dear friend who used to make these on Christmas morning. Once out of the oven and still warm, we would slather on butter and homemade marmalade. I make a few batches of these every month, as they freeze beautifully and are an incomparable start to the day… they are so good, and are the kind of food you cannot eat quickly. These scones demand being savored and smiled over, and no matter how many times I make and eat these, that’s just what I do. I made a few adaptations to the original recipe (using candied orange peel in place of golden raisins and a few other tweaks) but feel free to experiment with any dried fruit or nut combination! Dried cherries or apricots would be delicious here. Just be sure to keep proportions of fruit and nuts to dough the same.
Note: similar to traditional biscuits, scones, or pie dough, the trick here is to keep the butter really cold and not handle the dough too much. Once in the oven, the craggy pieces of cold butter will help the dough rise and minimal handling will help the scones remain fluffy.
These freeze beautifully, so I’d recommend baking a double batch and stashing some scones away in the freezer for later. To reheat, lightly toast in a 325ºF oven until warmed through.
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Makes 12 scones.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- Rind of one medium orange, grated
- ½ cup dried currants
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- ⅓ cup candied orange peel, finely diced
- ½ walnuts, coarsely chopped
Directions:
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk dry ingredients until combined. Add butter into bowl. Working quickly, use your fingers to gently smash and smear the pieces of butter and toss with the flour. You want the pieces of butter to be fully coated in flour and about the size of a dime. If you have warm hands and are concerned about the butter melting, you can also do this with two forks.
- Add orange zest, walnuts, and dried fruit to the flour and butter mixture.
- In a separate bowl, beat the buttermilk and eggs until fully combined and aerated. Gently pour into the flour and butter mixture and fold in using a fork. The batter will be rough looking, but this is what you’re going for!
- Using a tablespoon, drop batter onto ungreased cookie sheets, forming 12 mounds.
- Bake at 350ºF for 18-22 minutes, rotating pans once during baking. When done, scones should be lightly browned and very fragrant.
- Remove scones from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool ever so slightly — these are best eaten warm.
Sophie in the Kitchen 