Orange-Pecan Scones

Submitted by cookiedog

"Light and moist, these are perfect for breakfast or with afternoon coffee. Recipe is from Fields of Greens. Variation included for Apricot-Walnut Scones"

 

• Ready In: 50mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Yields: 8 scones
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 1 orange, zest of
• 3 -4 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1⁄2 cup dried currant
• 3 cups unbleached white flour
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup cold unsalted butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 2⁄3 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1⁄4 cup small pecan pieces, coarsely chopped

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F Plump the currants in the orange juice. Sift the dry ingredients together. Cut the butter into small pieces and cut it into the dry ingredients using a pastry blender or 2 knives until it resembles coarse meal. Add the currants and juice.
2. Stir the zest into the buttermilk, add it to the dry ingredients, and stir until the mixture is moistened.You may need to add a little more buttermilk. Do not overmix.
3. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and gently form into a round about 1 inch high. Cut the round into 8 wedges and place 1 inch apart on a baking sheet stacked on top of another sheet. (The double pan is necessary to keep the bottoms from browning too quickly.) Whisk the egg yolk and milk together and lightly brush the scones with the mixture. Sprinkle with the pecans. Bake until the scones are ligthly browned, about 20 minutes.
4. VARIATION: Apricot-Walnut Scones: Chop 1/2 cup dried apricots into small pieces and use them in place of the currants. Plump the apricots in the orange juice and prepare the scones as directed, substituting walnuts for the pecans.

Reviews

[Katzen]

These delicious scones were recommended in the Best of 2010 Tag, and wow are they good! I did make a few changes, for personal preferance, and due to what I had on hand: I used light butter, subbed 1 cup of frozen cranberries instead of the currants, subbed in 1 cup of spelt flour, used brown sugar, and added a 1/2 cup of pecans in the scones as well. On top, I sprinkled Starrynews' Spiced Sugar - a standard on scones and quick breads around here! And, I made a glaze with some left over fresh squeezed orange juice (a couple of tablespoons at most) and enough icing sugar to make a glaze-like consistency. While this sure looked nice, in future I'd make them without it, as per the recipe, as it upset the sweet-tart balance from the orange and cranberry. These were absolutely fantastic!!! Thanks so much Cookiedog!

 

[jessi_mcg]

You know these are good when my three year old starts singing "I love scones!" LOL. I will admit straightaway that I made a few changes to "health" these up a little bit, but they came out so light and delicious that you couldn't even tell and I credit that to a well-written recipe. I used half oat flour and half white wheat, used fresh cranberries for the currants (a fave of DH's), and omitted the nuts as DH doesn't care for them in pastries. I used Smart Balance for the butter as well. Thanks so much for posting! I especially love the tip about the double pan. Made for Best of 2010 Tag.

 

[momaphet]

Lovely scones, the orange was just right and I loved the pecans on top. I ended up using all the juice from the orange for the dough to be able to come together I also used the whole egg because I wasn't paying close enough attention : ) I served these with raspberry freezer jam and whipped cream. Thanks you Unruly Cookie! Made for ZWT 6 for the Unrulies Under the Influence.

 

[Mommy Diva]

These have a nice texture - I made them using lemon zest and lemon juice (half a lemon's worth) in place of the orange - just personal preference and did use the currants and pecans. Did everything else exactly as directed - the lemon was the only sub. FYI - I did not need to double the pans as I used an insulated cookie sheet with my Silpat on it and they came out fine. I think you only need double pans when using a single layer, uninsulated cookie sheet/pan. I baked for 20 minutes and I think they turned out lovely. Hope you can tell from the pic, that isn't really my strong point! I may try almond next time!! Thanks for a nice recipe!

 

[Annacia]

These really are outstanding scones. I used no sugar but 5 Tbs of Splenda and they were more than sweet enough with the fruit and juice, in fact I'll cut back a bit next time and replaced 1 cup of flour with whole wheat flour. I cut the fat by using 1/4 cup if butter and 1/4 cup of applesauce. Because of the soured milk (skim milk with lemon juice) I added 3/4 tsp of soda and skipped the egg yolk glaze to save the cholesterol. Even with these swaps the flavor and baking aroma is fantastic and the rise superb! I didn't have currents and couldn't decide between raisins and apricots so I used a bit of both and put chopped walnuts into the dough. Even wuth whole wheat these are light, tender and totally yummy. Thank you Cookie, thank you, for a recipe so delish and so willing to adapt to the needs of a diabetic. Happy Valentines hon, smooch!