Maple Pecan Scones

This morning was one of those gray, rainy Sunday mornings that just seem to demand fresh baked goods. I've been thinking of trying a scone that substitutes maple syrup and brown sugar for granulated sugar and uses chopped pecans instead of the dried fruit traditionally used in scones. Today seemed like just the day to give it a whirl. These scones are quick to make and bake up in only 30 minutes, so it's possible to whip them out on a Sunday without too much effort. This is a pretty wet batter, so I did "drop scones" instead of rolling them out and cutting them into wedges. Turns out, the scones taste just the same regardless of their shape and the "drop" version saves several steps.

Maple Pecan Scones

2 cups whole wheat white flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp cold butter, cut into chunks
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole milk, as needed
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In food processor, add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Drop in the butter chunks and pulse until the butter is incorporated in pea-sized pieces. Add the vanilla extract and the maple syrup. Drizzle in the milk, watching to see when there is no loose flour on the bottom and all of the liquid has been absorbed. Again, this will be a wet dough and you might not end up needing to use all of the milk. Be careful not to over work the dough. I took two large spoons and sprayed each with a little cooking spray and then dropped the dough onto a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat, leaving about an inch between each of the scones. If you don't have a Silpat then lightly spray the cookie sheet with cooking spray. Put the cookie sheet into the oven and immediately turn the oven down to 350. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, until the tops are golden brown. Let cool on a rack and serve while still warm (although the left-overs, if there are any, are good at room temperature too). Bon Appetit!

Makes 8

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