Brown Sugar Walnut Glazed Scones

Yield: 8 scones

Time required: 30 minutes prep, 2 hours freezing (optional, but recommended), 35 minutes baking & glazing

What you’ll need for this recipe:

Dough
6 tablespoons (3 oz) unsalted butter, cold
1 large egg, cold
1 cup heavy cream (8 oz), cold
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Dry mix bag from your scone mix
Walnut bag from your scone mix

Glaze
2 tablespoons water, plus additional hot water if needed
Brown sugar bag from your scone mix
Powdered sugar bag from your scone mix

Directions:

To make dough: Cut butter into 1/2 inch cubes and return to the refrigerator until ready to use. In a small bowl, whisk the egg lightly. Add the cream and vanilla, and whisk again until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Place the dry mix bag contents in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal S-blade. Pulse a few times to combine ingredients. Distribute the butter cubes over the surface of the flour. Pulse 9 - 10 times, or until some pea-sized pieces of butter remain. Use your fingers to pinch any overly large pieces of butter into smaller pieces. Make sure not to overprocess the dough!

(To combine without a food processor, place the dry mix contents in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Distribute the butter cubes over the surface of the dry mix. Cut the butter into the dry mix using a pastry cutter or by squeezing and pinching handfuls of the mixture with your fingers and proceed as directed.)

Place the walnuts in a large bowl. Pour the flour/butter mixture into the bowl and stir together with a fork. Pour the cold cream mixture over the flour mixture. Use a fork in one hand to very gently fold the cream into the flour while turning the bowl with the other hand. Once the dough begins to gather in clumps, use a scraper to gently press and fold the dough into one large mass. Try to incorporate any loose flour in the bowl into the dough with either the scraper or your hands, gently pressing the dough mass together.

Turn the dough onto a clean countertop or cutting board, then gently pat it into a 6 - 7 inch diameter disk. Cut the dough into 8 equal triangles using a large knife or a bench scraper.

To freeze for baking later (recommended for best results): Transfer cut dough to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and place in the freezer. Once frozen solid (about 2 hours), transfer to a container or plastic bag until ready to bake. Freezing the scones before baking helps them retain their shape and not spread too much.

To bake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 425 degrees. While oven heats, line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and nest this baking sheet into another one of equal size. Double pans helps keep the scones from browning too much on the bottom. Transfer scones to parchment-lined sheet, spacing out evenly and at least 1 inch apart. Place scones in oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes (lesser time if baking immediately, more if baking from frozen), or until a toothpick inserted in the thickest part of the scone comes out clean, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Immediately remove scones from the pan and place on a cooling rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before glazing for ease of handling.

To glaze: After scones have cooled for 10 minutes, pour contents of powdered sugar bag into a small heat-safe bowl. Add contents of brown sugar bag to a small saucepan along with 2 tablespoons of water. Whisk to combine and put over medium heat. Let come to a gentle simmer until sugar has melted, about 2 minutes. Immediately pour into powdered sugar bowl and whisk vigorously until the glaze is the consistency of slightly thin glue with no lumps. If needed, drizzle in hot water a teaspoon at a time to thin the glaze. Immediately dip the top half of one scone into the glaze and return to the cooling rack set over a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining scones. Drizzle in a bit more hot water if glaze thickens too much in between scones. Let glaze set completely before serving, about 30 minutes.