Toasted Hazelnut Whole Wheat Scones

I made this scones the other week for a book club, and they were a big hit. As I sent all of them home with the ladies for their husbands (or themselves if they didn't want to share), I don't have one picture of them. What a failure I am! 

Regardless, they were a hit, and if you can get past the copious amount of butter (2 sticks!), they are worth the effort. 
Source: Dahlia Bakery Cookbook

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
14 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and finely chopped
1 cup cold buttermilk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Maple butter:
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
1/2 cup butter, softened

Instructions:
Hazelnuts:
1. Toast the hazelnuts at 350ºF for about 5-10 minutes, shaking the tray periodically. (Nuts go from toasted to burned very quickly, so keep an eye on them!) When they are just starting to smell toasted and looking a little browned, remove from the heat. To remove the skins from the nuts, pour the toasted nuts, still warm, onto a clean, dry dish towel (probably one you don't care about staining), and rub the hazelnuts with the towel. The skins will flake off, and you'll can pick out the clean nuts.

Scones:
1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a large bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.

2. Add the vanilla extract to the buttermilk and set aside.

3. With a pastry blender work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 

4. Add the chopped nuts to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. 

5. Add the buttermilk and extract and stir until just combined. 

6. Turn out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead for a brief minute so the dough sticks together. (At this point, I had to add a bit more buttermilk to my scones.) 

7. Flatten into a large round and divide into eight triangles with a knife or a bench scraper. (You can alternatively break the dough into two pieces and cut each round into six triangles to yield 12 scones.)

8. Place scones on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet and bake until golden on top, about 20-25 minutes.

9. While scones are baking, make your Maple Butter in the mixer. Beat the softened butter until uniform and fluffy, and then add the 2 tablespoons of maple syrup (or to taste).

10. Remove scones from oven and allow to cool on a cookie sheet for a few minutes. Serve warm with the butter.

Results:
As I said, these were a big hit. I wanted to try this recipe, so I made it for a day when I had people visiting, since I don't care for nuts other than almonds. They're a little more work-intensive than scones I usually bake, but for a special event, I might try them again. The Maple Butter was pretty yummy, after all...