Caramel Apple Scones

Although a bit messy, these have a great, wintery flavor
of caramel and apple.

Since it's fall, the trees are alight with colors, and the weather has taken a definite turn towards the bottom of the thermometer, I find myself searching for wintery recipes. 

As a result, and since it's now October, I decided to try a caramel apple scone. What could be more appropriate for October than caramel apples?


Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting counter

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ground clove

4 tbsp unsalted butter, chopped

3/4 cup chopped caramel bits (I used Kraft caramels and chopped into sixths)

1 tart apple, chopped (Granny Smith) (about 1 cup, chopped small)

1/2 cup half and half, plus ~2 tbsp to get a sticky dough

1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste

1 egg, lightly beaten

Instructions:

1. Mix the flour, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ground cloves together with a whisk.

2. Add cold, chopped butter, and mix well with a pastry blender, or a fork. Mix until it resembles coarse sand.

3. Add the caramel and apples.

4. Combine half and half, vanilla bean paste, and egg. Whisk lightly to mix.

5. Add half and half mixture to scones, adding extra half and half (if needed) until the scones come together to be slightly sticky.

6. Spread the dough out onto a well-floured countertop and flatten into an 8-inch round, about 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch high. Cut into 8 or 10 scones. Alternatively, you can flatten into a flat log, about 5-6 inches wide and 1/2- to 3/4-inch high. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, with the scones separated only slightly from each other (this prevents the caramel from leaking out too much). If you cut in a round, you can place them in a round together; if you cut them from a log, you can place them side-by-side, 1/2- to 1-inch apart from each other.

7. Bake at 350ºF for 20-30 minutes, until golden around the edges and cooked through the middle. If they seem extremely slow in baking, or baking unevenly, you can separate from each other a little and put them back in until the outer edges of the scone are golden. Test with a cake tester or toothpick 

To freeze: cut into triangles and place in a plastic bag. To bake, remove and put on a parchment-lined baking sheet, increasing the baking time to 30-40 minutes.

Chopping the caramel and apples took a bit of time. I was glad I prepped everything up front.

Combine all the dry ingredients and mix well.

Use a pastry blender to work the butter into the flour mixture.

Then add the carmel and apples.

Combine the egg, half and half, and 

Add the half and half mixture to the dough. You should get a sticky dough.
If you need more half and half, add it.

Press out the dough onto a generously floured countertop.
Flatten it into a round or a log, and bake with the sides 1/2- to 1-inch apart from each other.

These are chocked full of apple and caramel flavoring, with a hint of fall spices.

Results: Although messy, these are yummy scones. If you want pure caramel apple taste, you could omit the spices, just depending on the caramel and apple for flavor. I, personally, like the fall spice addition.

Fresh Apple Cinnamon Chip Scones

It's fall in the Pacific Northwest now. Which means a season of baked fruit pies and spices and pumpkin spice scones and spices and more spices. Two of my favorite spices are cinnamon and nutmeg, and what goes better with cinnamon and nutmeg than apple?

Ingredients:

4 cups flour

2 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tbsp vanilla bean paste

1 stick unsalted butter, chopped

2 apples, diced *the larger your apple chunks, the more difficult it will be for your scones to stick together

1 cup cinnamon chips *I buy mine here

1-3/4 to 2 cups half and half or buttermilk

About 3 tbsp coarse sugar for sprinkling

Instructions:

1. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk together until mixed well.

2. Add the vanilla bean paste to the half and half, whisk to mix, and set aside.

3. Add butter and work in with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse sand.

4. Add cinnamon chips and mix with a wooden spoon.

5. Add diced apples and mix with a wooden spoon until the apples are well coated.

6. Give the half-and-half and vanilla mix a stir to make sure the vanilla beans haven't all fallen to the bottom, and drizzle over the dry mixture. Mix in well. The dough should be slightly sticky.

7. Using a 1/3-cup scoop, spray the scoop with oil and use to shape scones onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

8. Makes about 18-20 scones. Bake at 425ºF for 12-15 minutes.

The Process:

I chopped my apples into rather large chunks, and chose not to peel them.
If you so desired, you could peel the apples and cut into smaller pieces.
The larger the pieces, the more difficult it will be for the scone to stick together.

Add the vanilla bean paste to the half-and-half (or buttermilk) and whisk to combine.

Mix the dry ingredients together and whisk to combine.

Add the chopped, unsalted butter to the dry ingredients and work in with a pastry blender.

The mix can contain small chunks of butter.

Add the cinnamon chips and mix.

Add the apple and mix.

The apple should be coated with flour when mixed.

Coarse sugar for sprinkling--I used about 2 or 3 tablespoons for the entire recipe.

Sprinkle the scones with coarse sugar, as much or little as desired.

Bake until golden.

Allow to cool for several minutes before enjoying.

Results:

For not having any sugar in these besides the coarse sugar for sprinkling, I was surprised by the sweetness of these. (I admit, I forgot sugar the first time I made them, and it was such a pleasant surprise, I didn't want to ruin the recipe by adding any.) The cinnamon chips add a sweetness, and using Gala apples kept them sweet and moist.

These are a wonderful, fall recipe which smelled and tasted divine. I had to fight to eat only one during my taste-testing.