Brown Sugar Scones with Butterscotch Glaze

                         The Get-Together

    The Scones with Buttery Sweet Dough Flavoring

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...These scones are such Plain Janes that I hesitated to feature them this evening. I thought about it, but then tossed out that idea because they are so good. I hosted my book club yesterday morning and these scones were one of the items I made for the meeting. I wanted to serve things that were a bit out of the ordinary and these scones certainly filled that bill. I was attracted to the recipe because it called for a flavor enhancer called Buttery Sweet Dough. Another blogger sent me a large bottle of the extract for Christmas, and I thought these scones would be a perfect recipe for its trial run. The scones are easy to make, and while their appearance leaves much to be desired, they are delicious. I made one batch with the enhancer and one without it. They are good either way, but the buttery sweet dough extract adds richness and a bakery butter flavor to the scones that the other batch lacked. I found the recipe for the scones on a site called The Merchant Baker and I followed that recipe to a tee, save for the fact that I refrigerated my dough for about 30 minutes once the butter had been cut in and the dough came together. I think this makes for higher, flakier scones and it definitely makes them easier to roll and shape. I know they are not pretty things, but they are delicious and I hope you'll give them a try. Here is how they are made.

Brown Sugar Glaze with Butterscotch Glaze...from the kitchen of On Perfect Bite courtesy of The Merchant Baker

Ingredients:
Scones
2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup toasted pecan pieces
1 large egg
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons or more of heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor
additional heavy cream and raw sugar for topping
Butterscotch Glaze
6 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons water
1 1ablespoon salted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar
pinch of salt

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2) Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a medium-sized bowl. Cut in butter until until mixture is crumbly and you have varied size butter chunks no larger than peas. Stir in pecan pieces and toss to coat in the flour mixture.
3) Crack an egg in a glass measuring cup then add cream until you reach 1/2 cup. Then add another 2 tablespoons of cream. Mix with a fork until well blended. Mix in vanilla and butter flavor, if using.
4) Make a well in center of flour mixture and pour in the egg/cream mixture. Toss gently with a fork until mixture begins to hold together a bit. It will seem to be too dry, but try to resist adding more liquid. Your scones will not hold shape with too much liquid. If necessary, use your hands to gently mix the mixture in the bowl until it comes together. This may take a minute, but as you work the butter and cream mixture, it will begin to come together. You don't want to melt the butter, so if you have hot hands, try using a large spoon or a spatula to fold the mixture onto itself in between using your hands. Once the dough comes together with no crumbs, divide dough in half.
5) On a lightly floured surface, pat each half of dough into a circle about 1" thick. If it is too soft from handling, you can put the bowl in the refrigerator before you shape it so that the butter can get firm again, or roll, cut and place on the cookie sheet, then slide it into the refrigerator or freezer for 10-20 minutes.
6) Using a floured sharp knife, cut each circle into 6 wedges and place on an ungreased baking sheet leaving 1-2" of space between for spreading. Brush with additional cream. Sprinkle with raw sugar, if you're not planning to glaze. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool and set up for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then remove to a rack to finish cooling.
7) When the scones are cool, make the glaze. Place cooling rack over a sheet pan. In a small saucepan, mix the brown sugar and water together with a whisk and heat just until sugar is dissolved. Whisk in the butter until fully combined. Remove pan from heat and whisk in vanilla and powdered sugar. (Sift your powdered sugar first if it's lumpy.) Continue whisking until smooth and any remaining lumps are completely dissolved. Taste and add a pinch of salt, if needed. Dip the tops of each scone into the glaze then place back onto the cooling rack. Once all of the tops are glazed, go back and using a spoon or fork, drizzle each scone with additional glaze. The glaze sets quickly, you may need to stir it a couple of times during the process to keep it loose and workable. Yield: 12 scones.

                    

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