Oatmeal Raisin Scones

As I was making my way back home from a walk in the park recently, I passed by a house where someone was baking cookies. How did I know? The smell of butter and sugar and crisped golden-edged deliciousness was wafting down the sidewalk. That smell make me slow down for a few seconds, then walk faster. If I quickened my pace, I figured I could work off at least some of the calories for whatever oven masterpiece I would create later.  After all, don’t we exercise in order to eat just a bit more?

I wanted my house to smell like that house, like a bakery where magic was happening. I remembered seeing a photo of golden scones on the cover of the April 1989 Bon Appétit. Fittingly, a photo of happy joggers was superimposed over the breakfast spread featured for that month’s issue.

The group had their cool jogging suits on (I had some like those in 1989). They were exercising, then treating themselves to an early morning meal that featured the scones. These were my people.

The scone recipe intrigued me because it used a combination of oat flour, whole rolled oats, and all purpose flour.

The oat “flour” is something anyone can create at home by whirring around oats from the familiar cylindrical container in a food processor.

I substituted whole wheat pastry flour for half of the white flour called for in the instructions. I thought the nut-like notes of whole wheat would enhance the flavor of the dough.

Besides grinding the oats into flour, the food processor does most of the mixing in the recipe and even cuts the cold butter into the dry ingredients.

After the oat-flour-butter mixture is transferred to a large bowl, it’s time to add the whole oats and raisins.

I was able to incorporate the buttermilk into this mixture with a few stirs. Because this recipe uses buttermilk as the main wet ingredient instead of whipping cream, the scones are healthier than a typical recipe. A few strokes of kneading prepares the scones for shaping and cutting. 

Brushing the scones with half and half (forget that healthy attitude mentioned earlier) and sprinkling them with sugar before baking gives the scones a glistening shell when they emerge from the oven.

As the scones browned in the oven, our house became the beacon of baking on the block. Someone passing by might have mistaken the smell for oatmeal raisin cookies.

The scones combined the flaky bite of biscuits with notes of sweet raisins and warm oats. Sliced in half and spread with tart plum jam, these scones were a great start for a weekend morning.

Oatmeal Raisin Scones

Sunnyside Cook

Dawn Dobie

A breakfast treat with whole grains and sweet raisins

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Servings 12 scones

Ingredients

  

For the dough

• 2 cups rolled oats --separated, see below
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter well-chilled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2/3 cup raisins
• 1 1/4 cup (about) buttermilk

For the topping

• Half and half
• Turbinado or granulated sugar

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Using food processor, grind 1 cup of oats until they become a fine meal. Put the other cup of rolled oats aside.
• Add whole wheat and all-purpose flours to processor bowl, along with 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Use 3-4 on/off pulses to blend mixture well.
• Add chopped butter to bowl and use on/off turns to cut it into the dry mixture until it looks like coarse meal.
• Transfer this mixture to a large bowl. Stir in the raisins and remaining cup of oats.
• Create well in center of mixture and stir in enough buttermilk to create a soft dough.
• Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead gently, turning dough with each knead, a total of about 10 times.
• Divide the dough into 3 pieces.
• Roll each piece of dough into a round about 3/4-inch thick. Cut the circle into quarters and transfer the wedges of dough to a baking sheet.
• Brush each wedge with half and half and then sprinkle with turbinado (or granulated) sugar.
• Bake until golden brown, between 25 and 30 minutes.
• Serve hot.

Notes

Once wedges of dough have been brushed with half and half and sprinkled with sugar, they can be tightly covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 4 hours. Remove the plastic wrap before baking.

Adapted from Stephanie Young in Bon Appétit (April 1989)