Maple-Oat Scones with a Maple Glaze

  pin it
This morning I woke up to a very windy, cold and overcast day. So, baking was definitely on the agenda. My usual "go-to" on an overcast day is to make Tea (herbal of course) and scones. I love my Strawberry Scones with Vanilla Glaze but it's no longer strawberry season. I wanted to try something new and decided to go with a Maple and Oat Scone.
   Since baking is more of a science than cooking is, I usually glance at a recipe or two before concocting new recipes. I would hate to not have something rise properly. So, to the Internet I went. I remembered watching Ina Garten make a scone with maple syrup and oats on the Food Network. I looked up her recipe, and then used it as a jumping off point. (But to be clear, this is NOT her recipe.) The result is a really moist, slightly sweet scone with a welcoming maple flavor.
   I do have to apologize for not having step-by-step pictures to show you, though. I took a couple and then realized that my camera memory was full from our recent Disneyland trip. I ended up just deleting the few beginning pictures I had, in favor of showing you the finished project. The process is very similar to what I did in my Strawberry Scones recipe, though the ingredients are different.
  As the name suggests, the two most ingredients are the Maple Syrup and the Oats. You need pure, dark maple syrup (grade B is best) and cracked 'n' toasted steel cut oats. I get the Coaches Oats brand from Costco. They give a nuttiness to the scones that you just can't get from regular rolled oats. Although, if you were in a pinch, I suppose these scones could be made with just old fashioned oats. But they would be missing the nice nutty texture and flavor that I love.
   We all really enjoyed them (I think I'm enjoying my 5th one right now). I took a heaping plate to the hubby's fire house and they seemed to like them - although there is probably not much that firefighters won't eat. ;) I think these are pretty special, and something deliciously different from your everyday scone. I hope you do too!

I enjoyed my first two with a cup of hot Chamomile Tea.

My second two I ate plain . . . with a glass of milk.

This is the plate full that I took to the guys @ the fire station. (Hence the paper plate. - No need dirtying a fancy plate for them. Who knows when I'd get it back.) I still had probably 15 left at the house.

They really are scrumptious. I hope you try them.

Here's the recipe:
adapted from Maple-Oatmeal Scones

Maple Oat Scones with a Maple Glaze

3 cups flour
1/2 cup rolled, old-fashioned oats
1 cup Coaches Oats, cracked 'n' toasted 5 minute steel cut oats 
2 Tbsp baking powder 
3 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt (if using unsalted butter, increase salt to 2 tsp)
1/2 tsp cinnamon 
1 pound cold (salted) butter, diced small
1/2 cup cold buttermilk (or milk with 1 Tbsp white vinegar)
2/3 cup pure, dark maple syrup
4 large eggs, lightly beaten

 Maple Glaze:

1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (you can add a splash more if it's too thick)

Preheat the oven to 400F. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Blend the cold butter in at the lowest speed and mix until the butter is in pea-size pieces. Combine the buttermilk, maple syrup and eggs and add quickly to the flour-and-butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough will be sticky.

Dump the dough out onto a well-floured surface and be sure it is combined. Press the dough flat until it's 1 inch thick, and in a rough rectangle. You should see lumps of butter in the dough. Cut into about 3 inch squares. Cut the squares in half on a diagonal so you end up with triangles.  Dust off any excess flour and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are crisp and the insides are done.
To make the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar, and maple syrup. When the scones are done, cool for at least 5 minutes and drizzle each scone with the glaze. While the glaze is still wet, sprinkle some uncooked oats on the top. The warmer the scones are when you glaze them, the thinner the glaze will be. (Depending on how you cut them, it makes about 30 scones)