If you love the taste of eggnog, you'll love the taste of these Eggnog scones…a treat for your holiday breakfast or afternoon snack!
I’m not a recipe creator, I’m a recipe adaptor
I take recipes that I find and tweak them so they satisfy my philosophy regarding ingredients and cooking techniques. My ingredient swaps tend to be based on my own palate preferences (or what I know my family will like/accept), dietary needs, ingredient availability, and my general shunning of processed foods whenever possible (I spoke early on about my ingredient preferences in ...and now to explain the & Scones). I usually swap the preparation order when I think I can do it more efficiently or with less pans (less dirty dishes = happier me). And because most of the recipes I find are from sources that test their recipes very well before publishing, I only occasionally have to add what I consider to be a missing ingredient or step. I have no illusions about my abilities, but I do know my way around the oven. So it’s with this in mind that I tell you of my great Eggnog Scones Escapade
** insert appropriate trumpet blast here **
Well, maybe "escapade" is too dramatic, but I like the word, so there it is. Anyway, I was delaying getting up last Saturday morning, not sleepy but not ready to face the day. I was looking over the posts in one of my Outlander Facebook groups, and the discussion was about butter (yes, we talk about other things besides Outlander, and if you don’t know what Outlander is, contact me!). Someone wanted to know what’s the big deal about Kerrygold butter (a wonderful rich & creamy butter from Ireland, that’s what!). Someone else then mentioned that they like to use Kerrygold on scones, and I thought, “Mmmmm…scones...warm from the oven...spread with butter.” At that point I knew I had to get up and make scones for breakfast.
Eggnog...drink or ingredient
I had been toying with the idea of using eggnog in baking for a couple of days after running across Silk Original Nog at the market (it’s made with almond milk instead of cream, which suits my waistline and digestive tract at the same time). I love eggnog…to me it’s like liquid egg custard, and this is the only time of the year that I can get it. Adding a shot of bourbon is an added bonus...is a lovely drink, hot or cold, for a chilly night. So when I decided to bake scones, “eggnog scones” immediately jumped into my brain.
Recipe? Ha!
Now, I know how to make scones without a recipe…you know I know how to make scones that way. Scones are enriched biscuits with a 3-1-2 ratio by weight of flour-fat-liquid (it’s enriched in that egg is included in the measurement of the liquid). You add a leavener (typically baking powder) and few flavoring ingredients (vanilla, salt, spices), and that’s all there is to it. However, I still like to look at recipes to see…uhm…how others approach a particular item (yeah…that’s the reason…it’s not that I’m second-guessing myself at all…). Away to Pinterest I went in search of eggnog scone recipes. The first recipe I saw was from The First Year, so I hopped over to that site to check it out. What immediately caught my eye is that this recipe called for Silk Original Nog instead of regular eggnog (the blogger, Beth, was sponsored by Silk. I, however, am not). “Hey,” I thought, “I have that in my fridge. Making eggnog scones was meant to be!”
Here’s where I used my noggin…
This recipe had included cinnamon, which in my view has no place in eggnog (nutmeg only, please), so I knew I was going to leave that out. Also, I noticed that there wasn’t any leavener listed, and I knew that to be a mistake (unless you’re looking to make eggnog hockey pucks). Finally, this recipe called for way more sugar than I thought necessary…eggnog itself is sweetened, so having another 1/3 cup sugar seemed like overkill to me.
One other point: the recipe instructions called for cutting the scones on the baking sheet, baking them for 15 min, then re-cutting and pulling them apart before baking the final 5 minutes. I tried this technique, but wasn’t really that impressed with it…the scones took longer to bake because the sides weren’t exposed. That being said, I'll go back to my way of cutting the scones and spacing them out on the baking sheet before putting them in the oven.
By the way, homemade eggnog is easy and quick to make if you can't get to the market...you can use the blender method since you'll be baking the egg yolks. Just combine all the eggnog ingredients in a blender, pulse a few times, and you're ready to roll!
These scones were perfect on that chilly Saturday morning, served with Kerrygold butter (you thought I forgot, didn’t you?!). I even wrapped a couple of them up as gifts, they were that good. The moral of this story? Bake when the inspiration hits, and don’t second-guess yourself…just use your noggin!
Wishing everyone a sweet, delicious holiday season...may your glass have a dram in it and good aromas come from your oven!
Slainté! L’chaim! Cheers!
Tammy
Eggnog Scones
Ingredients
Scone
- 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, (10 oz, 280 g)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1-2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into pieces (4 oz, 113g)
- 1/3 cup Silk Original Nog, + 1 Tbsp if needed (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup sour cream, (2 oz, 56g)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Topping
- 1 Tbsp Silk Original Nog
- 1 Tbsp turbinado sugar, coarse, like Sugar in the Raw
- Nutmeg, for sprinkling
Glaze (optional, but who are we kidding?)
- 1 cup powdered sugar, (4 oz, 227g)
- 2 Tbsp Silk Original Nog, (1 oz, 28g)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Nutmeg, for dusting
Procedure
- For the scones: Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, nutmeg, and sugar (I used 1 Tbsp, but you can increase it if you’d like).
- Cut the butter into small pieces, add it to the dry ingredients and cut in the butter with your hands or a pastry blender until only pea sized pieces of butter remain.
- In a separate bowl combine the Silk Nog, egg, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Whisk together with a fork.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix with your hands or a spatula until a dough forms. Add another Tbsp of Silk Nog if the mixture appears too dry (mine did).
- Shape the dough into a circle about 1” high on a floured surface, then cut into 8 pieces. Brush the tops of the scones with more Silk Nog, then sprinkle with turbinado sugar and additional nutmeg.
- Place the scones on a half sheet baking pan lined with a Silpat or parchment paper and bake for 18-23 minutes until they are golden. If you're going to glaze the scones, allow them to fully cool.
- For the glaze: In a small bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, Silk Nog, and vanilla extract until smooth. Drizzle generously over the scones. Dust with nutmeg. Store the scones in an air tight container.
Recipe Notes
Let's Talk