Perfect for an Autumn morning or afternoon snack, these Glazed Maple Walnut Scones will bring the taste of Fall flavor to your table.
Longtime readers know of my Homemade Cream Scones recipe and its 3-1-2 biscuit ratio for flour-fat-liquid. It’s not difficult to substitute other liquids for heavy cream to flavor scones (eggnog, for example).
And I like to play with new flavor combinations, like Maple Walnut Scones.
But what if you’re playing with the liquid to flour ratio itself? What could go wrong?
Since I phrased that as a question, you already know the answer.
Jump to:
Start with a known quantity
I started with a recipe that already had a major flavor substitution, in this case Sally’s Baking Addiction's Banana Nut Scones.
All I had to do was replace the mashed bananas and yogurt with maple syrup, remove the spices, and reduce the amount of brown sugar.
I also decided to make them a little healthier by subbing in whole wheat flour for some of the all-purpose flour.
My first attempt at Maple Walnut Scones were dry and crumbly instead of flaky and cake-y, but they did have a faint maple flavor. I had also thought to toast the walnuts first, but that only made the resulting scone have a bitter, burnt taste.
Time to go back to the drawing board...er...kitchen.
Experiment until it's right
Trying again, I ditched the whole wheat flour. It absorbs liquid and contributes to the dry texture. I can be healthier elsewhere.
Next, I kept the walnuts raw, and increased the amounts of maple syrup and butter to add more maple flavor and richness.
How to make drop scones
Making a recipe for scones is pretty straightforward. You whisk your dry ingredients and cut in the butter. Next, mix in the wet ingredients and add to the dry ingredients.
Nothing too difficult.
Here's a tip for when you chop your walnuts. Since these scones will be dropped (more on that later), you can keep the walnuts on the coarser side. But not too coarse.
Think medium.
Here's another tip for you. It's important to keep your butter cold, and working with it frozen is even better.
I find it's best to grate the frozen butter with a box grater and lightly toss it with the flour as you go. The butter won't build up on your cutting board, and will be easier to cut in with the pastry cutter.
Plus, if you keep your butter in the freezer (as I do), there’s no need to defrost it first, and that means scones at a moment’s notice!
What are dropped scones?
Great question, and no, it doesn't involve picking anything up off the floor.
At least I hope not.
Drop scones mean that instead of rolling the dough into a big disk and cutting it into wedges, you scoop out mounds and drop them directly onto a half sheet baking pan.
I use a large cookie scoop that holds about ¼ cup of dough to shape my rounds. If that's not handy, you can use an ice cream scoop or just two spoons.
On the plus side, there’s no need to chill the shaped scones before baking.
These Maple Walnut scones had a rustic look to them because they were scooped instead of shaped into the traditional wedges. The dough is a bit wet and sticky, so I don’t think shaping would work well anyway.
Maple and walnuts are perfect for Autumn baking
These Glazed Maple Walnut Scones have a delicious maple flavor with a lovely moist texture that's nicely contrasted by the earthiness of the walnuts.
In other words, Fall baking flavors for the win!
They're really nice for a brisk Autumn morning or as a snack. I can just imagine a steaming cup of tea, a fire, a book, a dog at my feet… (hey, come back to us!)
I know Maple Walnut Scones will be a hit with your family. Enjoy a taste of Autumn baking!
Slainté! L’chaim! Cheers!
Tammy
Recipes for scones
Homemade scone recipes are easy to create once you remember the 3-1-2 recipe ratio. The variety comes in when you play with the flavorings. Here are a few ideas to try...
Recipe
Glazed Maple Walnut Scones
Equipment
- pastry brush
Ingredients
For the scones
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed, light or dark
- ⅓ cup maple syrup, Dark Amber, robust taste
- 1 large egg
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, frozen and grated
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped
- 3 Tbsp heavy cream, for brushing on top of scones
- 1 Tbsp coarse sugar, for sprinkling
For the maple glaze
- 1 Tbsp butter, unsalted
- 3 Tbsp maple syrup, Dark Amber, robust taste
- ½ cup powdered sugar, sifted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line two half sheet baking pans with a Silpat silicone mat or parchment paper. Set aside.
- Make the scones: In a medium bowl, whisk the cream, brown sugar, maple syrup, and egg together until no lumps remain. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
- Grate the butter using a box grater and toss it into the flour mixture a little at a time. Once all the butter is grated, use a pastry blender, two forks, or even your hands, to work the butter into the flour until coarse, pea-sized crumbs appear.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, add in the walnuts, and stir the mixture together until everything appears moistened. Try your best to not overwork the dough at any point. You should still see little pieces of butter in the dough.
- Using a large cookie scoop or an ice cream scoop to portion out ¼-cup mounds of the dough onto prepared baking sheet at least 3-inches apart. You might need to use a spoon to help get the dough out of the scoop. The dough will be sticky and a little wet.
- Brush scones with cream, then sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired.
- Bake scones for 18 to 23 minutes, rotating pans after 10 minutes, until lightly golden and cooked through. Remove the pans from the oven and let them cool as you make the glaze.
- Make the glaze: Melt the butter and maple syrup together In a small saucepan over low heat, whisking occasionally. Once the butter has melted, remove from heat and whisk in the sifted powdered sugar.
- Drizzle over the still warm scones and let the glaze set about 5 minutes (if you can wait that long!). Serve & enjoy!
