breakfast or tea time

I couldn't keep them off my mind when I first saw these banana scones over at 小小米桶的寫食廚房. A quick run through the ingredients and I was convinced that it was going to be my next to-bake!

I had wanted to make these banana walnut scones for our weekend breakfast, but I woke up a tad too late (^^")

Since we were camping at home the entire weekend as my kids were cramming for their mid year exams...I baked the scones for our tea time treat instead.

It was an extremely hot and humid afternoon, not exactly a good weather for making scones since the butter has to be cold...nevertheless, everything went well and surprisingly, I was able to keep cool even in a hot kitchen.

The original recipe from the cookbook calls for sprinkling the top with vanilla sugar but 小小米桶 replaced it with lemon glaze. I had opted to skip the glaze and since I didn't have vanilla sugar either, I took the liberty to sprinkle the top with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar instead.

My sweat (no tears) did pay off...and really well indeed :)

I was rewarded with a kitchen filled with the wonderful aroma of banana, vanilla and cinnamon while the scones were baking. I must be grinning from ear to ear when I took the tray of scones out from the oven. I love the golden browned scones, all nicely puffed up, quite close to what I had in mind...albeit not as gorgeous as those shared by 小小米桶的寫食廚房.

My younger son kept hovering around the scones while they were cooling on the wire rack ;) I had to serve the scones once they were not too hot to touch. The banana, walnut plus hint of cinnamon was a great combo. The scones were so full of flavours and texture...you get everything in one bite...lovely sweet banana morsels, crunchy roasted walnut bits, buttery and fluffy crumbs, and the scent of cinnamon was really a nice touch...pretty much the icing on the cake...or rather scones!

I kept the leftovers in an air tight container for my mid morning tea break the next day. I warm them in the oven before serving and they taste just as good, although, really, nothing beats freshly baked scones, served straight from the oven!



Banana Walnut Scones

Ingredients:
(makes 12)

200g cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
30g brown sugar (I used white caster sugar)
1/4 teaspoons salt
80g unsalted butter, Cold, cut into small cubes
80ml fresh milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
50g walnuts, coarsely chopped
135g banana (skin removed), diced into small cubes

extra 1 tablespoon milk for brushing

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar (optional)


Method:

1. Lightly toast the chopped walnuts in a frying pan over low heat. Set aside to cool completely. 
2. Sieve cake flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add in caster sugar, salt, whisk to combine.
3. Place cold, diced unsalted butter into mixing bowl. With a fork or a dough scraper, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. (It is important that the butter be cold so when it is cut into the flour mixture it becomes small, flour-coated crumbs. If the butter starts to melt away during this process, stop and place the mixture in the freezer for 10-15 mins to prevent the butter from melting further. Continue the process when the mixture is well chilled.)
4. Make a well in the centre and add in milk and vanilla extract. Give a few quick stir with a spatula. Add in the chopped walnuts and diced banana. Fold with a spatula just a few times to make the mixture comes together to form a shaggy mass.
5. Gather up the mixture and place it on a lightly floured surface. Divide the mixture roughly into two portions. Dust hands with some flour. For each portion, gather and pat the mixture to form a combined dough. The dough will be soft, sticky and appear shaggy and lumpy. Do Not over work the dough. (Over handling the dough will cause gluten to develop, and the resulting scones will turn hard.)
6. Place the two doughs (at least 2 inch apart) on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Pat down each dough to form a disk, with a thickness of at least 1 inch. Cut each dough into 6 portions (I used a dough scraper). Move each portions slightly apart leaving a small narrow gap in between each portion.
7. Brush top with milk. Mix together ground cinnamon and sugar, sprinkle the top of the scones with the cinnamon sugar mixture (this is optional). 
8. Bake in preheated oven at 180degC for 28mins or until lightly browned. Transfer to wire rack to cool, serve warm.

Note:
*Scones are best served freshly baked. Any leftovers can be kept in airtight container. Brush or spray some water over the scones and warm them in the oven before serving.
*To enjoy freshly baked scones for breakfast and to save some time, Steps 1 to 3 can be prepared the night before, cover the mixture and leave to chill in the fridge. The following morning, preheat the oven and continue from Step 4 onwards.

Recipe source: adapted from here