Pecan Scones for SCONE COLD @MaddieDayAuthor #giveaway

MADDIE DAY here, delighted to bring you another of the recipes from Scone Cold Dead. And, since it releases in a couple of weeks, on April 1 (no fooling!), it makes perfect sense to present these sweet, delicate, easy scones today.

This book is the 13th Country Store Mystery. Book #1, Flipped for Murder, released in October, 2017, so I guess I've been busy! I have so loved created my central core of characters: Robbie, Aunt Adele, Lou, Danna, and Corrine. Buck and Wanda and Don. And Abe, the very good man Robbie finally found and with whom she's having a baby in the new book. Southern Indiana is a special place to my heart, which made it even more sweet to set a series there.

Now, for this yummy recipe.

Pecan scones

I adapted this recipe from one I saw in the Boston Globe by Sally Pasley Vargas. It was a popular breakfast special in Robbie’s restaurant. No wonder - you won't even believe how good your kitchen smells as these scones are baking!

 

Ingredients

¼ cup granulated sugar

1½ tablespoons ground cinnamon

3 cups flour

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

1 egg

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons melted butter

½ cup pecans, finely chopped

Extra flour (for rolling)

Extra heavy cream (for brushing)

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar or raw cane sugar (for sprinkling) - not shown in photo

 

Directions

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to blend them. Add the butter cubes and toss to separate and coat them. With your fingers, pinch the butter cubes to flatten them.

In a small bowl, beat the egg, cream, and vanilla with a fork until blended. Pour it over the dough. Use a rubber spatula to mix them until it forms a shaggy dough. If there are dry crumbs in the bowl, add more cream, 1 teaspoon at a time.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Press it together to form a cohesive dough. Roll it into a 10-inch square.

Brush the square with melted butter. Sprinkle it with the pecans and about 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon-sugar. With the rolling pin, lightly roll over the dough to press the pecans into it.

Fold the dough in half to form a rectangle. Position it so the short side of the rectangle is facing you. Flatten slightly with the rolling pin. Brush with more melted butter and sprinkle generously with more cinnamon-sugar. 

Fold the edge closest to you up to meet the top edge. You now have a square again. Roll the dough into an 8-inch square that is about 1-inch thick. Set it on the parchment-lined sheet. Freeze for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Using a bench scraper or a large chef's knife, make 2 evenly spaced cuts in both directions (4 cuts total) to form 9 squares.

Place the scones 1/2 inch apart on the baking sheet. Brush with cream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. 

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer to a wire rack. 



Serve warm or at room temperature with coffee or tea.

Readers: What's your favorite scone recipe or the scone you wish you could eat? I'll send a commenter one of my new author jar openers!

🥮🥖🥠

Deadly Crush is out and available wherever books are sold.

Next out will be Scone Cold Dead on - no fooling - April 1! This is the thirteenth Country Store Mystery.

My most recent releases are Murder at the Rusty Anchor,

 A Case for the Ladies,

And Deep Fried Death, #12 in the Country Store Mysteries.

Check out all my writing.

We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.