Orange Date Scones by Lucy Burdette

LUCY BURDETTE: Back in 2020 in the days of the pandemic, I made a recipe of banana date scones that was fashioned after an amazing scone that we tasted in Scotland. With this scone, I had been hoping to bring back memories of happier times.  Those months and years were so hard, and we were all trying our best to figure out how to survive! For me, food was a big part of it.

Today’s recipe is another date scone, but it uses yellow Bahri Dates from California, along with orange extract and peel from Penzey’s that I’ve been meaning to try. If you don’t like the idea of so much orange, you could replace the extract with vanilla or even almond. You could also add nuts if you like. You could also add a glaze of confectioner’s sugar and orange juice. I skipped that this time.

The basic scone recipe comes from Sally’s baking addiction, with tweaks from me. She is very definite about using frozen butter that has been grated, and then mixed into the dry ingredients. So that’s what I’ve always done and they turn out well.

Preheat the oven to 400

Ingredients for the scones

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried orange peel

1/2 cup unsalted butter, frozen

1/2 cup heavy cream or whole milk

One large egg

1 teaspoon orange extract

One cup yellow dates, cut into small pieces

Whisk the dry ingredients together.

Grate the frozen butter into the dry ingredients and mix into pea-sized crumbs.

Whisk together the egg, the cream or milk, and the extract. Pour this over the dry ingredients, followed by the dates. Mix until moist.

Scrape the dough onto a piece of parchment on the counter that has been lightly floured. Flour your hands as well. Mix lightly until it holds together and tap the dough into a circle. Slice the circle into wedges, the size you want to serve.

At this point, you can brush the scones with more cream and sprinkle them with sugar. Transfer the parchment to a plate and freeze them for at least 15 minutes. Move the scones to a baking sheet covered with a clean parchment sheet.

Bake the scones for 22 to 25 minutes until lightly browned.

USA Today bestselling author Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series including A POISONOUS PALATE and A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS. Join her mailing list right here.

Book 15 in the Key West series, THE MANGO MURDERS, is in bookstores now!

The trade paperback edition of A POISONOUS PALATE is out now! 

And the trade paperback edition of A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS is out now!