Apple and Cheddar Scones

Deb at Smitten Kitchen calls these scones "October on a parchment-lined baking sheet" and I think she's nailed it. These are wonderful and dead-easy.

Perfect for a late afternoon snack. Or as an accompaniment to a fall soup and salad meal (e.g. the butternut squash and apple soup from Fine Cooking magazine and the salad with wild mushrooms in the Barefoot in Paris cookbook).

10/15 -- Served with a "clean out the produce drawer" pasta and bean and veggie soup. Also a salad of shaved fennel and mushrooms on a bed of mesclun with a lemon vinaigrette.

I was looking for something special to whip up for breakfast. This looked a little intensive, but encouraged by AHJ12475’s review I plunged in. Without a stand mixer (Yes, I think this is finally on my wish list), it took me 1 hour of prep time and she had good directions on how to do it by hand. But I must admit, as I peeled, cut and dried the apples, grated the cheddar (I used orange) and shaped these coffee-shop worthy giant scones (the rolling pin abandoned as I lovingly patted these into the right shape). I was shocked that this recipe only made 6 scones! We enjoyed these by themselves so we could savor their buttery tenderness, concentrated apple flavor and bits of sharp cheddar. Although white cheddar was called for, the orange cheddar color enhanced the golden color of the scones. The sugar topping did not clash with the cheese but added some welcome extra sweetness.

This recipe produces exceptionally light and crispy scones. The cheddar flavor is somewhat assertive (I used sharp), but nicely balanced by the apple. I used a very coarse turbinado sugar on top (on the egg wash). Start to finish took me about 75 minutes.

There are three sources of milk fat in this recipe - cheese, butter, and cream. This seemed excessive to me, and so I substituted nonfat milk for the cream, and they taste great.

I had cut in the butter, then tried to use my wimpy hand mixer for the rest of the ingredients. But the mixer was supposed to also chop up the semi-dried apples. A sticky mess ensued when I dug them out of the semi-mixed batter and chopped them up. Worry about over-mixing led me to empty the bowl too soon - lots of flour and barely mixed in butter. I very gently kneaded it (2 times). No problems, it worked out fine.

Final note --- I formed a freeform rectangle, and cut it into about 10 scones, and underbaked by 4 or 5 minutes.

Echoing everyone else, these are excellent scones. I used a medium/strong cheddar (yellow/orange as I didn't have white) and the cheese flavor was fairly muted, but still delicious.

I was careful not to overmix, as the recipe says, and still had chunks of butter in the batter which melted out during cooking. Next time, I'll cut the butter in smaller pieces and see if that helps. Definitely addictive!

I also agree with the baking time suggestions - I set my timer 2 minutes less than the recipe suggests and they were almost overcooked - so next time I'll probably try 4-5 minutes under.