Brown Sugar Oatmeal Scones

Have you ever had one of those weeks that no matter how much stuff you’ve got going on, more stuff just seems to keep piling on until you feel that you just can’t get everything done on time? That’s been my week. And I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything in a long time, but I meant to, honest.

Last week I was going to update the blog with a nice flourless chocolate cookie recipe I found over on Shared Sugar, but, it kind of flopped. I could not get those silly things to bake all the way through, no matter what I did! After what seemed like 30 minutes of baking, I eventually just turned off the oven and let them sit (they still weren’t cooked). It was like a lava cake, only in cookie form. However, that does sound like a good concept.

Anyways, I wont keep you waiting from these scones. Well, at least I think they are scones. You see, I’ve never had a scone before. I’ve seen many a scone though. I see them all the time in the plastic containers at the grocery stores and I see them on my occasional trip to Starbucks, but I have never eaten one before. I got to thinking what I would make after my cookie fail and scones popped into my mind. I’ve really been in the mood for brown sugar, so naturally I googled “brown Sugar Scones”. I’ve got this thing where, if I look something up on the internet and I click a recipe, I bookmark it and “shop” around some more for other recipes. The weird thing about that is that I almost always go back to that first recipe. This recipe was no exception.

Like I said before, I’m not sure if these are actually scones because there is no butter in the recipe (unless you count the melted butter brushed on top). But is that what makes a scone a scone? I don’t know.

Whatever they are, they are sweet little things. I don’t mean sweet like sugary sweet, I mean like delicate and delectable kind of sweet. These scones had only been in the oven for five minutes before I could smell the brown sugar, wafting through the air. I kept checking on them, turning the oven light on and off, just to make sure my little darlings were cooking all the way through. They even finished a little early. The outer shell was a nice, golden brown color with a little dusting of white sugar. When I broke one of them open, I could see a little steam rising from the center and it called to me. It told me to take a bite, and I did. The pillowy interior was so soft, warm, and inviting. I loved breaking it off in little pieces and eating it that way. The outer shell was the best part though, I think it had more brown sugary flavor than the center. Plus, the crust is the best part of anything, isn’t it?

Brown Sugar Oat Scones
slightly adapted from The Cilantropist

Ingredients
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ cup brown sugar
1/3 cup rolled oats (not instant)
2/3 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup milk
1 tbsp butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, and oats. Slowly add in the milk, stirring constantly. The dough will start to become very sticky, so if you need to, use your hands for the mixing.
3. Turn the dough onto a well floured surface, and I mean well floured, this dough will stick if you don’t flour your countertop. Knead the dough for about a minute, just to make sure it is well combined. Put a little bit of flour onto your hands and shape the dough into a circle or rectangle. Take a 2 inch round biscuit cutter (or you can cut your circle into triangles or rectangle into squares) and press into the dough. You may need to flour the cutter a little if the dough happens to be extra sticky. Shake the dough out of the cutter and place on the prepared baking tray. With the left over dough, just knead it a few more times and repeat, repeat, repeat!
4. Place the dough circles about an inch or inch and a half apart. I got 12 two inch scones from this recipe, so arrange then in a manner where you can fit them all onto one baking tray. Next, brush a little bit of the melted butter on the tops and sprinkle with either oats, brown sugar, or granulated sugar. If you want, you can even do a combo, or no garnishing at all, it’s your preference. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. If you want to double check, insert a toothpick in the side, and if it comes out clean, they’re done.
5. Transfer the tray onto an awaiting cooling rack and let the scones cool while still on the tray for a few minutes. Then, take the scones off of the tray and let them finish cooling on the cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. I highly recommend serving them warm. If you need to microwave it, microwave the scone at a low setting for 10 seconds. Spread with butter or jam, or just eat it plain, they are good either way.