Mother’s Day has come and gone, but Carolyn is such a cool Mom that she made these scones for us, her folks and friends for Sunday morning (don’t worry, Carolyn got a nice Mother’s Day dinner). She is indeed the perfect woman. And these scones are worthy of a special occasion. Big (huge, really), moist and with plenty of maple flavor, these are some serious scones. They do look like the moon, too. Cool.

The recipe comes from Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa), although Carolyn adapted a number of ingredients, including some oat flour, date sugar and maple essence for deeper flavor. But the standard Ina Garten formula of scads lots of butter and buttermilk stays the same. Ina never met a buttery scone or shortbread she didn’t like. But if you are baking from scratch, the recipe may as well work. And butter does make everything better. Add some real maple syrup and it is hard to go wrong.

And it truly is hard to go wrong here. This recipe is “scone 101”, plus some extra glaze. Mix dry ingredients, add in cold butter, mix the wet ingredients and add to the dry, roll, cut and bake. The glaze is super-easy as well, if you can stir, you will have glaze. So if your waistline can take it (or if you have hungry kids), you can make these scones whenever you like.

Even better, you can cut the scones from the raw dough and refrigerate them for a few days without any loss of quality. So if you want scones during the week, make the dough and then bake the scones as needed. But you may as well cook the full batch, your crew will certainly eat them, and your friends will be happy if you share.

Finally, love and thanks to Carolyn from the boys and I. We are truly blessed to have her, and we are eternally grateful.

Maple Moon Scones:

(Adapted from Ina Garten)

Notes Before You Start:

It is best to dice the butter first, and then put it back into the fridge until ready to use.

Also a good idea to measure and mix the wet ingredients first, and also store in the fridge until use. It keep everything colder, longer.

This is a sticky dough- use lots of flour on your surface and on your hands.

What You Get: Big, awesome scones with serious maple flavor.

What You Need: A stand mixer really helps here. No other special equipment required.

How Long? About an hour.

Ingredients:

Scones:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup oat flour (or sub more all-purpose flour)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup quick cooking oats, plus more for garnish
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons date sugar (or white sugar)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 pound cold unsalted butter, diced (keep in fridge until using)
• 1/2 cup cold buttermilk
• 1/2 cup real maple syrup
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon maple essence (optional)
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk, for egg wash

Glaze:

• 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup real maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Assemble:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Fit your stand mixer with a paddle attachment. In the mixing bowl combine the flours, oats, baking powder sugar and salt. Blend in the butter at your mixer’s slowest speed and mix until the butter is in pea-sized pieces.
2. Combine the buttermilk, maple syrup and eggs and then add quickly to the dry ingredients. Mix until just barely blended. You will have a sticky dough with lumps of butter (that is OK).
3. Flour a large working surface and then turn out the dough. Flour your hands and a rolling-pin and roll out the dough to between 3/4 and 1 inch thick. Cut into 3 inch rounds with a biscuit cutter and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
4. Brush the tops of the scones with egg wash and then place in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are crisp and the insides are done (test with a cake tester or toothpick, if you like). Let cool for 5 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, to make the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar, maple syrup and vanilla in a medium bowl. Mix until smooth. Drizzle the glaze on the scones. Garnish with uncooked oats, if you like. Serve.

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