Beat the chill with a warm plate of these apple-cider scones.
With wintery days and nights upon us, it’s fun to turn to cozy and comforting food that’s filling for the tummy and for the soul. I often have an abundance of apples in my fridge, which is why it was fun to create these wholesome and slightly indulgent apple scones. Getting my 4-year-old daughter Edie involved in the prep was a blast, as she took charge of creating the homemade apple cider and cinnamon glaze. And she did her best Jackson Pollock impression drizzling the beautiful golden glaze on the still slightly warm scones!
Pro tip: If you don’t have apple cider on hand (which we didn’t), you can use the leftover apple juice you get from grating the apples. It works perfectly and is as natural as it gets. Enjoy these alongside your morning coffee, a hot cocoa on a cold eve, or a tall glass of milk. And beware — there will be crumbs!
Apple Scones with Apple Cider Cinnamon Glaze
Makes 8 scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
½ cup whole-milk Greek yogurt
1 cup peeled and grated apple (I used Fuji apples)
1 egg
Glaze
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons apple cider (or leftover juice from grating apples)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400˚ F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients — flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and cinnamon.
3. Grate butter into flour mixture using the largest grater opening of a box grater. Incorporate the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers. It should look like coarse meal.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt and egg until smooth and then add the grated apple.
5. Using a fork, stir yogurt mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. Make sure the dough comes together nicely.
6. Place onto a floured surface and form into a 7-inch circle about a ¾-inch thick. Use a knife to cut into 8 triangles and place on baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Cool for about 10 minutes.
8. In a medium bowl, mix all of the glaze ingredients together until smooth. Use a fork to drizzle the glaze over the scones, and enjoy them slightly warm. (The glaze keeps well for other things such as fruit, sweet rolls or just on its own.)
Judith Rich creates kid-inspired recipes and writes about her family’s dining-out adventures in the Portland-metro area in her blog, Eaty Pie, eatypie.com.
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