Pear, Candied Ginger, and Walnut Scones
I have the best possible way to kickstart your week!
One of these + a cup of coffee = an extra amazing Monday morning for you!
Portable breakfasts are the best. I like being able to carry around my breakfast in one hand, and coffee or tea in the other. I tell myself it’s so I can get stuff done in the mornings, but I think I’m just too antsy to sit at a table by myself and eat without a book or computer screen in my face. I even eat my cereal out of coffee mugs (and late night ice cream, too, so I can sit on the couch and watch TV while I indulge).
Okay, this makes me sound really lazy! I swear I’m not that bad. I did something not lazy and ran the Toughmudder on Saturday! I think this photo sums up the day fairly well:
That makes two years in a row, and my god, this year was worlds harder! It could be the fact that I woke up with the beginnings of a sinus thing that, 7 miles later, seemed to have developed into bronchitis. It could also be the fact that the first 7 miles were mostly rocky trails and steep hills (and I’m so not a runner even on flat terrain), and the last 3 to 4 miles were wall obstacle after wall obstacle… All I know is walking is hard, but I feel freakin’ accomplished!
I also know that taking a bite of one of these scones after mucking through 11 miles of mud was possibly the most satisfying thing on the planet.
But for real, I love these scones. I mean, I love most scones; I’m a bit of a scone freak. But these are possibly my favorite, ever. They are tender and buttery, and punctuated with juicy chunks of pear, crunchy pieces of walnut, and spicy candied ginger.
Wait, I need to share a secret, real quick. My scone secret is sour cream. Most people use cream or buttermilk, but I promise, sour cream gives them the best texture and flavor you will find anywhere š But shhhh don’t tell!
I used Starkrimson pears here, mostly because I couldn’t walk past their brilliantly beautiful red skins at the grocery store. But, when I got them home and tried them, they were possibly the sweetest, most deliciously juicy pears I’ve ever tried. Score! Judging the book (umm…pear…) by its cover totally worked this time!
Any perfectly ripe pears will work here, though. If they taste good, throw ’em in!
PrintPear, Candied Ginger, and Walnut Scones
Yield: 1 dozen scones
Ingredients:
- 4 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 pound (24tbsp) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and frozen
- 3/4 cup full-fat sour cream
- 1/4 cup water
-
2 pears, chopped (about 2 heaping cups)
-
1/3 (or 1/2 cup if you really love ginger!) cup diced candied ginger
-
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 2-3 tbsp cream
- turbinado sugar
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Add in the butter in a few batches, pulsing to combine. The mixtures should resemble a coarse meal, with small chunks of butter still visible.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together the sour cream and water.
- Transfer flour/butter mixture to a large bowl and add in the pears, ginger, and walnuts. Add in the sour cream/water mixture and mix, with your hands, until the dough just begins to stick together (if it’s still too dry, add in water 1 tablespoon at a time).
- Turn the dough out onto a light floured surface and form into two 6 or 7-inch rounds. Slice each round in half, and each half into thirds. Place 6 scones on each lined baking sheet.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of the scones with the cream. Sprinkle each with a bit of the turbinado sugar.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and firm to the touch.
recipe adapted from my Strawberry-Blackberry Sour Cream Scones
Um P.S.—I’m super scone crazy lately (I mean more than usual), so expect to see more of the delectable pastries!
Wow! Kudos to you for completing a tough mudder! I love that photo of you. LOL. Hope you start feeling better quickly, though! And these scones! Wowzers you have no idea how badly I’m craving a big ‘ol piece. Pears and candied ginger sound ah-MAZING together! Pinned. š
Thank you, Sarah! Man some of your chicken noodle soup would be incredible right now!
And yes, those scones are by far my fave I've tried. I think it's the juicy pear pieces…something about them is outrageously good!
Congrats on the tough mudder! I Hope you are feeling better. Those scones look fantastic and I love the addition of sour cream. I can’t wait to give these a try š
Thank you, Ashley! Gah I wish I could say I was feeling better, but the infection seems to have taken hold.
But one of these scones this morning made me feel slightly better š
Ah this just reminded me that I have some candied ginger in my pantry and needed a recipe to use it. These sound incredibly fragrant, bookmarked the recipe!
Ooh yes! They'd be perfect for using up your ginger š I hope you love them as much as I do! I'm sad mine are all gone! I may have to make another batch!
I can only imagine how good these scones must have tasted… what a delicious flavour combination! I bet these scones go perfect with a good marmalade for afternoon tea.. definitely a recipe I must try. Thanks Rachael!
Oh yum, I never even considered slathering them in marmalade, but I bet it would be fantastic! Looks like I'll have to make more to test that theory š
You are definitely on a roll with scones!! This looks YUMMY! š
Thank you, Kiran!!
The butter is melting and creating a smoky mess of my oven. Haven’t even tasted them yet, but so far, this recipe is a disaster. And I followed it to a t.
Hi Karla! Sounds like something went wrong! Did you line your baking sheets? Perhaps you brushed a tad to much cream on the tops?
The directions call for baking powder, but it is not in the ingredient list. I’m guessing that perhaps 1.5 tablespoons of baking powder would be about right.
Ahh so sorry and thanks for letting me know! It should be 2 tsp! I will edit!
Thanks for the edit. Yours in my go-to scone recipe. I don’t bother cutting the scones into eights. Instead, I simply score the tops of the two rounds before baking. I’ve made this recipe with both bosc and bartlet pears (either works well) along with lots of candied ginger.