Cinnamon Date Scones

I was looking through the cupboard and trying to find a recipe to make where I didn’t have to go to the store. I had a cookbook of “Favorite Brand Name” recipes, which is basically a compilation of recipes from different food companies. I have another cookie cookbook like this and it’s actually a pretty good source for recipes. I find that the recipes are usually well tested and turn out great without much fuss.

I settled on these cinnamon date scones. I honestly didn’t think that I would have the ingredients, but these didn’t call for heavy cream. These just used milk or half and half, but I didn’t have that. Dates are something that’s typically around, as we buy those from Shields Date Gardens when we are in California. While dates do last a long time, after a while they get kind of hard and you should probably use them up. As this recipe only uses ½ cup of chopped dates, I didn’t really use that many but my intentions were good.

These scones follow fairly standard scone-making procedure: cut the butter in to the flour, and then add the wet ingredients. I found the mix a little dry with the eggs and the 1/3 cup milk, so I added a couple of extra tablespoons of milk to help it come together. I formed my dough into a circle and cut wedges, as I thought that would be easier than forming a rectangle and then cutting into triangles. I’ve always made scones this way and it’s hard to do something different. These are not very sweet, but you get lovely bursts of sweetness with the chopped dates, and the cinnamon sugar is a nice finishing touch. Not too bad for scrounging the kitchen in search of ingredients.

Cinnamon Date Scones

2 tablespoons sugar

2 cups flour

2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons cold butter, cut in pieces

½ cup chopped pitted dates

2 eggs

1/3 cup milk or half-and-half

2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Have a baking sheet ready.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the dates.

In a small bowl, combine the eggs and the milk. Whisk until thoroughly combined. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the egg mixture for topping the scones. Add the remaining egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until a soft dough forms. Add additional milk if the mixture is too dry.

Turn out dough onto a floured surface. Knead dough gently a few turns and then pat into a circle about 8 inches in diameter. Cut the circle into 8 wedges. Place the wedges 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush with the reserved egg mixture and then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Recipe from America’s Favorite Brand Name Old-Fashioned Favorites