I had extra cream from another recipe, so I decided to try a cream scone recipe. Cream scones use heavy cream in place of the egg and butter, which makes them light and airy–and there’s no need to deal with cutting flour into cold butter. Very easy.

I photographed a batch I made with pecans, but you can use pecans, almonds, walnuts, or a mix of these nuts. I tend to use whatever nuts I have left over from other recipes–Right now I’m enjoying a batch of almond scones.

I’m in the habit of mixing all scones in the food processor because it’s just easier. However, if you don’t have a food processor or yours isn’t large enough for dough, you can mix these scones by hand easily because there’s no cold butter to cut into the flour. You will need to coarsely chop or grind the nuts first, but a blender or small food processor (or a really good knife–maybe an ulu?) will work for that.

Japan notes: almonds and walnuts are much easier–and cheaper– to find than pecans. Look in the baking section or produce section of your grocery store. Heavy cream is easy to find in the dairy section.

Honey Cream Scones with Nuts

Yields 8 scones

Adapted from “Cream Scones” in The Joy of Cooking (2006 ed.), p. 640

Ingredients

1/2 cup (~50 g) pecans, walnuts, or almonds (or a mix)*
1 cup (120 g) whole-wheat pastry flour (okashiyô zenryûhun, お菓子用全粒粉）
3/4 cup (94 g) all-purpose flour (komugiko, 小麦粉)
2.25 tsp baking powder (bêkingu paudâ, ベーキングパウダー)
1/2 tsp salt (shio, 塩)

1 TBSP honey (hachimitsu, 蜂蜜, ハチミツ)
1.25 cups (300 mL) heavy cream (hebî kurîmu, ヘビー・クリーム)
zest of one lemon (remon, レモン)

Equipment

A food processor or blender (fûdo purosessa, フードプロセッサ) or blender (mikisâ, ミキサー)
A large measuring cup (~2 cups/472 mL)

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 450° F/230° C.
2. Grease a cookie sheet and set aside.
3A. Food processor method: Add all dry ingredients to food processor with the blade attachment. Mix all the wet ingredients in a liquid measuring cup with a spout (to pour). Start the processor and pour liquid ingredients into the processor’s spout and process until the ingredients form a ball of dough.
3B. If you’re using a small food processor or a blender, grind the nuts into a a coarse flour. Add the nut flour, whole-wheat pastry flour, all-purpose flour, and baking powder to a medium bowl and stir to combine. Add the honey, cream, and lemon zest and stir in a few quick strokes to incorporate. Form the dough into a ball with your hands.
4. Place the ball of dough onto a floured surface and flatten into a 8-in/ 20-cm disk. Cut into 8 wedges with a large knife and place them on the cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. 6. Serve with jam, honey, or whipped or clotted cream.

Notes

* The calories, fat, and fiber for all are roughly the same. Walnuts: kurumi, クルミ; pecans: pikanzu, ピカンズ; almonds: âmondo, アーモンド.

Nutrition Information for 1 scone: