Chai-spiced cream scones with roasted pears? Yes.

Cream scones are simple to mix, and these are tender and a little flakey. Unless your pears are very dry, you’ll cook these longer than my other cream scones to account for the fresh roasted pears. Serve with apple butter, pear compote, or whipped cream.

Chai-Spiced Pear Scones

Inspired by Smitten Kitchen’s “Roasted Pear and Chocolate Chunk Scones.”

Yield: 8 scones
Time: ~75 minutes (includes ~60 min. inactive baking)

Ingredients

2 firm pears – Bosc is less juicy that the d’Anjou pears in the photos

1 cup (120 g) whole-wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup (94 g) all-purpose flour
2.25 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP ground masala chai spice*

1 TBSP honey
1.25 cups (300 mL) heavy cream

Equipment

A large bowl
Parchment paper
A cookie sheet

Procedure

1. Prepare the pears: Heat oven to 375°F (190°C). Peel and core pears; cut into 1/2-in (1-cm) chunks. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange pear chunks on parchment and roast until they feel dry to the touch and look a little browned underneath, about 20-30 minutes. Slide parchment paper with pear chunks onto a cooling rack (or onto a plate in the fridge or freezer to speed this up) and cool to lukewarm.

2. Turn oven to 450° F/230° C.
3. Grease a cookie sheet and set aside.
4. Add the whole-wheat pastry flour, all-purpose flour, spice mix, and baking powder to a medium bowl and stir to combine. Add the honey, cream, and pears and stir in a few quick strokes to incorporate. Form the dough into a ball with your hands.
5. 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.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

*I used a pre-made ground-spice mix that I bought in Kyoto, of all places, but you can make your own. Adjust to taste.

Ingredients in Japanese
whole-wheat pastry flour: okashiyô zenryûhun, お菓子用全粒粉
all-purpose flour: komugiko, 小麦粉
baking powder: bêkingu paudâ, ベーキングパウダー
salt: shio, 塩
honey: hachimitsu, 蜂蜜, ハチミツ
heavy cream: hebî kurîmu, ヘビー・クリーム
pear, yônashi, 洋梨

Parchment paper (kukkingo shîto, クッキングシート)
A cookie sheet (kukkî shîto, クッキーシート)