Cinnamon Toffee Scones

Tender cream & butter scones with cinnamon and toffee bits.

I owe a lot to the British - my freckles, my ancestors, my fascination with British history, my penchant for Celtic music, a castle in Scotland by the same name as mine...but... if I'm being honest, I never felt indebted to them for the British scone.

A scone in my western U.S. culture was a piece of fried bread dough topped with butter and honey or jam and when executed correctly, a hollow in the middle where the dough bubbles up in the oil. Oh, and most importantly, irresistibly delicious, akin to a doughnut! My family was allowed to eat them as our dinner accompanied with a bowl of soup - doughnuts for dinner! No one ever complained.

When I first tasted what I thought I must have heard wrong, the British scone, it was dry, sandy feeling in my mouth and sent me looking for something to wash it down with. That impression lasted for many years and it was one pastry I could easily resist (unless served with sweetened clotted cream in which case, I ate the cream.) Then I discovered Tyler Florence's recipe for Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze and once again I owned up proudly to my British heritage.

Now, this is a scone of a different color, flavor and texture and wouldn't you know it, an American chef developed the recipe but it is one I can relish. Running with the basic recipe, I tried several variations, this one being a favorite.

cinnamon toffee scones

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

5 tablespoons butter, cold, cut in chunks

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup toffee bits or crushed Heath bars

GLAZE:

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons melted butter

1/4 cup milk or cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

-Mix together in medium bowl, flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and sugar. Using a fork or pastry blender, cut the butter into the mixture until well incorporated and no chunks of butter are visible. The mixture should look like sand. Stir in 1/2 cup of the toffee bits to the mixture.

-Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream. Fold everything together gently just to incorporate or until you can press it into one large lump.

-Press and gently roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 12 by 3-inch rectangle. The dough will be about 1 1/2 inches thick.

-Cut the rectangle in half widthwise, then cut the pieces in half again, giving you 4 (3-inch) squares. Cut the squares in half on a diagonal to create triangle shaped scones. (To make smaller scones cut each triangle in half again to create two smaller triangles.) Place the scones on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and brush the tops with a little heavy cream or milk.

-Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until slightly browned on the edges.

-Meanwhile, prepare the glaze, by beating the glaze ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Stir in a small pinch of salt and vanilla extract. Set aside.

-Allow the scones to cool about 5 minutes before drizzling the glaze in a zigzag across the top of the scones, using a squirt bottle or a spouted cup. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup toffee bits on top of the scones.

-Makes 8 large scones or 16 small scones.

Pour cream into flour/butter mixture.

Roll dough into rectangle then cut into triangles.

Drizzle baked scones with glaze.

Layers of the most tender, buttery pastry!

PERSNICKETY NOTES:

*Be careful not to overwork the dough, just mix it lightly once the cream is added then push the bits of dough together until it adheres in a roughly shaped ball or lump. I prefer to use my very clean hands for this task. (The trick with pastry is that you can mix it and handle it as much as you want before you add the liquid but then, handle it as little as possible to bring it all together. Overworked pastry at this point will result in a heavy, non-flaky texture.)

*Try to be as precise as possible when patting, rolling out your dough so that you create neat triangles for your scones. I use a ruler and try to square of the ends as much as possible.