Cream cheese walnut scones

 Comfort food for a lazy morning.  But to keep things sensible, I halved the original recipe.

For four scones, here's what I used:

    1½ 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
    3/4 cup (minus 1 heaping tablespoon) white whole wheat flour
    1 heaping tablespoon coffee flour
    3/4 teaspoon baking powder
    1/4 teaspoon baking soda
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    2 tablespoons granulated sugar
    4 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
    2½ ounces cream cheese, chilled and cut into small pieces
    1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk, chilled
    1/2 large egg, cold
    1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Cream Cheese Frosting
    1½ ounces cream cheese, softened
    1/2 cup powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar)
    1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    1/2 to 1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Lightly grease a baking sheet.  (Tip:  Chill the bowl and any utensils you will be using in the refrigerator before making the scones.)  In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and sugar; whisk together to mix.  With a pastry blender or two knives, cut chilled butter and chilled cream cheese into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  In a small bowl, stir the chilled buttermilk and cold egg together.  Add the liquid mixture and walnuts to the flour mixture; stir just until mixed.  The dough will be stiff and slightly sticky.  If necessary, turn the mixture onto a lightly floured board and knead gently until the flour is combined.  Do not over-knead as this will make a tougher scone.  On a lightly floured surface, shape and pat the dough into a circle or rectangle about 3/4 inch thick.  Cut into wedges, squares or circles with a floured knife and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.  (Tip:  dip the edges of the cutter in flour to prevent the dough from sticking.  Do not pat the edges of the scone down; instead leave the cuts as sharp as possible to allow the scones to rise in layers.)  Bake 12 to 20 minutes or until the scones are lightly browned (depending on the size of your scones).  A good check is to use an instant digital thermometer to test your scones.  The temperature of the scones should be at 200 degrees F. when done.  Remove scones from baking sheets and cool on wire racks.

I used half whole wheat flour and some coffee flour, which should have sucked up more moisture, and yet the dough was pretty wet.  They weren’t going to be “flaky”.  Then I baked them 10 minutes too long, but surprisingly they were fine.  I guess because they were too wet.

I was undecided on the cinnamon, whether to add it or not.  There's something to be said for not flavoring everything and just letting the basic ingredients shine.  They were fine with it, and I'm sure they'd be fine without, perhaps with a more prominent walnut flavor.

Conclusion:  These were delicious, but they were more like muffins. They were almost like little iced cakes, but not that sweet.

Recipe:   Frosted Cream Cheese Walnut Scones via What's Cooking America