Molly Cookie

Pioneer Woman Maple Pecan Scones

Nov 9, 2009 Breakfast, Coffee, Desserts

These are Maple Pecan Scones, and they are delightful.

About two weeks ago something exciting happened. I got to meet The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, at her cookbook signing in Tulsa. Tulsa was Ree’s first stop on her book tour, so I felt like I was really in on the action as I saw her take the stage and answer questions from the crowd. She was so nice and extremely cool. It was great meeting her. Here is the proof:

The cookbook that she was releasing is her first cookbook, called The Pioneer Woman Cooks, and it has some truly great recipes. Now I was raised in Oklahoma, but my parent are from Chicago, so we never really ate like Oklahomans when I was growing up. I don’t think my mom ever once made fried chicken, I hadn’t tried meat loaf until last year, and I have never in my life tried chicken-fried steak, but the recipes that Ree puts in her book look simple and really, really good. I married a guy who likes all of the things that Ree makes, and I have a feeling I’ll be learning how to cook some of these things over my lifetime. Thanks to Ree, I have some great recipes.

If you haven’t seen The Pioneer Woman blog, I encourage you to visit it. Ree is a great writer and she has some fabulous posts on her family, recipes, homeschooling, and life on the ranch. When she posts recipes she gives a very detailed account of every single step using pictures so that readers can see step-by-step what to do. So, in honor of The Pioneer Woman blog and the new book, I am going to make one of her recipes and post about it in true Pioneer Woman style.

The first recipe I decided to try was the recipe for Maple Pecan Scones. I chose this recipe because A- I like scones and B- I had nearly all the ingredients. Here is what you will need to make these:

Maple Pecan Scones
Makes 8 large and delicious scones

For the Scones:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled
1/4 cup pecans, plus more for sprinkling if desired
1 large egg
3/4 cup heavy cream

For the Maple Icing:
1 pound powdered sugar
1/4 cup whole milk (I didn’t have whole milk so I used 1/8 cup heavy cream and 1/8 cup skim milk. It worked fine)
4 tbs butter, melted
splash of strongly brewed coffee
Dash of salt
2 tsp maple flavoring or maple extract (I didn’t have this but I used maple syrup and it worked great)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

First, mix together your flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Then drop in your chilled butter, cut into small cubes.

Using a pastry blender, mix the butter with the dry ingredients by cutting the butter into tiny pieces.

It should end up looking something like this when you are done:

Next you will chop the pecans and stir those into the flour/butter mixture. I actually was out of pecans and I had an abundance of walnuts so I used those. I bet pecans are better, but I loved the walnuts too.

Now mix the egg and cream together…

and add them to the mixture. Stir until just combined.

Next pour the mixture onto a cutting board. The dough will be very crumbly, but Ree says, “do not let your heart be troubled.” Mix the dough together into a large ball with your hands, but don’t knead or press on the dough too much.

Now roll the dough out into about a 10 inch diameter circle. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Ree suggests cutting the dough with an x and then with a t across it.

Now transfer the wedges to a cookie sheet lined with silpat or sprayed with cooking spray. Bake the scones for 22-26 minutes or until they are barely starting to brown. Do not allow the edges to become dark. They are done when they start to brown at all! Allow the scones to cool completely before you ice them.

Meanwhile, you can make your icing.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir the icing ingredients together until smooth.

Pour them generously over the scones.

Now you can make a cup of hot tea and enjoy! Nothing, absolutely nothing, beats scones with hot tea. I made a pot of Darjeeling and picked my favorite mug out of my collection when I tried one last night, and it made the experience even better.

Thanks Ree!

Tags: maple, maple dessert, maple scones, pecan dessert, pecan scones, pioneer woman, Pioneer Woman Book Signing, pioneer woman recipe, ree drummond, scone recipe, scones