Sometimes you just get a craving. It’s apple season and still early enough that we are enjoying them several times a day. Apple pie for breakfast is one of my favorite things, and I thought that translating the idea of pie into a scone would make it a good after-school snack for a play date. The scones would be a little bit healthier and a lot less messy, but hopefully just as delicious as the actual pie. According to the eight-year-old girls that devoured them, I hit my goal.
Apple Pie Scones
Makes 12 scones
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar (whatever version you prefer)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground mace (or nutmeg)
4 ounces cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup apple cider
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup finely diced apple (about 1 large, we used Honeycrisp)
2 tablespoons caramel sauce
1 tablespoon coarse sugar
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Put the whole wheat flour, white flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a food processor and grind for 15-20 seconds until it forms a uniform powder. Add the butter and pulse 5-6 times to blend. Combine the apple cider and heavy cream. Add them to the food processor and pulse to blend. It will form a crumbly mass. Do not over-process; it should look like soft, streusel dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop. Break the dough apart with your fingers and spread the crumbs out across the work surface. Sprinkle with flour as needed and give the top of the dough a fine dusting of flour when you’re done.
Sprinkle the apples over the dough. Use a bench scraper to fold the apples into the dough, gently pressing them together. It will take 4-6 folds to bring everything together. Divide the dough in half and gently pat the two pieces into small rounds, approximately 6-7 inches in diameter. Generously flour the tops and bottoms to keep them from sticking. Use the bench scraper to divide each round into 6 pieces, cutting each in half and then each half into thirds. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and then arrange the scones onto the pan in a 3-by-4 grid. Brush the tops of the scones gently with caramel sauce. It’s easiest to put a generous amount of caramel on the pastry brush and gently dab it onto the center of each scone, spreading it as much as you can—but don’t get crazy with it if the apples start moving around. The caramel will naturally spread as it sits on the dough. Sprinkle the top of each scone with some sugar.
Bake for 15 minutes and then rotate the pan and bake for 10 minutes more until the scones are set and golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Do not let them cool completely on the parchment paper or they will stick.
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