Gingerbread (mini) Scones

Mmmm, gingerbread. I love it. Love gingerbread crusts, gingerbread men, gingersnaps, and regular ol’ gingerbread. So when I saw this recipe from Joy of Baking for gingerbread scones, I had to try it. I figured these would hold up better in tins than gingerbread and I wouldn’t have to roll them out/cut them like I would with cookies. Plus, I got another chance to use my mini scone pan. I made this dough about 2 weeks ago and froze it, so all I had to do was stick it in the fridge the day before and then knead and bake.

I can’t begin to tell you how great my kitchen smelled when these were baking. I was ready to just plop one out of the pan and eat it half way through the baking process. And luckily, the taste lived up to the smell. I will definitely be making another batch next week!

Gingerbread Scones
Joy of Baking

Scone Dough
1.75 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp. ground ginger
1.5 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Zest of 1 lemon (optional)
1/3 cup dried cranberries or cherries (optional)
1/2 cup buttermilk
2.5 Tbsp. unsulphered molasses
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Egg Wash
1 egg
1 Tbsp. milk or cream
extra oats for sprinkling

Maple Glaze
1/2 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1.5 Tbsp. real maple syrup
1-2 tsp cream or milk (I probably used close to 3)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and position your rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or if you are using a mini scone pan, grease lightly with butter or oil spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the dough with a pastry cutter (or use your food processor on pulse) until the mixture looks like course crumbs. Stir in the lemon zest and cranberries, if using.

In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk, molasses, and vanilla extract. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture, just until a dough comes together. Don’t overmix.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times. Pat the dough into a circle, which you cut into 6 triangles, or roll into a square the size of your mini scone pan and then cut into 16 pieces, placing each piece individually in the pan.

Beat together the egg and cream to make the egg wash, and then brush the mixture over the scones. Sprinkle the scones with some rolled oats.

Place the baking sheet in another baking sheet (didn’t even bother with this) and bake for about 20 minutes or until done.

Once they are cooled, make the glaze by combining the confectioners sugar, maple syrup and milk/cream. Add cream until you get an icing consistency which can be drizzled over the scones.

I didn’t make any changes to the recipe other than make mini scones instead of full sized ones. I used dried cranberries since I had them on hand but I love dried cherries even more, so I might do that next time. I did leave out the optional lemon zest because I didn’t have a lemon on the day I made the dough. I recommend the maple glaze. It’s really tasty and gives the scones just a little added sweetness.