Apricot Almond Scones

My mom is headed to England in a week, despite the fact that she's 92 years old and has been diagnosed with heart failure. She is an inspiration to me. She's not afraid of anything. I'm pretty much the opposite.

I made these scones for her twice before getting the recipe right. The first time I stuck with the ingredients as they were listed in a Kerrygold Butter recipe I snipped out of a Cooking Light magazine. Probably at least twenty years ago. Possibly thirty.

Back then, low fat was the way to go. All the cookbooks and magazines were retooling recipes to contain less butter. Many various substitutions were offered: applesauce, black beans, ricotta cheese, etc. If you were baking back in the 80's, you probably remember this phase. My scone recipe featured a small amount of butter along with nonfat yogurt. I gave it a whirl, but the texture and flavor were not great. I think my baking powder had expired so that did not help. 

The next batch I made contained fresh baking powder. Instead of yogurt, I used sour cream. This substitution did the trick! You cannot underestimate how important fat is when it comes to flavor. When you remove the fat, you definitely reduce the flavor in your food. (If you're trying to lose weight, scones probably will not help with this!)

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup sliced almonds

1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

pinch of nutmeg

1/4 cup Kerrygold butter (or any grass-fed butter) cut into small pieces

1/2 cup finely chopped dried apricots 

1 egg, beaten

6 oz. sour cream

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Turbinado sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 400F. Combine oats and almonds on a baking sheet. Bake at 400F for about 5 minutes or until lightly toasted. (This step will give your scones added flavor but in a pinch, can be skipped.)

Place dry ingredients (including oats and almonds) in food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Transfer to a large bowl. Add apricots.

Combine liquid ingredients in small bowl. Add to oat mixture. Stir until just combined.

Turn dough out onto floured surface. Pat lightly or roll into a 1/2 inch thick circle. Cut circle into 8 triangles. Sprinkle tops of scones with turbinado sugar, if desired.

Baked at 400F on greased cookie sheet for about 18 minutes or until edges turn golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 8 scones.