Mom and Alsatian Scones.  First off, I hope you had a beautiful Mother’s Day and spent it with loved ones.  I spent it with my rock (the strongest rock I’ve ever known, for that matter) – Mom.

She is strong, steadfast, stunning, and an utter spitfire.  At the same time though, she’s simple, not one to be fussy, and will usually command a room with her presence.  When we were young, a Sunday meant all seven of us cramming into our little kitchen to cook a breakfast of champions.  Every other day of the week, we lived quite modestly.  Sundays, we cooked like royalty.  It was easily the highlight of my week.

Nowadays, Mom doesn’t eat too many sweets. In making a treat for her special day, I focused on these perfect savory Alsatian Scones.  Nothing too fussy, just delicious.  Feel free to serve as appetizers, for breakfast, or in my case, a perfect addition for brunch.  Gruyere. Bacon. Caramelized onion. Need we say more?

You start this off by ‘cutting’ into the butter with the dry mixture; using a dough scraper is helpful, but if you don’t have one, just use your good old-fashioned hands to help fold over and incorporate the ingredients.

Shaping is next.  Scone dough is so versatile, that the shape is really up to you.  There’s the traditional scone triangles, but I went with the bite-sized round cutters.

Finish these gems with a brush of creamy buttermilk, and pop them into the oven!

Brunch was lovely, and these simple easy scones were a hit (especially with a buttery white wine).

Simple.  Easy.  Impressive. And by the end of the brunch, GONE!

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Alsatian Scones

By TheSweetNerd  Breakfast & Brunch

February 28, 2015

This recipe is modified from Bien Cuit, The Art of Bread

• Prep: 20 mins
• Cook: 15 mins

Ingredients

¾ cup + 2 Tablespoons white flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 ½ Tablespoons of granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼” pieces

2 Tablespoons cold crème fraiche

¼ cup + 1 teaspoon cold buttermilk

1 ½ Tablespoon Carmelized Onions

2 Tablespoons shredded Gruyere cheese

2 Tablespoons cooked bacon, cut into ¼” pieces

Directions

1Dust the work surface with flour

2Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, and set aside.

3Put the sugar in a large bowl, add the butter, and toss to coat. Using the rounded edge of a plastic bowl scraper, chop the butter into smaller pieces while continuing to coat the pieces in the sugar. Add the flour mixture. Still using a chopping motion, mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed, but still chunky.

4Pour the crème fraiche and buttermilk and, still using a chopping motion, mix until almost completely incorporated. Fold in the onions, Gruyere, and bacon. This may seem like a small amount of dough, but it is enough.

5Empty the scone batter onto a floured surface. Bring together then flatten with a plastic scraper. Cut the dough in half, and place ½ on top of the other. Flatten the dough and repeat two more times.

6The last time, press the dough into block about 1” thick.

7Using a bench scaper, cut the dough into circle rounds (I used 2.5” circle cutter)

8Transfer the scones to the lined pan and brush the tops with buttermilk.

9Bake, rotating the pan about 2/3rd of the way through the baking until golden brown, about 13 minutes.

10The scones are best if eaten within 1 hour of baking. Once they are cool, they can be stored for about 24 hours.

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