Every year around Thanksgiving, my mom makes loaf after loaf of her Date-Nut bread. Its a wonderfully unique bread that seems to perfectly span Thanksgiving and Christmas flavors - its full of autumn's cinnamon and chewy dates, paired with Christmasey ginger and walnuts. She wraps these loaves in simple white paper and delivers them to everyone - family, friends, neighbors, coworkers...everyone. Just her way of saying, thanks. No matter where I was living, she always made sure I got one too.
I finally asked her for the recipe because I wanted to bake something with Townes and start getting in the Thanksgiving spirit. With planning the school fundraiser the last few months, I'm a little behind on my seasonal spirit. I was just going to ask my mom for the Date Nut Bread recipe and make that with Townes, but then I felt like shaking things up a little. I knew we would be getting our own loaves, so why not borrow the flavors, but make them in scone form.
It took a decent amount of tweaking, and was perfected with a Maple Glaze that just compliments the flavors perfectly. I'm trying to convince my mom to start adding the Maple Glaze to the loaves too, that would send them over the edge!
Date-Nut Scones
for the scones:
- 8 oz pitted dates
- 1/2 cup boiling (not just hot) water
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. ginger
- 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
for the maple glaze:
- 4 tbs. butter
- 4 tbs. maple syrup (the real stuff)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1-2 cups of powdered sugar
Preheat your oven to 400° and position a rack in the middle of the oven. Put your butter in the freezer.
Prepare your dates by chopping them into small pieces. My mom and I have both found it is easiest to use a pair of kitchen shears, cut them in quarters lengthwise and then cut the resulting strips into small pieces. The scissors will get sticky but they will wash easily. Once they are all cut, put them in a small bowl and sprinkle the 1/2 tsp. baking SODA over them. Bring your water to a boil and pour over the dates, stir to coat them all in water and mix the baking soda in. Let them sit for 15 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, salt and baking POWDER. Set aside.
Prepare two baking sheets with either a silicon baking mat or parchment paper, sprinkle with flour. Set aside.
Using a plane grater or box grater (on the finest side) grate your frozen stick of butter over the dry ingredients and then mix it together with a rubber spatula. Do NOT use your hands - the warmth from your hands will soften the butter and you want it to be as cold as possible. Mix together just enough that it looks like gravel - it doesn't need to blend.
In a small bowl, whisk together your egg and cream. Pour in the cooled dates and stir together. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and work together with a spatula. Stir until just holding together.
Flour your work surface and your hands, turn out the dough and work into a large ball with your hands. The dough will be sticky and won't always blend well together, don't force it too much, remember your hands will soften the butter.
Using a sharp knife, divide the dough in two and place each half on its own baking sheet. Place one of the baking sheets and dough in the fridge while you work with the other. Form the piece of dough into a ball and then flatten into a disk no more than an inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut your disk into 8 equal wedges. Separate the wedges so there is at least an inch in between each one, they will puff up when they bake.
Bake the prepared scones for 5 minutes, then rotate the tray and bake for another 5 minutes. Keep an eye on them while they bake, they go from done to burnt quickly.
While the first tray is baking, prepare the second set of scones, repeating the whole process. Let the scones cool on their trays while you prepare the glaze.
In a small sauce pan, melt the butter over low heat, whisking in the syrup and vanilla until well blended and completely melted. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, whisking all the lumps out after each addition. Add sugar to desired thickness. If it becomes too thick, add a teaspoon of water at a time to thin it out.
Drizzle the glaze over the cooled scones and allow to set before serving. Scones are best fresh, but will keep in an airtight container for 3 days. They also freeze well (but before they are glazed).
