I baked a batch of these Macadamia Nut Scones this past weekend for Mother’s Day brunch, and they were an all around hit.  Macadamia nuts add a beautiful buttery flavor to this indulgent tea time treat, and push the scones slightly toward the savory side of things while still embracing a tiny hint of sweetness.  I like to use my food processor when making scones, but if you don’t have one on hand, or one that’s big enough, you can easily make these the old school way with a pastry cutter by hand cutting the butter into the flour.  It takes a bit more elbow-grease, but it can be done.  I’ve done it several times in the past, but these days I tend to opt for the lazy route.

On a side note, there was snow on the ground the morning I baked these (yes, it was May 10, and Spring was well under way – my poor daffodils! – but May snowfalls are one of the downsides to living in Vermont).  Baking with Macadamia nuts brought to mind far away sunny beaches and warm tropical locals.  A nice escape.

Recipe makes 8 scones.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Macadamia Nuts (4 oz)
• 2 1/2 cups Flour
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 tbsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 oz) Butter (cold and cut into cubes)
• 2 Eggs
• 1/3 cup Cream
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F (~204 C).
2. Use a food processor to chop up the nuts.   You want to pulse them in brief spurts so that you don’t turn them into nut butter, but you do want to get them into fairly fine chunks.
3. Remove the nuts from the food processor, and set them aside.
4. Add the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder into the food processor, and give it a brief pulse to mix it all together.
5. Add the butter to the food processor, and let it run until it has been fully incorporated into the dry ingredients.  The dough should ball together when pinched between fingers.
6. In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, cream, and vanilla extract.
7. Pour the wet ingredients into the processor, add the nuts, and run it until the dough comes together.  This should happen quickly.
8. Turn the dough out, onto a floured surface, and roll it into a large ball.
9. Flatten the ball into a large disk.  The dough should be about 1/2 inch thick in height.
10. Cut the dough into 8 even pieces.  Slice it as you would slice a pie or round cake, across the middle into halves, then into fourths, and finally into eighths.
11. Place the scones on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet.
12. Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating halfway through the baking process.