Nut and fruit scones

Orange Apricot Walnut Scones

I ended up with 2 large bags of dried apricots in my pantry.  Yes, automatic delivery is a wonderful thing, until I realized I know have over 3 lbs of dried apricots.  I like to eat them straight from the bag as a snack, but wanted to do something a little more creative with them.   Scones, I thought – a breakfast in the hand or a delicious snack after dinner.

Scones are a basic quick bread,  easy to make, no real special equipment needed. A bit rustic, and the variations are endless.

So with a bunch of chopped dried apricots, and a cup of chopped walnuts, and some orange juice concentrate  – which I have had in the freezer for some time, just waiting to cook or bake with it – I had all the ingredients on hand.

Don’t have apricots? Use dried cherries, currants or raisins.  No walnuts?  Fine, use pecans, almonds or hazelnuts.  No orange juice? Try lemon (with blueberries!), or a bit a of almond extract and water.

 

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Apricot Orange Walnut Scones

Chock full of dried fruit and nuts, these scones are wonderful heated slightly and eaten with or without butter.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 8 scones

Ingredients

  • 1 cup white flour
  • ¾ cup spelt four
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¾ cup diced dried apricots
  • 1 tbsp orange zest
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ cup cold butter grated
  • 4 oz cream cheese
  • 2 tbsp sour cream
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • 2 tbsp orange juice frozen concentrate
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts.

Icing:

  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 tbsp orange juice concentrate
  • 2-3 tbsp milk

Instructions

  1. Mix dry ingredients and apricots together in a large bowl.
  2. In a second bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese, then add the sour cream, egg, vanilla, nutmeg and orange juice concentrate. Stir in walnuts.
  3. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring until just combined.
  4. Pat out into a circle about 10” across, and cut into 8 wedges (cut into quarters, then across each quarter to make 8).
  5. Bake 20 minutes at 350F. until puffed and the edges brown.
  6. Let cool and drizzle with icing: mix together the sugar and orange juice concentrate; add 1 tbsp milk at a time for desired consistency.
orange apricot walnut scones

Baked, ready for icing