Apple Cheddar Scones

You know how you can sometimes lust after a food for days before finally getting to the point where you have to meet that desire, no matter the cost? It seems that I’ve been craving cheddar apple scones for the past WAY more than a week. And now that the weather has turned very fall-like it suddenly seemed imperative that I have one of the scones I remember as being absolutely delicious.

Years ago, I went to New Haven in the dead of winter. As much as a San Diegan can think they’ve packed for cold weather, more than a few minutes out into the biting, stinging freeze that marks a New England winter will painfully point out how lacking our coats and wraps really are. I loved seeing all the snow during the visit but, oh! that cold. Even with scarves, mittens, wool socks, and long underwear, I still shivered my way through the vacation. Sometime during those frigid days, Emily offered up a batch of Smitten Kitchen apple cheddar scones and, with that first warm and moist bite of those scones, I fell in love. Have I been craving another batch since that time so long ago? Pretty much.

I made these scones a week ago and froze most of them. Today,  when I woke up to fog and enough fall foliage to delight my senses, it seemed like a perfect time to take out one of the frozen scones and eat it, along with pumpkin spiced coffee. Yes, the coffee was in a fall themed mug. And, yes, I was wearing socks with pumpkins on them. And wrapped in a blanket printed with autumn leaves. (I'm more than a little bit into this whole fall that's really fall phenomenon.)

In addition to sharing this recipe with me, Emily also taught me the careful art of freezing foods for future consumption. I know - you’re wondering how an old lady such as myself missed out on the basic skill of freezing foods. It’s not that I’ve never wrapped all manner of foods in foil and thrown them into my freezer to be forgotten until the mystery packages wound up being too freezer-burned to use. In watching Emily’s very deliberate preparation of foods for freezing, I finally realized the correct way to preserve tasty foods for another time. This is a most important skill in my world as careful freezing allows me to make things Martin doesn’t like but I do, without ending up wasting what I can’t eat before the delicacy goes bad. Happy hubby, happy me.

When I took my scones out of the oven, I wondered if they were overdone.  Too many recent visits to tea rooms made visions of perfect pale scones come to mind. It’s doubtful that I have any pictorial records of Emily’s scones but, mercifully, a quick look at Smitten Kitchen’s site, showed the same amount of rustic darker color I was seeing with my batch of scones.

Even if they’d been completely off in appearance, one bite into the apple cheddar goodness of one of these scones is enough to warm the soul and bring the taste of fall. I’m enjoying slathering mine with some homemade apple butter I recently bought at a farmer’s market type venue. Something about the sharpness of cheddar mixed with a cinnamony sweetness in the apple butter spread works perfectly together.

Apple and Cheddar Scones
Recipe Courtesy of Smitten Kitchen

Makes 6 generous scones

2 firm tart apples (1 pound or 2 454 grams)
1 1/2 cups (6.75 ounces or 195 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar plus 1 1/2 tablespoons for sprinkling (total of 2.2 ounces or 63 grams)
1/2 tablespoon (7 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (3 grams) plus additional for egg wash
6 tablespoons (3 ounces or 85 grams)unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes plus additional for baking sheet if not lining it with parchment
1/2 cup (2.25 ounces or 65 grams) sharp cheddar, shredded (white is recommended, I assume for aesthetics)
1/4 cup (2 ounces) heavy cream
2 large eggs

Position a rack at the center of oven and preheat oven to 375 °F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Peel and core apples, then cut them into one-sixteenths. (I assumed this meant chunks, not slivers.) Placed them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake them until they take on a little color and feel dry to the touch, about 20 minutes. They will be about half-baked. Let them cool completely. (You can speed this up in the fridge, as I did.) Leave oven on.

Sift or whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Set aside. Place butter in the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, along with cooled apple chunks, cheese, cream and one egg. Sprinkle flour mixture over the top and mix on low speed until the dough just comes together. Do not overmix.

[Don’t have a stand or hand mixer? I’d rub the cold butter into the flour mixture with my fingertips or with a pastry blender, hand-chop the apples coarsely and mix the rest together with a wooden spoon until combined. It might feel awkward, but it should all come together. Again, don’t overmix it though it will be harder to do this by hand.]

Generously flour your counter top and place the scone dough on top of it. Sprinkle with flour. Use a rolling pin to gently roll (or use your hands to pat) the dough into a 1 1/4-inch thick, 6-inch circle. Cut circle into 6 wedges. Transfer them to a baking sheet that has either been buttered or lined with a fresh sheet of parchment paper. Leave at least 2 inches between each scone.

Beat remaining egg in a small bowl with a pinch of salt. Brush the scones with egg wash and sprinkle them with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake until firm and golden, about 30 minutes. With a spatula, lift them to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Before you eat one, make sure you realize how addictive they might be. Once you’ve got that down, go for it anyway.

Do ahead: Scones are best the day they are baked. However, they can be made ahead of time and stored unbaked in the freezer until you need them. Simply brush them with the egg wash and sprinkle them with sugar, and bake them still frozen for just a couple extra minutes. This way they are always freshly baked when you want them.