Maple Pecan Scones

These American-style scones use cold butter for flake, maple syrup for flavor, and pecans for texture. They bake into tall wedges with a lightly sweet glaze and a crumb that is tender inside and set at the edges.

By Julienne

Maple Pecan Scones

Cook time: 20 minutes

Servings: 12

Ingredients

  • 100 g pecans toasted and roughly chopped
  • 320 g all-purpose flour divided
  • 50 g granulated sugar divided
  • 15 g baking powder
  • 4 g fine salt
  • 113 g unsalted butter cold, cut into 1 cm cubes
  • 50 g maple syrup divided
  • 180 g heavy cream cold
  • 50 g egg 1 large egg, beaten
  • 5 g vanilla extract
  • 40 g all-purpose flour divided
  • 120 g powdered sugar for glaze
  • 30 g maple syrup divided
  • 20 g milk for glaze
  • 2 g orange zest finely grated

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 220°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toast the pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, then cool and chop them. Pecans smell fragrant and are lightly browned.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together 320 g flour, 50 g sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Butter pieces are still visible throughout the dry mix.
  3. Stir in the chopped pecans. In a separate bowl, whisk the maple syrup, cream, egg, and vanilla until smooth, then pour it into the flour mixture. A shaggy dough forms with no dry flour at the bottom of the bowl.
  4. Fold the dough just until combined. If it seems sticky, sprinkle in up to 40 g of the remaining flour. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a 2 cm-thick round. Dough holds together and can be shaped without cracking badly.
  5. Cut the round into 12 wedges and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet, leaving space between pieces. Brush the tops with a little extra cream if you want a deeper sheen, then bake for 16 to 18 minutes until puffed and golden at the edges. Scones are tall, lightly browned, and a skewer comes out clean from the center.
  6. Cool the scones on a wire rack for 10 minutes. For the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, remaining maple syrup, and milk until thick but pourable; add the optional orange zest if using. Drizzle over the cooled scones. Glaze sets into a thin, opaque layer after a few minutes.
Find more recipes