On a recent trip with the California Farm Water Coalition Board, we toured the Coachella Valley and learned how Dates are grown and harvested.
It’s quite fascinating, really. The crops are harvested just once a year and someone has to climb to the tops of each tree six to eight times during that process to ensure a fruitful (no pun intended) harvest! All of the dates grown in the USA, come from this region. It certainly makes me appreciate these sweet little gems! So when I ran across a recipe for Honey Scones that were filled with old-fashioned oats, I thought, why not add some dates to the mix and see what happens? Sometimes I just get crazy that way. P.S. If adding fruit to a plain scone recipe is crazy, obviously I don’t set the bar too high on my definition of crazy. ;-)
Ironically, there is a type of date called a “Honey Date” and that’s what I used here, but it’s not where the name of the recipe came from. This recipe uses honey as part of the sweetener. It’s just a happy coincidence!
The recipe makes 8 scones and goes together in less than 30 minutes, so it’s perfect for a weekday morning or even a busy weekend when you want something quick before you dash out the door to explore your world! I like that these scones are moist on the inside, unlike typical scones which tend to be a little dry.
Once they were baked, I brushed the scones with a bit of orange juice and let it soak in to the top. Oranges and dates are a beautiful flavor combination and while it’s very subtle, it’s one of those little steps that adds a lot to the finished product! Plus, your kitchen will smell just lovely!
The orange juice and fresh date glaze on the top might have enhanced the moist factor just a bit…
Then, in true “Imperfect Kitchen” form, while glazing the scones and feeling all fancy because I’d put the glaze in a squeeze bottle to make it look pretty,
THIS happened!!!
BAM! The top came off the squeeze bottle and the rest of the glaze dumped over this scone. What a mess! Thankfully, it was the last scone and the rest of them did look nice. Of course, I had to eat that one. Part of being a blogger is having to sacrifice and eat your mistakes. Mmmm.. it was a delicious sacrifice too.
Would you like one? I have a few extra. And when you make them yourself, please make sure the lid for your squeeze bottle is screwed on tightly! Enjoy my friends!
Honey Date Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
- 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup diced dried dates
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream, divided
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 3 tablespoons honey
- For the Glaze
- 3 tablespoons orange juice divided
- 12 honey dates
- 1 cup water
- 1 - 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and diced dates. Mix well.
- In a medium bowl, whisk melted butter, egg, 1/4 cup of the cream, milk and honey until well blended.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir just until dough forms.
- Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface. Shape into an 8-inch circle about 3/4 inch thick.
- Cut into 8 wedges.
- Place 1 to 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with remaining heavy cream.
- Bake 12 - 15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Immediately after taking the scones from the oven, brush the tops with 2 tablespoons of orange juice, letting the juice soak into the scone.
- Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
- While the scones are baking, prepare your glaze.
- Add the dates to a small saucepan and cover with 1 cup of water. Bring the water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Stir in remaining orange juice and allow to steep for 10 - 20 minutes.
- When dates are soft, remove them from the water and carefully peel the skins and remove any pits.
- Add the date pulp to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until you get a creamy paste. Add a little of the remaining orange juice soaking water and enough powdered sugar to form a thick glaze. This will vary depending on how thick you like your glaze. I used a cup and a half of powdered sugar.
- Drizzle the glaze over the scones and serve immediately!
- In a saucepan, bring
What are your favorite kind of scones? Let me know in the comments below! And if you’d like to read more about that Farm Tour, you can find it here:
Oh Sara, you know how I love scones…and dates! I’m going to be trying these ASAP!!
Thanks Sue! I hope you enjoy!