Pistachio Scones

This recipe was inspired by a pistachio scone that I had at a local bakery “Park Street Pastry” in Olathe, KS. I love pistachio and the flavor was really enhanced by the almond extract they added. I took my favorite scone recipe that I got from a friend, and adapted it to taste like that yummy, nutty, just the right amount of sweet and almond-y one that I had at Park Street that day. Enjoy!

Recipe Adapted by Tierney Larson

Servings: Makes 8 Triangular scones

Ingredients:

1 cup of pistachios, toasted and cooled

2 cups (*scooped and leveled) (or 240g) of Unbleached All Purpose Flour

2 tbl (26g) granulated sugar

1 tbl diamond brand kosher salt (if you’re using morton kosher salt use 1/2 tbl)

2 tbl baking powder

5 tbl unsalted butter, cut into cubes, chilled

1 cup of heavy cream, plus more for brushing the top, chilled

1 tsp almond extract

Turbinado sugar or granulated sugar for sprinkling

*If you don’t have a kitchen scale, which I highly recommend for accuracy and convenience, then scoop the flour with a spoon into the measuring cup and then level it off with the back side of a knife, you don’t want the flour packed into the cup.

Preheat the oven to 350F and spread the pistachios out onto an un-greased baking sheet. Toast them for 5-8 minutes or until fragrant and lightly browned. Remove and allow to cool completely before continuing. You’re going to want the butter and heavy cream as cold as possible, so pop them in the freezer while your pistachios cool, for about 20 min.

Give the pistachios a rough chop (you can also leave them whole, up to you!) once cooled and set aside.

Pop the oven heat up to 425F, and line a baking sheet with parchment or a sil pat. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add the butter cubes into the flour mixture, and using your hands, toss the cubes in the flour to get them coated, then flatten each cube pressing them into the flour between your fingers. (If they’re hard from the freezer that’s ok, it’ll flatten with a good smush). Work the butter into the flour until the flour feels coated with the butter and there are still pea sized bits of butter.

Pour the heavy cream and almond extract into the mixture and toss until the dough comes together into clumps, if there are still dry spots add a tiny bit more of cream and toss together until you no longer see dry spots. The dough will be sticky, that’s ok! Plop the dough onto the prepared sheet tray, and press it together (don’t over work it) into a cohesive flat disc about 1 1/2 inches thick. Using a bench knife or regular sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 equal sized triangles.

Gently pull each triangle away from the circle so they have a bit of space and then brush the tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar, or granulated sugar. Place the sheet tray into the freezer for 10 minutes for an extra chill to the butter. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden on top and feels set. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet and then remove to a cooling rack to cool before serving. I enjoy eating these at room temp, I think the flavors are more succinct, but you can eat them hot out of the oven as well.