Banana Bread Scones From Samantha Seneviratne
★★★★★
PREP TIME
20 minutes
COOK TIME
22 minutes
MAKES
8 scones
Ingredients
1
extra-large, extra-ripe banana, mashed (1/2 cup)
1/3 cup
heavy cream, plus more for brushing
1
large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon
pure vanilla extract
2 cups
all-purpose flour
1/3 cup
packed dark brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons
baking powder
1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt
1/2 cup
(1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into roughly 1/2-inch pieces
2 1/4 ounces
semisweet chocolate, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 1/4 ounces
hazelnuts, toasted, skinned, and finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 425°F.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the banana, cream, egg, and vanilla. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender, or 2 knives used like scissors, until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some larger pieces. (You can use your fingers if you work fast enough that the butter stays cold.) Toss in the chopped chocolate and hazelnuts.
- Drizzle in the banana mixture and stir with a fork until the mixture is crumbly and moistened, but stop before you’ve mixed it into a uniform batter. Tip out the mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and pat it into a craggy, 6-inch circle. Using a sharp knife or a bench scraper, cut the circle into 8 equal triangles. (At this point, you could freeze the triangles well-wrapped on their sheet for another day. Bake them from frozen.) Spread the triangles a good couple inches apart and brush the tops with the cream. Sprinkle with sanding sugar.
- Bake until the scones are golden brown and set, about 18 to 22 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a scone should come out clean. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm or room temperature. Scones are best the day they’re made, but any leftovers can be frozen (or stale ones can be split in half and toasted in butter in a skillet to revive them).
