Chestnut “One-For-All” Scones
A Recipe by Hannah Degner
Notes
This chestnut scone recipe has evolved from an oat scone master recipe that I have been tinkering with for many years, since long before I was cooking professionally.
I began with the intent to replicate the improbably perfect oat-fruit scone at the perennially late-90s coffee shop in my mom’s upper Michigan hometown. Over the last couple of years, a blessed shift has occurred in my approach: the evolved version of the scone that I am sharing here has eclipsed my taste for the original. The shift is due in large part to the ingredients in my kitchen: chestnut flour sourced by friends at Breadtree brings new depth to the nuttiness that I crave in a scone. All other ingredients here are best sourced from your neighbors — freshly milled whenever possible — such as Brooklyn Granary & Mill, where I finally cracked the code for this recipe.
This is a scone that, due to its versatility, is never the same twice, but always hearty, nutty and inflected with my cravings and pantry of the moment. I thought the pecan, orange zest version with Alpen muesli was tops, until last week when I tried a walnut, cardamom, flaky salt and vanilla version with BGM pumpkin seed granola mixed into my remaining oats. Those have set a new bar.
Make it your own by subbing in as much chestnut flour as you dare, and using what you have. These are meant to be one recipe for all cravings, regions, and pantries. I recommend using the freshest possible ingredients and keeping a few disks of these scones in the freezer at all times.
Ingredients
This recipe makes 4 disks of 6 small scones each. ~24 scones
250g whole wheat flour (I used unsifted ww bread flour from BGM)
100g coarse chestnut flour
80g corn flour (I used fine from BGM) or sub oat flour or more chestnut *Breadtree team subs coarse chestnut flour for 180g total
100g sugar, ideally unrefined. (I used coarse and unrefined)
1 tsp baking soda
0.5 tsp baking powder
1-1.5 tsp sea salt (depends on how salty-sweet you like things. sometimes I use maldon)
0.5 tsp of spice or spice mix you enjoy, optional (cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, etc)
8oz / 2 sticks/ 225g cold unsalted butter
160g rolled oats, muesli, your favorite granola or your own mixture of rolled oats and dried fruits (we’ve tried dried cranberries, serviceberries, blueberries, sour cherries, etc)
80g chopped walnuts, pecans, other nuts or none
2 large eggs, about 100 grams in total
1 cup / 240 grams of buttermilk or yogurt, watered down to resemble buttermilk/kefir if thick
1 tsp of vanilla, or citrus zest– optional
milk or cream and coarse sugar for brushing the top, optional (I’ve also used leftover buttermilk and sugar for finishing, and also left bare and brushed Breadtree honey while hot)
Process
Line a baking sheet with parchment. If you would like to bake the scones right away, set the oven to 375 degrees. I like to chill them for an hour or up to a day, so I would suggest setting the oven when you take the disks out of the fridge to finish them
Whisk together the flours, sugar, leaveners, and salt in a large bowl. Here you can add a teaspoon of any spice or mix you like. Cut the butter into 1⁄2 inch or smaller pieces and incorporate into the dries with a fork, two knives or your fingers until it resembles the consistency of grapenuts. Make sure to press each chunk of butter completely into the flour to form crumbs, leaving no butter chunks whole.
Add the oats (or muesli or granola) and chopped nuts (toast them a bit ahead, if you’re feeling fancy) and stir in evenly.
In a smaller bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla (if using); add these wets the scone mixture and stir lightly w a fork until evenly moistened
Knead in the bowl a few times, or turn out onto a floured work surface, just to bring the dough together and remove dry spots. This is where the amount you incorporated the butter matters most. If the butter is still in larger chunks, the mixture will be wetter and require more kneading.
Divide dough into 4 somewhat equal mounds (I do this by eye, though if you weigh them they will each be ~320 grams) and set each into parchment. Wrap loosely in the parchment or plastic and flatten into ~6 inch round disks, less than an inch thick. Alternatively, you can form the disks and then wrap them*
Preheat the oven after chilling the dough (see note at bottom). Cut each disk into 6 pie wedges and scatter on a tray, separating by at least an inch. Brush tops with milk (buttermilk, cream, egg, anything creamy!) and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Or, leave the scones bare and brush with honey straight from the oven.
