Sourdough Scones
Feb 3rd, 2020 | by Marrianne Park
I LOVE a good flavorful, flaky scone. More so than a muffin as muffins to me are just cake without frosting!
I wanted to pull together a scone recipe that would use the leftover 200 g of starter from feeding my sourdough starter every morning. Mix the batter, form and cut out my scones, place them on a covered sheet pan and then give them a long cool ferment in my fridge just like my sourdough bread gets. This cold ferment before baking allows the natural wild yeast and bacteria adequate time to feed on the proteins and starches in the flour, breaking them down and making them more digestible.
This recipe has no added sugar because it’s not needed and because I picture you enjoying these with a delicious cultured butter and fruit compote, or sharp cheddar and ham. Sweet or savory, I’ve given you both variations below.
Basic Scone
- 250 g all purpose flour – I like to use 200 g all-purpose and 50 g buckwheat flour
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 85 g room temperature butter rubbed into the above dry ingredients
Here is where you add your inclusions to the dry mixture and determine the finished flavor of your scone.
Sweet Tea Scones
- 150 g dehydrated fruit, candied citrus peel, raisins or currants – use what you have in any combination
- 100 g sliced toasted almonds
- 1 tsp. vanilla paste
Original recipe called for 100 g sugar so go ahead and add it if you like. Caution: if you decide you want to sub in honey it will result in a softer more muffin-like finished scone.
Savory Breakfast Scones
- 150 g cubed or thinly sliced ham – use any fully cooked meat you have available
- 100 g grated sharp/aged cheese
- 1 tsp. pepper
- Fresh chopped herbs, green onions or whatever you have on hand
In a separate bowl, beat together:
- 1 egg – beat quickly on its own so it incorporates better into the wet mixture
- 120 g buttermilk – I use 120 g coconut mylk mixed with ½ Tbsp. raw apple cider vinegar to make my own dairy free buttermylk.
- 200 g sourdough starter left over from your morning feeding
Using my Danish whisk, I mix the wet in with the dry ingredients just until everything is mixed and there are no dry flour pockets. The dough is thick and wetter than you might be used to but stay with me on this and it will result in a fluffy, crisp, well-risen finished scone.
Generously flour the surface of your counter. Scoop out your dough with your dough scraper and place it on the floured surface. Sprinkle a little more flour over the dough and work quickly with your floured hands, forming the dough into a disk. Pick the dough disk up from time to time and redistributing the flour underneath so it doesn’t stick to the counter.
Pat the disk into a 10” round. The disk will be about ¾” to 1” thick. Cut into 12 – 2 ¼” rounds.
Place these on a sheet pan lined with parchment. I then gather the leftover dough, gently pressing it back into a circle and incorporating as little of the flour on the surface of your table as possible.
I then slide this onto a square of parchment and cut it into 6 pieces. I love this baked presentation and often serve it on a pedestal stand. Of course you can always cut out this last bit of dough as you did the first time but know that each time that you work the dough, you are incorporating more flour into the dough which will eventually make the dough tougher.
Cover your sheet pan to keep the air out and refrigerate for 48 hours. Preheat oven to 400 F, leaving your scones in the fridge while the oven heats up. Baking your scones from cold works best as I get good oven spring and my scones were both crisp and fluffy.
When oven is preheated, take scones out of the fridge and brush only the tops with egg wash. (1 egg beaten until smooth) Place scones in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the time. I always check my baking at the halfway point until the recipe becomes familiar to me. All ovens are different and this check in will give you the opportunity to adjust oven temperature and cook time as needed.
~M
