Banana Pecan Scones

The mother of all scones and let's do Wordle with the Pope

But Marissa, you say with disappointment in your voice, Mother’s Day is this weekend, mere days—hours— away, why is it you make me wait to find out what delicious treat I will make for myself/others/a mother? Why?

Well, I got distracted watching Senator Merkley explain the Constitution to Kash Patel, who responded like a lacrosse bro from the back row of the classroom.

Also, Jeanine Pirro as Interim DC District Attorney.

I then saw that Columbia University, where literally generations of my family have attended, and both my brother David and my dad taught, suspended Daily Spectator student journalists wearing press passes from covering pro-Palestinian protests. Apparently, “someone” reported that the students were involved in the protests.

As someone who teaches college students about the power of journalism—who encourages kids to investigate important stories because as journalists that's their right thanks to that wacky old doc called The Constitution (remember it?), this is sickening to see. It further distracted me from getting what I believe is a truly exceptional scone recipe to you, because I made notes for next semester’s syllabus. I plan to double the number of hours I teach about the rights (and duties) of journalists. And yes, even/especially student journalists. The case study is already taken care of.

Senator Chris Murphy’s take-down of Secretary of the Interior Kirsti Noem, offered a bit of a balm, I must say. As I wrote on Blue Sky, it was satisfying to watch, in that things were finally being said out loud. I look forward to next steps, she said hopefully.

So, while I’d rather say I was in the garden planting zucchini or my pathetic little parsley seedlings, or gosh, eating warm banana scones on the veranda I wish I had, I was torturing myself on social media. A necessary evil these days.

Oh, did I say banana scones? Why yes! Yes, this is the good, non-evil part. The SCONE PART.

These scones are worth risking fruit flies for. Buy some bananas and let them age gracefully on the counter. If you can’t wait, ask someone in the produce department of your local supermarket to see if they have any spotty bananas in the back.

I added toasted pecans and mini chocolate chips to mimic banana bread and rounded out the flavor with nutmeg and whole wheat flour. Feel free to sub walnuts or use all all-purpose flour if that’s all you have.

These scones are craggy on top and delicate inside, because of one simple rule: do not overwork the dough. Less is more.

Would you be interested in a live video demo of me making scones oh-so-delicately? Y’all could tune in and ask questions and we could drink tea together. Let me know!

In the meantime, try your hand at these. And a very happy Mother’s Day to all who celebrate. Whether you’re responsible for nurturing others, or just yourself, take care!

Note:

• The recipe calls for freezing the uncooked scones for an hour before baking. It ensures a tender scone. If you don’t want to bake all the scones at once, you can wrap and freeze them and bake them whenever the need strikes. That’s my kind of prepping for the apocalypse.

• I use a food processor for the first steps of this recipe. This allows me to process the butter into little pieces without my warm hands melting them. If you don’t have a Cuisinart or stand mixer, of course use your hands, or better: a pastry blender. Some people prefer to grate frozen butter by hand, but that always feels a bigger mess than need be.

Banana Pecan Chocolate Chip Scones

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Banana Pecan Chocolate Chip Scones

94.9KB ∙ PDF file

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printable recipe!

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Banana Pecan Chocolate Chip Scones

Makes 12 to 16

What You’ll Need:

• 1/2 cup (64 grams) pecans, toasted and chopped

• 1 1/2 cup (180 grams) all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup (57 grams) whole-wheat flour

• 1/3 cup (71 grams) light brown sugar

• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/2 cup (4 ounces; 113 grams) cold butter cut into 16 pieces

• 1/2 cup (130 grams) very ripe mashed banana

• 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream + 2 tablespoons for glazing before baking

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup (85 grams) mini chocolate chips

• optional: 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar for sprinkling

What You’ll Do:

1. In a food processor with the blade attachment, add the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Pulse 6 times until combined. (If by hand, whisk together in a large bowl.)

2. Add the pieces of butter and pulse 4 or 5 times until the butter is in pea-size and smaller pieces. The mixture should look sandy. Decant the entire mixture into a large bowl. Whisk together the mashed banana, heavy cream and vanilla. Pour this mixture over the flour-butter mixture and using a fork or silicon spatula, blend the ingredients until a very loose dough comes together. Not all the flour will be absorbed.

3. Dump the mixture onto a lightly floured pastry board and gently bring the dough together to form a large circle about 12 inches in diameter and about 1 1/2” (3.8 cm) thick. Cut the dough into 12 or 16 triangles. Place the scones onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour.

4. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400 °F/200 °C. Arrange the scones on a parchment-lined baking sheet. There should be 2 inches (5 cm) between each scone. Brush each scone with heavy cream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 18 to 23 minutes until golden brown. Best if eaten warm.

If you’re interested in me starting a series of live technique videos, let me know in the comments. And please tell me what you’re interested in learning. And if you wish you could play Wordle along with the pope, let me know.

Norman helps with gardening.