Apple Cheddar Scones

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or butter it. Spread out the apple chunks in a single layer on the pan. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, just until they are looking dry and a little cooked. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool a bit.

If using a food processor: Pulse together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Sprinkle the butter over the flour mixture. Pulse about ten times until the butter has been distributed to make a grainy sand. Dump this mixture into a bowl. Mix in the apples and cheddar cheese.

If using an old school method: In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Using a pastry cutter or your hands or some knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is a grainy sand with the odd larger pea here or there. Mix in the apples and cheddar cheese.

Now pour the cream over the mixture and mix just until everything is getting combined. Dump out the dough onto a lightly flour surface and knead together. I dump it onto a large sheet of parchment. Then I softly flatten it out a bit then fold it in half and softly flatten it again. Repeat again if there are still lots of dry flour bits.

Form the dough into an 8-inch circle. Take a knife and cut 8 wedges. Place the wedges on a buttered or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, turning the sheet halfway through. They should be golden and the bottoms should be slightly golden too. Allow to cool on the sheet for about two minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Or just dig in right then and there.

* By the way, that photo is of little baby scones that I made for my class. Every weekend I’ve been making them into wedges but it always slips my mind to take a photo of them. The little baby scones were about an inch size circle and took about 8 to 12 minutes to bake. Mini love.

** If you wish to freeze these, prepare them so they are sliced and ready for the oven on a baking sheet but place them in the freezer instead. Freeze them for about 30 minutes and then transfer the frozen scones to a freezer bag. When ready to bake them, do not defrost them. Just heat up the oven and put the frozen scones on a lined or butter baking sheet and bake away. They may take a few minutes longer to bake.

The idea was adapted from a Martha Stewart pie and the genius Smitten Kitchen.