I have this weird thing for crystallized ginger. I just love it. I find it hard to use though… it’s one of those ingredients where I actively have to think, “How can I put this to use?” More often than not I neglect to do that and end up forgetting about certain things, like crystallized ginger, that I adore.
My pantry has been under severe scrutiny lately. I’m moving back to the states at the end of April while my Husband is deployed so I am under a lot of pressure to chip away at unused pantry items that won’t last. It would really bother me to have to throw out a garbage bag full of perfectly good food just because I won’t be around to use it. Such a waste! Anyways, that’s where the crystallized ginger comes into play. I had a bunch leftover from the my Thanksgiving Turkey Brine and I’ve actually been wanting to use it up for months now. I meant to use it for some gingerbread or ginger cookies at Christmas but it just never happened… Thus, I came upon this scone recipe recently and thought it would be a more appropriate use of ginger for this time of year. Delicately spiced and not too indulgent (bathing suit season is right around the corner after all!).
I don’t make scones very often. This is only my second time. They just aren’t very practical when you don’t have a whole group of people around to eat them. The best way to eat a scone is to eat it fresh. Personally, I think leftover scones lose their appeal entirely… so! If you want to avoid that situation there is something you can do to get fresh scones daily from one batch of dough. Freeze them. I swear, the freezer has become my best friend. I freeze so many things in an effort not to waste the stuff I make and you’d be surprised to find out how many things are freezable. For scones you simply shape them and place them along a parchment lined sheet tray (parchment is my second best friend by the way). Cover the tray with foil and freeze. Once frozen you can easily store them in gallon sized zip lock bags. To bake them off you have two options. You can bake them straight from the freezer with a few minutes extra baking time and possibly a little extra browning- a convenient method (keep an eye on them and cover with tin foil to prevent overbrowning if necessary). OR if you have the time to plan you can let them thaw out overnight in the refrigerator (my preferred method). So in essence, it’s pretty simple to get fresh scones daily, you just have to be organized. Easier said then done, right?
A few things you need to know about this particular recipe:
Do NOT use dried, hard crystallized ginger. YUCK.
The topping is so, so, sooo good! Do not skip out on it. It’s crunchy and just perfect (if you’re an almond fanatic like me that is).
I served this with a sweet cream spread. It was pretty yummy. I think a nice orange marmalade would go great with these too though.
- 1¾ cup cups all purpose flour
- 3 Tb sugar
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 3 Tb cold, unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
- ⅓ cup (about 2 oz) crystallized ginger, cut into ¼” dice
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup plus 2 Tb milk
- Almond Topping:
- 1 Tb egg white (liquify by beating with fork, then measure), room temperature
- ¾ cup (about 2 oz) sliced almonds
- ⅛ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅓ cup sugar
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment or a silicone mat.
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and ginger. Pulse to mix.
- Add butter and pulse until mixture is mealy, about 10 to 12 times. Add the crystallized ginger.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and milk together then add them to the flour mixture. Pulse several times to mix, but not until the mixture forms a ball. Invert the bowl onto a floured work surface. Fold dough over onto itself to get it to come together.
- Use a bench scraper or knife to divide the dough into two. Shape each half into 5″ disks. Cut each disc into 6 wedges. Arrange on pan.
- To make the almond topping, combine the egg white and almonds in a small bowl. Mix together so that all the almond pieces are evenly coated with egg white. Stir in the cinnamon and sugar. Top each scone with topping using fingertips to distribute evenly.
- Bake the scones until they are well risen, firm to the touch, and the topping is a deep golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. Serve immediately.
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Hah! Gail, I had to laugh when I saw your comment b/c I was asikng myself this very same thing! WHY STACK TWO PANS?? I was tempted to simply forgo the 2nd pan, but was fearful it would lead to less than stellar results. So I went as suggested and just stacked them. The only conclusion I’ve drawn is the second sheet acts as either insulation or protection ensuring the bottom of the scones either 1) brown adequately or conversely, 2) don’t brown too much. Just a guess though.