9.28.15
Did you hear that? It was the collective sigh of every New Yorker because fall has finally arrived. The end of summer was hot and sweaty, but as quickly as it came, it blew away with the brisk breezes and more mellow temperatures of September. This is the time New Yorkers dream of, of skirts with tights, booties, light layering…
EVERYONE IS ATTRACTIVE IN THE FALL!
I decided to celebrate the change in seasons with a recipe I created. I have to be honest, I am really proud of this post. I researched scone recipes and created my own, Phil took awesome pictures of my fall outfit. All in all, this post is ALL MINE and after creating this recipe and crossing my fingers as it baked, it turned out just perfect. These bacon and brown sugar scones with a maple syrup glaze are great on both the savory and breakfast front. They’re soft (where other scones my be dry or mealy) and the orange zest I added give it a little bit of a zing to compliment the fattiness of the bacon. Did I mention I’m proud of this?!
For the Scones
For the Glaze
The bacon and orange also look nice. The brown sugar on top mixed with the other flavors make me want an Oktoberfest for breakfast instead of coffee, too early? Never.
Even eating these guys later in the day for the outfit shoot, they were still tasty. A real autumn win. I strongly encourage you to sit around in the morning after making these with a cup of joe and some Joni Mitchell, that’s what I did.
The color scheme that’s trendy for this fall is an earth tone dream. It’s made up of burnt oranges and mustards and hunter greens and bordeaux’s and it’s just lovely. The hubs and I made our way to Brooklyn for the ultimate hipster day complete with going to an outside shindig to buy a million vinyl records, grabbing fancy coffee, taking the ferry (the most underused fun/cheap thing in NYC) to DUMBO, stumbling upon an Americana music festival, and looking at vintage clothing. All we were missing were mustache’s and homemade kombucha to truly blend in. It was an incredible day and somewhere in the midst of all that, we had time to take pictures of my super duper fall outfit.
The buttons on this skirt are such a great detail, and what a rich fabulous color!!! I can’t handle it! And ankle booties with a white blouse give it an early fall feel. No jackets yet, no heavy scarves or knee socks…….not yet.
These boots from Clarks are from last season, but they have become one of the best investments I’ve made. I think living up north, everyone should own a pair of brown and black ankle booties (and if you can swing it), a brown and black pair of knee high boots. However I’m all about switching one of those out for a fun color, like oxblood, grey or navy.
The Brooklyn Bridge behind me was too great not to include.
H&M blouse (similar) / Belt (similar) / Forever 21 Skirt / Clarks Bootie (similar)
Bacon & Brown Sugar Scones
Ingredients
For the Scones
- 2 cups of AP flour (plus extra for work surface)
- 1/2 cup of light brown sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)
- 1 Tbsp of baking powder
- 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp of nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) of VERY COLD unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup of sour cream
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup of heavy cream (plus extra for brushing)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- zest of 1 orange
- 1 heaping cup of cooked (and cooled) bacon, coarsely chopped
For the Glaze
- 1 cup of powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp of (REAL) maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp of whole milk
Instructions
For the Scones
- Preheat oven to 400
- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt, mix well
- Slice butter and add to dry mixture, using a pastry cutter (or fork) to incorporate, make sure butter is broken up into small pieces throughout, set aside
- In a separate bowl, whisk together, egg, sour cream, heavy cream and vanilla until smooth
- Slowly pour wet mixture into dry and use rubber spatula or hands to carefully mix
- Add orange zest and bacon and gently fold in with hands, do not over mix dough, dough will be sticky
- Lay out dough on floured Silpat or counter and pat gently into 8 inch disk
- Slice into 8 equal pieces and carefully transfer to greased or non stick baking sheet
- Brush the tops of each slice with heavy cream and sprinkle with additional brown sugar
- Bake for 13-15 minutes, until edges begin to brown
- Allow to cool slightly, they are best served warm out of the oven
For the Glaze
- While scones are in the oven, make your glaze
- Combine all ingredients and whisk until smooth
- Use a spoon to drizzle over warm scones, or for a thicker coating, use pastry brush and cover the top of each scone
P.S.
*I read on Averie Cookies that sour cream helps keep scones tender and I couldn’t agree more, by eliminating milk altogether and using heavy cream and sour cream these scones are just soft and fantastic
*If the dough is TOO sticky, gradually add a small amount of flour until manageable, it should stick to your finger, but not to a point where you can’t keep the dough together
