Coconut Ginger Scones

I go to school part time while working a full-time job. I switched to a completely online program because I started getting really tired of going to class unnecessarily. I can’t stand when a professor tries to tell me that my attendance is prudent when *I* am the one paying for class. If I don’t want to go, let my penalty show in my poor grades, not in some silly ‘attendance’ portion of the class. I could go on and on about that. That is the beauty of online classes so long as you can stay on top of your deadlines. This means if I want to make scones at night instead of going over depreciation and depleting assets, I can. It’s a beautiful thing.

That’s exactly what I did, too. I started searching scone recipes, seeing if I actually had the ingredients on hand. I do have the luxury of a New Seasons and a Fred Meyer within a couple blocks, but I didn’t want to go to the store. There is something more satisfying of not having to work so hard to produce food. I came across Brown Eyed Baker’s blueberry-buttermilk scones. I did have that buttermilk in my fridge that was supposed to be for the pear upside-down cake that didn’t happen. So I checked my stash of frozen berries. Yeah, that wasn’t happening. They had so much freezer burn that I actually felt bad for them. I didn’t have chocolate [I almost never have that on hand. Yeah, I’m a freak]. I did, however, have a bunch of dried coconut for a bread that didn’t happen. That’s the state of my kitchen at any given moment–a bunch of ingredients for recipes that never happen.

So I tried my hand at adapting BEB’s scones to make some Coconut Ginger Scones. They turned out good. I was impressed. I definitely had to do a little tweaking to make it work out, but work out they did. These freeze beautifully so long as you re-heat them properly, which is perfect for me. I’m the girl who will literally eat one tiny sliver of cake and throw the rest out because I never eat it in time. I’m just not a sweets girl, which is why scones tend to suit me. Sweet, but a hint of savory. Yum.

Ingredients

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker – Serves 12

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger [use freshly grated if you can]
• 4 ounces (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1.5 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 2/3+ cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 tablespoon of butter to brush the tops of the scones
• Sanding sugar, for sprinkling [optional, I didn’t have it on hand]

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
• Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
• Cut in butter with a pastry blender or rub in with your fingers, until the mixture has the texture of coarse meal. This is very, very new to me, and it took awhile. I used my fingers, since I don’t have a pastry blender. I’ve seen other recipes with a food processor. Maybe that would have worked better.
• Stir in coconut.
• Whisk together buttermilk, 1 egg, and the vanilla. Drizzle over flour mixture, and stir lightly with a fork until dough comes together but a small amount of flour remains in the bowl. I found that I had to increase the buttermilk a little here because my mixture was a little too dry. Play it by ear.
• Turn out dough onto a work surface, and gently knead dough once or twice just to incorporate flour.
• Pat dough into a 1-inch thick round. Cut into 12 wedges.
• Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Brush with butter wash, and sprinkle with sanding sugar.  I didn’t have the sugar, so I didn’t use it. Shocking. I know.
• Bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 22-27 minutes. Transfer scones to wire rack to cool.

Eat two immediately. Keep in mind these aren’t that sweet. The extra butter on the top resulted in a much more savory flavor than I expected, but I loved it. I froze the rest of them because they will dry out. Toss into a ziplock bag and into the freezer. When you reheat them, put them back in the oven for 10 minutes at 350. They taste just like they did fresh from the oven.