Christine’s Oatmeal Bacon Scones

Our Food Editor shares her DELISH recipe for scones. We know you will love them as much as we do. Thanks Christine! 

Oatmeal Bacon Scones

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 very heaped tablespoon baking powder
2 very heaped tablespoons superfine or granulated sugar (I had some vanilla caster sugar which I used)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, cut into small dice, kept very cold

1/3 cup very crisp crumbled bacon (about 3 strips depending on size and thickness)
1/2 cup buttermilk (start with 1/3 cup and then add by the tablespoon until the dough is soft but not sticky)
1 egg, beaten

Turbinado or raw sugar

Preheat your oven to 400°F

Cook your bacon until very crisp, to the point that it shatters into little bits when chopped with a knife. Drain on paper and allow it to completely cool before chopping it.

In a large bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients from flour to bacon and stir to get them thoroughly combined. Add the cold butter cubes and using either a pastry blender or your fingers, work the butter into the dry ingredients until everything looks like breadcrumbs; the butter should still be a little chunky, but nothing larger than a pea. I use my fingers, pinching the lumps of butter into the flour over and over. I think it makes the scones flakier than when I use a pastry cutter.

Whisk the buttermilk and beaten egg together and pour about ¾ of the mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir the dough together, gently, just to get everything moist; try not to over-stir. If the mixture isn’t coming together into a soft dough, add the rest of the liquid in tablespoons so the dough doesn’t get too sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface. I like to use a flexible plastic cutting board for pastry because I don’t have to use extra flour to dust the surface, it allows me to move the dough onto the baking sheet easily, and it’s easy to clean up. Gently knead the dough a few times into a ball, then flatten it into a disc. Using a long bladed knife or a bench scrape, cut the dough into wedges.

Transfer the disc onto the baking sheet. It should still look like a disc with the wedges cut into it. Sprinkle the top generously with raw sugar crystals for a little sweet crunch on the top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the scones are golden brown. Serve hot (or cold , either way they are delicious!)

Check out Christine’s delectable blog or follow her on Twitter.

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