Growing up on a farm, you were unlikely to make it through the week without scones appearing at either morning or afternoon tea. There is something particularly special about hot scones, straight out of the oven, dripping with melted butter, jam and cream (and yes you need all three). The scones themselves were always white, light and fluffy, and I have yet to find a recipe that rivals my Nan’s. Over time, however, I became aware that scones don’t always have to be plain (gasp!). I now love both cheese and pumpkin scones, but my absolute favourites are those made from wholegrain flours with a layer of jam in the middle. These oat & buckwheat jammy scones fall squarely into that category.
What I particularly love about this type of scone is that it comes pre-loaded with jam. All I need to add is thick cream on the side. Gone is the problem of finding the right balance between jam & cream. Too much jam and the cream slides off the top, landing in a jammy puddle on the plate. Too little jam and really all you have is a creamy scone. Some may say that is not such a bad thing, but personally I like a bit of contrast in my scone experience. A batch of these scones in the freezer can double as afternoon tea for The Princess or as dessert if I have made nothing else and the hordes are clamouring. I just rewarm as many as I need at the time.
Normally, when making plain scones, I cut my dough with a knife rather than a fancy cutter. This often results in uneven sized pieces and requires a fine balancing act to ensure that the larger scones cook before the smaller ones dry out. Making one large scone removes this problem completely. Just score the dough before baking, as this makes it easier to cut into pieces once baked. Don’t try and separate the pieces prior to baking though as the dough is quite fragile and easily breaks apart, resulting in a gooey, jammy mess.
I often use oat flour in baking. Oat flour lends a moist density to baked goods that I find particularly appealing. However it is best used in combination with other flours rather than on it’s own or the end result can be very dense indeed. Next time you bake, try substituting a small amount of oat flour (up to 1/2 cup to start with) for some of the spelt or wheat flour in a recipe. You can buy oat flour from health food shops and organic stores but I find it easier to make my own. I just blitz rolled oats in the Thermomix or food processor until they form flour, which means one less thing I need to buy. I also make instant porridge this way.
I have used all types of jam in these scones, although my preference is for stronger flavours like plum, nectarine or even marmalade. Use whatever you have in the cupboard. Anything you would happily eat on your scone should work just as well in your scone.
Scones are best served warm. If you make them ahead, re-warm them in the oven (or at a pinch in the microwave), before serving.
I use a food processor to cut the butter into the flour because I have hot hands and find I get better results this way. If you prefer to make less dishes, just cut the butter into the flour in your mixing bowl. Author: Tania @ The Cook's Pyjamas Serves: Makes 8 Ingredients
- 125ml ( ½ cup) plus 1 Tablespoon buttermilk or kefir
- 1 egg
- 135g (1 cup) white spelt flour
- 100g ( ¾ cup) oat flour
- 45g ( ¼ cup) buckwheat flour
- 2 Tablespoons rapadura sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarb (baking) soda
- Pinch of salt
- 100g cold butter, cut into cubes
- 3 - 4 Tablespoons of jam
- Extra spelt flour for dusting
- Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan forced).
- Line a tray with baking paper and lightly flour the surface. Set the tray aside.
- Whisk the egg into the buttermilk or kefir and set aside.
- Add the spelt, oat and buckwheat flours, sugar, baking powder, bicarb soda and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Blitz briefly to combine.
- Add the butter to the flour and pulse the mixture until the butter is cut into the flour. The mixture should look pebbly but should not be starting to clump together.
- Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl, make a well in the center of the flour and add the buttermilk mixture.
- Cut the buttermilk into the flour with a spatula to form a soft dough.
- Place half of the dough on the floured baking tray and pat out into an 18cm circle. You may wish to dust the surface of the dough with a small amount of extra flour to stop it sticking to your hands.
- Spread the jam over the dough circle.
- Carefully spread the remainder of the dough over the jam, gently patting it out so that the jam is covered. Lightly flour the surface if needed to assist you with patting out the dough.
- Cut the dough into eight pieces with a sharp knife but don't try to separate them at this stage.
- Bake for 20 minutes, until the scone is well risen and golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and cut along the score lines with a sharp knife.
- Serve immediately with lashings of thick cream.
This post is for International Scone Week, a tradition started a few years ago by Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. If you love a good scone then head over to her blog for a round up of scones baked around the world.
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