My in-laws requested that I make some sort of baked good for a brunch while we visited them over Thanksgiving. I was excited to be able to bake something while we were there. We all know that brunch is my favorite meal! I love scones, so I decided to make Fig and Toasted Almond Scones.
This recipe makes 12 scones, a few more than most of recipes I've made. I took my time assembling the scones, but assembly was not difficult. The first thing you should do is toast your almonds so they have a chance to cool. While this happens, you can dice figs if you have ones that are whole. I used a mix of slivered and sliced almonds, which was just short of a cup, and I didn't measure the figs but I assume it was close to a cup as well.
I mixed together the dry ingredients and the zest of one lemon, then cut in butter with a pastry cutter (affiliate link). I forgot to start by toasting my almonds, so I had to wait for them to cool before I could mix in them and the figs into the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, I lightly beat the eggs and combined them with vanilla and almond extracts and a ½ cup mixture of cream and milk. I stirred the wet ingredients into the dry, and added a couple of splashes of milk to thoroughly moisten everything.
I lined a pan with foil and dusted it with flour, and divided the dough into two. I patted them into rounds and brushed them with milk and sprinkled them with sugar. I cut each round into 6 wedges and separated them so they wouldn't grow together during baking. After freezing them for 30 minutes as the recipe instructed, I baked them for 22 minutes at 425F, turning the pan by 180 degrees halfway through. They browned really well on top, which never happens for me; perhaps it was because they were in a different oven than I usually use. If I had checked them at 20 minutes, I probably would have taken them out then - a good reminder to always check baked goods at the minimum baking time.
The scones tasted of toasty almonds, and you could also clearly taste the citrusy lemon zest. They were still tender and moist, although they also had a little less moisture than I normally have in my scones. I particularly enjoyed the addition of figs. They had less sugar than I usually have in my scones, and since I usually don't garnish my scones with butter or cream, I think I might add a little more next time. This was a pretty easy scones recipe to make, and everyone complimented them. I'd definitely make this recipe again.
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