Maple Pecan Scones, Vermont Style

I ran across a recipe for Maple Pecan Scones recently with a mouth-watering photo and "pinned" it onto Pinterest, only to discover as I studied it further that the recipe didn't use any of our treasured Vermont maple syrup! I looked at another version from a local flour company, and it wasn't much better. So I finally found one that I could adapt to my kitchen with Green Mountain integrity (smile). Here we go.

Preheat the oven to 450 and lay a half sheet of parchment paper onto an insulated cookie sheet (or lightly grease a scone pan).

Mix 2 cups flour; 1 Tbsp baking powder. Cut in 5 Tbsp cold butter.

Crush 1/2 cup pecans (I do mine in a plastic bag, with the rolling pin - quick, and no added implements to wash) and stir into the flour mix.

Mix 1 cup half-and-half with 1/4 cup maple syrup, then add to flour/nuts mix and toss together. Shape as desired. Bake 12-14 minutes.

When mostly cool, top with glaze: 6 Tbsp confectioner's sugar, 2 Tbsp maple syrup (it whisks together very nicely and makes a good consistency to drizzle).

[Note: Any butter that seems to "melt out" during baking with soak back into the scones as they cool a bit -- no worries!]

Apple Pie for Breakfast: Updated to Challah French Toast with Apple Maple Compote

My sister Kit loved to be outrageous at age 10 (it maybe hasn't all worn off!) and was the first in our family to declare that she wanted pie for breakfast. And she got it!

Now it's apple season in my Vermont kitchen and I thought of Kit this morning while working on a vision of our usual Challah French Toast (the traditional egg-rich challah bread is especially good for soaking up the French toast egg-milk-vanilla blend) with an apple topping. It turned out the compote takes about 15 minutes, including the apple peeling, and it fits well with making the coffee, slicing the bread, beating up the French toast dunking mix (I use a blender to beat 5 eggs with a splash of milk and half teaspoon of vanilla, then pour into a pie pan and dip the sliced bread into it, before cooking with a smidgin of butter on a flat pancake grill).

Special credit to Marceau Sugaring of Peacham, Vermont, where we purchase our maple syrup.

APPLE MAPLE COMPOTE

Peel and slice (leaving out the cores) 5-7 apples, enough to make 4 cups of thick chunky slices.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 Tablespoons butter. Add the apples and sauté gently for 5 minutes.

Splash in 1/2 cup maple syrup, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg, stir gently, and turn off the heat but let the pan sit there, keeping warm.

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Now, make the French toast and add the compote on top. It's like warm apple pie for Sunday morning breakfast. Thinking of you, Kit!