Dates. In scones. It is tasty. This was my first time baking with dates and it certainly won’t be the last. They add a delicious caramel-like flavor, and in this recipe I include them in two forms: chopped dates and date syrup. YUM. To develop the base for this recipe I used machine learning. You can read more about how I do that here and here. That explains some of the strange ingredient amounts below. Also, if you were wondering, the name of this recipe can be interpreted as either “Save the Date” Scones or “Save the Date Scones! They’re gonna get eaten!”. Needless to say, these are a tasty treat any date of the year.
And now, I present to you, the recipe. If you make it I’d love to see your pictures. Tag me on Instagram at @sararob.
Save the Date Scones
Difficulty: Easy10
small scones25
minutes13
minutesIngredients
2 cups self-rising flour (232 grams). If you don’t have this, you can make it by mixing regular flour with baking soda and salt.
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour (22 grams)
2.5 tablespoons demerara sugar (34 grams). You can use any type of brown sugar instead.
2 teaspoons granulated or caster sugar (10 grams)
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons butter (46 grams)
2 tablespoons lightly beaten egg (30 grams)
1/2 teaspoon olive or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sour cream, room temperature (32 grams)
3 tablespoons heavy cream (42 grams)
1/8 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons date syrup, I love Soom
1/3 cup chopped medjool dates (85 grams). These should be pitted and soaked in hot water (see method)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F / 220 C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons beaten egg, oil, sour cream, heavy cream, and vanilla until fully combined and no lumps remain. Set aside. It may seem strange not to use a full egg, but just roll with it.
- Place the dates in a bowl and cover them with hot water (doesn’t need to be boiling). Set aside and let soften.
- In a large bowl, whisk both flours, sugars, and baking powder until combined. With your hands, mix small chunks of butter until integrated into the flour mixture and no large pieces remain. Pour in the wet ingredients and combine with a spoon. Once the mixture starts to combine, knead with your hands for 1-2 minutes until most of the flour is incorporated. It will still be a bit dry. Do not fear, moisture is coming.
- Drizzle the date syrup over the dough mixture and incorporate with your hands, 1 teaspoon at a time until the dough has a nice marbled look.
- On a clean work surface, roll out the dough until it is about 2cm (3/4 inch) thick. With a 5cm (2 inch) circular cutter, cut circles out of the dough. If you don’t have a circular cutter you can use the top of a glass, or you can make these triangular scones (see the notes). Once you’ve cut as many circles as you can, re-roll the dough and cut again.
- Place the scones on a baking sheet and bake for 12-13 minutes until the scones are golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack. They taste the best served fresh out of the oven with a bit of butter. Enjoy!
Notes
- I’m a big fan of measuring ingredients in grams. Would highly recommend for this (or any other) recipe!
- You can also make these as triangular scones. Roll the dough into a circle roughly 2cm (3/4 inch) thick, and slice as you would a pizza. Baking time will be slightly longer than the recipe calls for, about 3-4 minutes more.
