Peppered Pear & Goat Cheese Scones
Time for another foray into the world of scones. This time, let's break with tradition but adding some savory ingredients like black pepper and goat cheese. These two ingredients, combined with ripe pears, form an intriguing combination which is surprisingly like wine - different flavor elements come through when eating at different temperatures.
For example, when served warm, you get more pear aroma and smooth goat cheese.
When cooled to room temperature, the pepper is much more prominent and the once genteel scone becomes a little racy. Okay, so maybe not quite racy. It is still a scone. But it does have an unexpected kick which can get quite addictive.
That being said, the only downside to these scones is that they are quite unique, which means it's actually kind of difficult to find a tea to pair with them. Unless you go straight black tea like English Breakfast. Then there aren't competing flavors, but I can't say that it particularly enhances the experience. But hey, there might be a pear tea somewhere that I have never met which would be perfect. (Most of the pear tea's I've tried are white teas and don't quite hold up to the spice. But who knows?)
Okay, enough of my opinions. Let us bake (note - aprons are not optional)
Preheat your oven and prep the pears.
Get out the trusty food processor. Dump in the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and pepper) and pulse a few times until mixed.
Add the butter and pulse until cut into small pieces, the largest the size of peas.
Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the milk, buttermilk, pears and goat cheese.
Just like most scone recipes, the dough will be super dry and crumbly. So crumbly in fact that this doesn't form into a disc that can be cut into triangles. Rather, you will have to squeeze together lumps into individual balls.
Time to bake.
To be fair, you shouldn't do what you see here and throw them on an unlined baking sheet or they will stick. But I was at my sister's house and there was no parchment paper or silicone mats to be had. So we had to scrape them off the sheet.
The trials and tribulations of my life...
Bake until golden brown.
Enjoy with a hot beverage of choice.
For example, when served warm, you get more pear aroma and smooth goat cheese.
When cooled to room temperature, the pepper is much more prominent and the once genteel scone becomes a little racy. Okay, so maybe not quite racy. It is still a scone. But it does have an unexpected kick which can get quite addictive.
That being said, the only downside to these scones is that they are quite unique, which means it's actually kind of difficult to find a tea to pair with them. Unless you go straight black tea like English Breakfast. Then there aren't competing flavors, but I can't say that it particularly enhances the experience. But hey, there might be a pear tea somewhere that I have never met which would be perfect. (Most of the pear tea's I've tried are white teas and don't quite hold up to the spice. But who knows?)
Okay, enough of my opinions. Let us bake (note - aprons are not optional)
Preheat your oven and prep the pears.
Get out the trusty food processor. Dump in the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and pepper) and pulse a few times until mixed.
Add the butter and pulse until cut into small pieces, the largest the size of peas.
Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the milk, buttermilk, pears and goat cheese.
Just like most scone recipes, the dough will be super dry and crumbly. So crumbly in fact that this doesn't form into a disc that can be cut into triangles. Rather, you will have to squeeze together lumps into individual balls.
Time to bake.
To be fair, you shouldn't do what you see here and throw them on an unlined baking sheet or they will stick. But I was at my sister's house and there was no parchment paper or silicone mats to be had. So we had to scrape them off the sheet.
The trials and tribulations of my life...
Bake until golden brown.
Enjoy with a hot beverage of choice.
Peppered Pear and Goat Cheese Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup butter, frozen
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 pear, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
- 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- In a food processor combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and pepper. Pulse a few times until combined. Add cold butter and pulse until butter is cut to the size of peas.
- Transfer mixture to a large bowl and stir in buttermilk, milk, pear and goat cheese crumbles. Stir until just combined. Note: dough will be very dry.
- Form dough into 2-3" individual mounds and place on baking sheet lined with silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown.
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