Hazelnut Espresso Scones

Weekend mornings are not complete without a morning cappuccino. Over the years, I’ve thought about getting a professional espresso machine that will do all the brewing and frothing for me, but so far, my stovetop espresso maker and a handheld frother has been doing a fabulous job. A few years ago I bought a book about espresso that had many different recipes in it, and always wanted to try a few of them, but never got around to it. Finally last weekend, I decided to finally make one of the recipes in the book that I thought would go perfectly with my morning cappuccino – Hazelnut Espresso Scones.

The smell of the roasted hazelnuts filled the house for the rest of the day – it smelled so delicious. The hazelnuts were so easy to chop after being roasted and the made a nice crunching sound 🙂

The recipe didn’t call for an egg wash, but seeing as the scones looked a bit dry before they were baked, I thought an egg wash may give them a nice brown surface.

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The recipe calls for almost as much crushed hazelnuts in the dough as it does of flour, so the finished product is VERY hazelnutty, which for me, was great because I love hazelnuts. It was definitely made for having with a warm drink – a coffee or tea, as it was on the dry side. I also substituted honey for sugar to cut down on the processed sugar. Overall, I think these scones make a great breakfast with the morning coffee or a snack with tea.

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For high resolution images, please click on each photo

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RECIPE

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Hazelnut Espresso Scones

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups ( ounces) hazelnuts

• 1 1/2 tbls espresso beans

• 1/3 cup milk

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

• 1 tbls baking powder

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 8 tbls cold unsalted butter

• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place the hazelnuts and espresso beans in separate shallow baing pans and place them in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Wrap the nuts in a clean disk towel and let cool. Rub the nuts between the cloth or your hands to remove the dark brown skins. Chop the nuts coarsely by hand or in a blender or food processor; grind the espresso beans very finely in a coffee grinder.

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Turn the oven up to 400 F. In a small bowl, combine the milk and brewed espresso. Add the ground espresso beans and set aside. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal.…

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Add the hazelnuts and brown sugar, mixing lightly just to blend. Add the espresso mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Place the dough on a lightly floured board, knead into a ball and form into a 7-inch round. Cut the round into 6-8 wedges and place them slightly apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a scone comes out clean. Let cool slightly on a wire rack. Makes 6-8 large scones. Serve warm or at room temperature.