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.
Fig and Toasted Almond Scones (on much nicer china than I use)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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