Sourdough Savoury Scones

Customer Appreciation Day: Saturday, 10/24

I am pretty sure that scones are the king of confections… or, maybe biscuits… or all you Central Oregonians might say the Ocean Roll from Sparrow Bakery, and fight me if I were to suggest anything else. Well, since we can’t fight about it (due to social distancing protocol), I am sure we can all agree that bacon wins cured meats. Okay, we are all on the same page now. (Whew! Sigh, that was close)

So I think my scone love started when I lived in New Zealand. I lived and worked at one of the top restaurants in the country, and everything we used was grown on property or within just a few kms. I’m talking meat, dairy, grains, produce, all of it. It was the most incredible experience! I would go in and we would start the sourdoughs in the morning and prep for breakfast service. The owner’s mother would come down every morning and make savoury scones for breakfast and tea service. They were divine! I loved that they were fluffy, tender, and that she made them from memory, no recipe needed. The ingredients were whatever was in season today, which is a sentiment I still hold dear in my cooking.

There is always room to fudge a recipe to what you have on hand, and don’t let anyone tell you differently! This recipe was really fun to create and trying my hand at some homemade beet powder was a quarantine event! I hope you enjoy… Sarahlee did 😉

Sourdough Savoury Scones
-Makes 8 scones

Ingredients:

300 grams AP flour (med packed 2.5 cups)
1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons beet powder
20 basil leaves chiffonade
6 green onions sliced thin
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons salt
8 oz package bacon, crisped and chopped into crumbles
6 oz frozen butter food processed into shredded
1/8th cup frozen bacon fat food processed into shredded
1/3 cup of buttermilk or plain kefir
1 cup sourdough starter, unfed

Steps:
  1. Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, beet powder, basil, green onions, garlic, and bacon)
  2. Run frozen butter and frozen bacon fat or lard through a food processor or hand shred through a cheese grater. Just be quick performing the latter, as you want it to be still very cold!
  3. Add frozen butter, unfed sourdough starter, and buttermilk or kefir to dry ingredients and mix until all ingredients are just incorporated. This is a wet dough that you want to keep as crumbly as possible. This will ensure that the fats melt while baking and the scone will be tender and fluffy.
  4. Press into a glass pie dish lined with parchment paper. Freeze for at least a half hour.
  5. Remove and cut into 8 pieces. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  6. Optionally, brush with an egg wash to give that finished, glistening scone look
  7. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until brown.

I hope you enjoy
Cheers!
-@theprimalfocus