Shamrock-shaped Maple Cinnamon Scones

Baked maple scones, take one

Start your Saint Patrick’s Day off right with a breakfast that includes shamrock-shaped maple scones. Don’t have a shamrock-shaped cookie cutter? That’s OK. They’ll taste just as good cut into triangles.


Shamrock shaped maple scones, take five

The Story

This was my first time making (and eating) scones, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. However, I do know I can expect a yummy bottle of authentic New England maple syrup from my mom each year for Christmas. Since I live in Iowa, and my mom is in New Hampshire, the gift of real maple syrup is a real treat.

This year I received two quarts! Even though Christmas was three months ago, I still have plenty of maple syrup. I’ve made pancakes and waffles many times to go with it, but I thought it was time to try something new. Maple scones seemed a perfect solution.

These scones far exceeded my expectations. They were light and crispy outside. Inside they were moist and chewy. They were more like a cookie than a biscuit. Who doesn’t like a cookie for breakfast?

Shamrock shaped maple scones, take three

The Moral of the Story

Speaking of breakfast, remember that Life cereal commercial where the kids wouldn’t eat the cereal so they pass it off to Mikey? “He won’t eat it. He hates everything,” they declared. Then they were surprised when he did like it. I was also surprised by how much I loved these scones.

The moral of the story is “try it; you might like it.”

About the Recipe

I started with a maple cinnamon scone recipe from Food.com and made a few variations of my own, including:

  • Baking them at a higher temperature and for a shorter duration. I was hungry and couldn’t wait.
  • Brushing them with heavy cream and sprinkling them with cinnamon sugar before baking – instead of brushing them with egg per the original recipe.
  • Using vanilla extract instead of almond.
  • Cutting them into shamrock shapes instead of triangles. It is Saint Patrick’s Day after all.

The Cast of Characters

Real New England mape syrup

Real, honest New England maple syrup was the hero in this story. If you don’t have the real stuff, you can always call in a stunt double and use the fake stuff. However, don’t let the Just Say No to Fake Maple Syrup group on Facebook know you are doing it.

The Play-by-Play

Sift together your flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
Sifting the dry ingredients

With a pastry blender, blend in the butter like you would when making pie crust.
Blending in the butter

In another bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, cream and vanilla.
Giving maple syrup and cream a whisk

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir to form a dough.
Mixing in the maple syrup

On a floured surface, knead the dough into a disk.
Maple scone dough, take one

With a rolling pin, roll the disk to about 1/2 inch thick.
Rolling maple scone dough, take one

Cut the dough into the shape you desire. I picked shamrock.
Shamrock shaped maple scones, take six

Place the scones on a baking sheet, and brush them with heavy cream.
Brushing cream on maple scone

Sprinkle the scones with cinnamon sugar.
Sugar sprinkled maple scones, take three

Bake for 10 minutes.
Maple scones in oven

Remove from them from the pan. Let them cool on a wire rack.
Baked maple scones, take two

Top them with your favorite icing. I used a maple cream cheese icing.
Maple scones with red and gold sprinkles

Recipe: Maple Cinnamon Scones

Summary: A light, crispy, moist and chewy maple scone.

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 ¼ tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425.
  2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  3. With a pastry blender or fork, blend the butter into the flour mixture.
  4. In another bowl, whisk together the cream, maple syrup and vanilla.
  5. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients to form the dough.
  6. On a floured board, knead the dough a few times and roll into a ½ inch thick disk.
  7. Cut the scones into the shape you want.
  8. Bake for 10 minutes.

The Footnotes

  • About the baking time and temperature: I reviewed several scone recipes before making these. They all had different temperatures and baking times. I picked a shorter baking time from a scone recipe in The Fannie Farmer Baking Book because I was hungry and didn’t want to wait too long for my scones. I also read on the Joy of Baking website that scones should be baked in a hot oven to help them set quickly.
  • About keeping them moist: I definitely recommend making them with heavy cream and brushing them with a little extra cream before baking. I think this helped to keep them moist.
  • About the icing on the scone: For even more maple flavor, top your scones with maple cream cheese icing.
Number of servings (yield): 12

Meal type: breakfast

My rating: 5 stars:  ★★★★★ 1 review(s)

Additional Resources

Here are more scone recipes from a few of my favorite food bloggers. This list includes a mix of sweet and savory variations. Now that I know scones are so easy to make and tasty too, I can’t wait to try more ways to make them.

Sweet Scones

Savory Scones


What’s your favorite way to make scones?

Published by Lori

I'm the "girl" in Girl Meets Oven.

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