Fig & Brown Butter Scones are a classic buttermilk scone layered fresh figs, browned butter, cinnamon, cardamom, and a brush of raw sugar.
There is a small window in mid September, where fresh figs are available in abundance for one more huzzah. Figs are tossed into everything…salads, chicken, yogurt bowls…..or simply drizzled with honey and a fleck of flakey salt for an afternoon snack. Here in Massachusetts, Autumn feels like it has suddenly arrived; New England is slowly waking up to dark, crisp, foggy mornings…giving me the urge to bake. I want figs cozied up in scones…brown butter scones. Fig & Brown Butter Scones are THE thing to bake this autumn. They are warm, rich, and cozy. Perfect with coffee or a cup of black tea on a crisp New England morning.
Scones are my favorite baked good to make…period. They are a love language in their own right. Rubbing the butter together with the flour, forming them. The whole movement is a methodical, mind melding trance. They are delicate and personable.
You’ll Love Fig & Brown Butter Scones
Scones were one of the most beloved, best selling items at Wild Heart Baked Goods because they are not the typical American scone but more British in style, texture and flavor. Every once in a while, I get the itch to create a new scone….so here it is.
There are many many reasons why you’ll fall in love with my Fig & Brown Butter Scones. Fresh, ripe figs are bright and floral against the autumn flavors and warmth of brown butter in this scone. Now, you can simply add regular butter into this recipe and they will be delicious. However, I highly….highly…very highly….recommend you go that extra teeeeeeeeny mile and brown the butter for these scones. It really will change you life…or at least……your scones. Browning butter creates little flecks of deep, nutty notes of caramel . It embraces everything autumn, everything a warm hug should feel like, and everything a scone should include. Freshly ground cardamom also sets this scone a part. I love freshly ground cardamom because the flavor is more fragrant and the texture is really lovely. Its rough…some of the spice turns to powder and some stays in tiny bits; releasing different tones of flavor in your baking. Of course, if you don’t have freshly ground cardamom that you ground yourself in your mortar and pestle…Ina Garten would say “store bought is just fine.” Most importantly, like a true British scone, my Fig & Brown Butter Scones are low in sugar and high on buttery flakiness.
Fig & Brown Butter Scones are THE thing to bake this autumn. They are warm, rich, and cozy. Perfect with coffee or a cup of black tea. Enjoy and happy autumn!
The Secret To Perfectly Flakey Scones
What makes my scones so light, so tender? I adhere to the classical rules of Southern Biscuits. After all, scones are just a biscuit’s boujee cousin.
Everything must be super cold. Make sure your buttermilk is straight from the fridge, your butter is super cold or frozen into teeny bits. During the summer months, I actually put my dry ingredients into a bowl and pop them in the freezer for 10 minutes so I have a cold bowl and cold flour to work with.
Light Hand: To obtain perfect scone texture, handle the dough as little as possible and as delicately as possible. Overworked dough develops gluten structure and yields a tougher scone.
Layer Building: Cutting the dough up and stacking it, then patting it down ensures loads of layers in your scone dough. (see photo below and above)
Never Twist: If using a cookie/biscuit cutter for your scones, never twist the cutter to cut your scone. Ever. I mean ever. Just press it down into the dough firmly.
Chill Out: Form your scones, then place them on a cookie sheet in the freezer for about 10 minutes. This will ensure your butter is cold again and your scone will puff up nicely in the oven.
Fig & Brown Butter Scones
Ingredients
- 1 stick (113 grams) butter very cold, in small pieces
- 2¼ Cups (359 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon (31 grams) raw sugar plus more for topping scones
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk very cold, plus more for topping scones
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 220 grams fresh figs cut into ½ inch pieces (4 very large figs)
Instructions
To brown the butter:
- Place butter in an 8 inch skillet, over medium heat. Stir the butter gently until fully melted. (make sure to use a metal or light colored skillet)
- Continue gently stirring the butter as it simmers and slightly foams, about 6-8 minutes. The butter will start to form brown bits on the bottom of the skillet and smell toasted and nutty.
- Remove from the heat and carefully pour the butter into a metal or glass shallow dish. Allow the butter to cool about ten minutes.
- If you are making the scones right away, transfer the butter container to the freezer and freeze about 10 minutes, or until butter has hardened. If you are making the scones later, chill the butter in the refrigerator until needed.
To make the scones:
- Prepare two 9×13 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place one in the freezer and one on the counter.
- Preheat the oven to 400 °F
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the flour, cardamom, cinnamon, raw sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir well to combine.
- Using a fork, scrape the chilled/frozen butter out of the dish. Break up into pea sized bits.
- Add the butter into the dry ingredients. Using a snapping motion, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until you have bits of flour/butter the size of small peas.
- Add the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Gently stir the dough with a spoon about 5 times until the liquids are absorbed.
- Tip the dough onto you work surface. Gently press the dough together, gathering up all the dry floury bits.
- Pat the dough out roughly into a 10 inch circle. Place ⅓ of the figs onto the left side of the circle and fold the right side over the left side.
- Add the second third of the figs onto the bottom half of the half circle. Flip the top half of the dough down over it.
- Using both hands, press the dough from both sides to form the dough into a rectangle. Cut the rectangle in half widthwise. Place the last third of figs on top of one piece of dough and place the other half piece of dough on top.
- Press the dough from both sides to form a 9 ½ inch long rectangle.
- Cut the dough into thirds and then into quarters, creating 12 square petite scones.
- Place the scones on cookie sheet in the freezer for about 10-13 minutes until thoroughly chilled.
- Remove scones from the freezer and transfer them onto the other cookie sheet. Make sure they are evenly spaced out.
- Brush the tops of the scones with buttermilk and sprinkle them with raw sugar.
- Bake the scones for 18-20 minutes, until the tops are golden and they are firm when poked on top. The sides of the scones should look cooked and there should be no visible raw dough. Remove them from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy promptly!!
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