Date Scones

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Hello dear reader, how I have missed you. It’s been a while, and life has taken many new directions for all of us. I’m happy to be back here in this happy space we share, even if I’m physically on the other side of the globe!

We’ve been in New Zealand exploring (hello forest waterfalls and empty beaches) and loving (my new skincare regimen aka humidity) and learning about our surroundings and ourselves (!!) as much as possible for 6 weeks now. And (of course) all the newness and change can be daunting and challenging at times, which is why I think we’ve been so good at finding comfort in exploring food and our new waistlines.

The small coastal town we’re staying in has a huge array of cuisines; Thai, Indian, Greek, Italian…even an Irish bar and a Dutch Cheese shop. One thing we’ve noticed in particular in every town is the cafes. So many cafes and bakeries. And in each one of those cafes is a date scone.

Dates! Giant figgy raisins? Smoothie sweeteners? To me, they’re the creamy inside swirl of a Christmas pinwheel cookie that my mom has made yearly since I can remember. And scones, I love scones with every fiber of my being. But I cannot say I’ve ever had a date scone before this trip. So of course we’ve been deep in our research to find the very best one in town, and wow did we find it. It is light and airy and flakes apart filling the air with a buttery aroma. And I felt called to re-create it for you. For us!

So I leave you with this, a new recipe to try and a grocery list of some very important ingredients. Find the most golden salted butter you can find, it may very likely be from New Zealand, it should be wrapped in gold foil or thick waxy paper. Find a rich heavy golden cream. Like the color of homemade vanilla ice cream. And big juicy medjool dates. All the beautiful ingredients from all over the world. They will not be on sale. You will get them anyway.

Happy baking!

What You'll Need

Makes 8 scones

All Purpose Flour - 2 cups

Sugar - 3 Tablespoons

Salt (coarse) - 1/2 teaspoon

Baking Powder - 1 Tablespoon

Salted Butter - 5 Tablespoons, cubed and chilled

Cream - 1 cup

Medjool Dates - 1/4 cup (about 3 large), chopped

Demerara Sugar (or turbinado) - 1 Tablespoon

What You'll Do

1. In a large bowl whisk together dry ingredients.

2. Add cold butter pieces and work butter in with fingertips, until mostly combined while leaving a few larger chunks.

3. Add chopped dates and chill entire bowl in freezer for about 10 minutes.

4. After chilling, add cream and use your hand to mix most of the way in the bowl.

5. Transfer to counter to fully combine and fold together. Fold dough 5 times, gently patting dough out in between each fold. Shape into a rectangle that will cut into 8 equal squares.

6. Brush or drizzle 1/2 Tablespoon of cream on top, then sprinkle Demerara sugar on top before cutting.

7. Place squares on parchment lined baking sheet with space in between and put entire baking sheet in freezer while your oven heats up. Chill for at least 10 min.

8. Bake fan forced (convection) at 400 F or 200 C for 15-17 minutes.

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