Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 Minutes

Since we moved here in 2000 to start a farm, I occasionally stop and ask myself what I did with my time before crops and children.  Truly, the thought of a day off with no commitments, weeding, chauffeuring, labelling, cooking, or general ‘momming’ is unfathomable.  I love this life and wouldn’t change it for anything but seriously, what did I do with my free time when I lived in the city as a single gal?

I think I recall going out for coffee with friends.  You know, where you sit in a café and linger over a latte and a scone.  You gossip and people watch for as long as you like because your domestic obligations are negligible.  Whatever they are, they can wait.  Perhaps the Sunday Times was nearby and I could read the ENTIRE THING.

These scones are a tribute to those days.  I used the scone recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Kathleen’s Bake Shop (St. Martin’s Press, 1990) and put in dried apricots instead of her raisins and then topped them off with a Ginger Root Infused Maple Syrup glaze.  They are light as air but not bland, with a fruity caramel tinge from the apricots that is perfectly matched with the maple and ginger.  I made a test batch for the crew in the sugarhouse and they were devoured in minutes.   Leisurely jaunts to the café are rare to non-existent right now but that doesn’t mean I can’t make some scones, pour a cup of coffee and sit for five minutes.  Oh crap, I forgot I have to change the laundry.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour

  • 2 Tbsp baking powder

  • ½ tsp salt

  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar

  • ½ cup butter, diced

  • 1 ¾ cup half and half

  • ½ cup chopped dried apricots

  • 3 Tbsp confectioner’s sugar

  • 1 – 2 Tbsp Runamok Ginger Root Infused Maple Syrup

Instructions

  • 1 Preheat oven to 375.  Place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
  • 2 In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. 
  • 3 Add the butter and combine with your fingers until crumbly.  Mix in half and half and stir until well incorporated but don’t overmix.
  • 4 Fold in the chopped apricots.
  • 5 Place the dough on a floured surface and roll it to a thickness of about ¾ inch.  Cut with a 3-inch round cookie cutter (or any shape you like) and put the rounds on the cookie sheet.
  • 6 Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until slightly browned on top and the interior is fully cooked.  Remove from the oven to cool.
  • 7 Mix the confectioners sugar and maple syrup to a very thick consistency (you don’t want it dribbling off the scone.) Spread a thin layer over each scone and serve.