Brown Butter and Oat Scones
These Brown Butter Oatmeal Scones are fantastic in the morning. Add some homemade jam or butter and you’re set!
Brown Butter Oatmeal Scones Recipe
Thursday night I went to bed determined to wake up in the morning and rhapsodize about brown butter and teff flour. Culinary alchemy. A magical Ethiopian grass seed. Then that morning came and something extraordinary happened.
Diane asked to put on the news. “Something’s happened in Eygpt.”
The next four hours I watched. Images, jubilation, dreams. Hardened reporters used to journalizing terrors, suffering, and troubles surrounded by celebration. Exhilaration. Even though the embedded reporters maintained a professional documentation of everything happening around them, I could feel their watcher’s souls glowing. The day was extraordinary.
In this moment, the importance of writing about food seemed trivial. Not that food isn’t important, or our sharing of recipes and stories isn’t something precious to wrap our hearts around. But this moment of what had just happened in Egypt superseded all of that.
Wishing for Peace in the World
A peaceful revolution. Peaceful. In a land torn and surrounded by violence. Where wills are imposed down the barrel of a gun or through fear of a bombing. The people had the courage to stand up for hope and humanity and demand it be given to them.
The were attacked. Provocations thrown at them. Fear dangled in front of them. Over the last 18 days, their courage, heart, and hopes were tested to the limits, but they stood strong. Reporters commented on seeing secret police questioning and opening noting those participating. If the revolution failed, payback would be a bitch.
Reporters themselves were tossed in jail, only to be later freed due to protestors standing up for the media’s sake and helping protecting them. The military rolled in on their vehicles of destruction, but instead of imposing terror, remained passive. Refusing to fire on the people they were supposed to be serving.
Volunteers checked people joining the demonstrations for weapons, helping maintain a revolution that would have brought joy to Ghandi’s heart. At night streets were patrolled by vigilante protectors, keeping ill-meaning scavengers from preying on the chaotic and emotional happenings.
All of this happening was virtually unimaginable a short time ago. Who would have thought in land of one of the oldest societies, facebook, twitter, and the internet would be instrumental in enabling a revolution. Youth who have grown up not even know what hope is, have given it to millions around the world.
We have no personal ties with anyone Egyptian. No connection other than we are all human. And I was struck to the core by what I witnessed. The future is still to be determined. There will be many more struggles and time will determine the significance of the revolution. But at least for now, hope and joy is spreading through the world.
Since the recipe for Brown Butter Oatmeal Scones is ready, we are still ending this post it. There will be those readers whose care is for the recipes, not our ramblings. And we are cool with that. Thank you to those have the time and interest in our chatter. Today this just seemed too important not to share.
– Todd
Brown Butter and Oat Scone Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 oz (115g) unsalted Butter
- 1/2 cup (65g) Teff Flour
- 1 cup (125g) All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup (50g) whole Rolled Oats
- 1/4 cup (55g) Brown Sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) Sugar
- 2 teaspoons (10g) Baking Powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons (6 g) Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
- 1/2 cup (120ml) Heavy Cream
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) pure Vanilla Extract
- heavy cream for brushing
- sugar , granulated or superfine sugar
Instructions
Make Brown Butter
- At least a couple hours before making dough, melt butter in a tall saucepan over medium heat. Swirl butter occasionally to promote even melting and browning.
- Cook until butter is a light caramel color and bottom of pan is covered in dark brown flecks. Butter will have a toasty smell. (Butter will first bubble up and sizzle, then settle down with the solids floating on the surface. Keep cooking until nice and toasty, without burning the solids.)
- Pour butter into a wide, shallow dish, scraping the flecks on the bottom of the pan into the butter, and freeze until solid. This can be done a day or more ahead of time.
Make Scones
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or rub with butter
- Combine flours, oats, sugars, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Cut the chilled brown butter into pea-sized pieces, then add to dry mix. Using your fingers, pinch butter into dry mix until it resembles a coarse meal. (This can all be combined in a food processor as alternative method)
- In a small bowl, whisk together heavy cream, egg, and vanilla extract until well combined. Add wet mix into dry mix and stir until just incorporated.
- Put dough ball on a well floured surface and pat into a 7" wide by 1" thick disk. Cut into 8 wedges.
- Place wedges on baking sheet, spacing a few inches apart. Brush with a couple light coats of heavy cream, then sprinkle sugar over wedges. Bake for until the edges of the scones have browned nicely, about 28-34 minutes. The scones are better slightly over-baked than under-baked.
Nutrition Information per Serving
Hope you enjoy these Brown Butter Oatmeal Scones. Here’s more scone recipe ideas for you.
Hi! These scones look wonderful and I’d like to make them, but what is teff flour? I’m not familiar with it in Canada? Thanks so much.
Teff is an ancient grain, native to Ethiopia. Bob’s Red Mill carries it, so you might be able to get it from them or a store which carries their products if you wanted to try it. (I don’t know if their online store ships to Canada or not, but they are carried in retailers in Canada). Some people will substitute 1 part whole wheat flour and 1 part rye flour to create a similar taste. Good luck!
Was just looking for a brown butter scone recipe because a shop on the opposite side of town from me reportedly makes a wonderful version. So I thought it would be much easier to grab an on-line recipe and make some myself. I also have been meaning to find a few thoughtful blogs to begin reading to help me de-stress and explore the things I have been meaning to and just to read ‘happy’. Who knew I could find that all in one place? So I may be a bit out of order compared to some of the other comments because I started by looking for the recipe: but I LOVE the beautiful breakfast-y photos so early in the a.m. – and the recipe is just what I was looking for and the writing, just your days thoughts, nice to take in. Very late post I know, but blame it on the brown butter scones! I will get current and like you on Facebook. Thanks for posting!
I am a week late to this post, but find it well written and very balanced.
Because I am so late none of your commenters will read what I take issue in: the praise of the social media. Not facebook, twitter or anything else started this revolution but the Egyptian people – even more so, when you consider the fact that the regime had shut down the internet for quite some time.
Your pictures are amazing. I don’t live in a country where scones are eaten so I don’t really know what to aim for when making some myself. Thank you for sharing – both the story and the recipe!
Question on the recipe: can I substitute whole wheat flour for the teff flour? I’ve cooked with teff grain but not with the flour so I’m not sure of the weight conversion. Thx!
We haven’t played with substitutions for the teff flour yet. We’re guessing it should work fine as a direct substitute. If you try it, let us know how it turns out.
I did a direct substitute with whole-wheat flour. Judging from your photo and from my dough, mine was much drier pre-baking. Baked, the crumb was still moist but the scones did not hold together very well. Maybe another egg would help? I enjoyed them with and without jam.
I adore you people. Your hearts, your minds, photographs, and even your recipes move me. Thank you for your thoughtful words and insights on this monumental day in history. Here’s to the peaceful revolutions. xoxox
Thank you for your thoughts on the peaceful revolution in Egypt which transfixed the world. I am not Egyptian nor do I have any ties to Egypt but was equally struck by the significance of this event. Thank you!
Love, love, love your blog!!!! Nice to meet you! Kind regards from Spain.
Marta
Wow, what a gorgeous recipe & post. This is my first time on your blog, and it’s fabulous. Thanks so much for sharing!
The more I explore your website the more I fall in love with it. Beautiful post and scrumptious recipe. I have been following the events in Egypt since the beginning, I also don’t have ties to Egypt, but it is so warming to see that people didn’t not give up. What a world we live in where social media plays such a big role in the lives of so many.
Thank you! I believe you echoed the sentiments of many of us, even those of us considering how to honor this spectacular event in words on our own blogs, but I could certainly not have conveyed the events and the joy so eloquently. Thank you again. G