Starbucks Style Maple Nut Scones

Happy day after Christmas! I hope you had a fantastic Christmas and were able to relax and enjoy friends, family, and delicious food! I was up in Canada with my sister, brother in-law and nephew. It was COLD! My first white Christmas in a long time. What better way to start a chilly morning than with a hearty scone? I particularly enjoy Starbucks scones, my two favorites are their cinnamon chip scones and the maple nut scones. I recently acquired the "Top Secret Recipe's" cookbook, it is chock full of delicious restaurant knockoffs, including several recreations of Starbucks' baked goods. This recipe for their Maple Nut Scones is spot on! The addition of maple flavoring gives the scones and frosting rich flavor and the pecans and oats add a hearty crunch. Now all I need to do is figure out how to make a killer homemade latte....

Maple Nut Scones

Recipe from Top Secret Recipes

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons cold butter

1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1 large egg

2/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup half-and-half

2 teaspoons imitation maple flavoring

Maple Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring

4 teaspoons half-and-half

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the flour, oats, baking powder cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.

Use a pastry knife or a fork to cut the cold butter into the dry mixture (I use a cheese grater and grate the butter in, much easier in my opinion!).

Stir in the chopped walnuts.

Use an electric mixer to combine the egg, brown sugar, half-and-half, and maple flavoring in a medium bowl.

Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and blend with electric mixer until firm, then use your hands to mix the dough until you can form it into a ball.

Pat the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is about 1 1/4 inches thick. Shape the dough into a rectangle, and then cut the dough into 12 small triangles.

Arrange the triangles on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or just until the scones begin to turn light brown on the edges.

As the scones cool, combine the icing ingredients in a bowl.

When scones have cooled, spread with icing.

So tasty...

Where's my latte?