Easy Peaches and Cream Scones

Friends, hi!  I’m sneaking into your summer weekend with a simple offering: peach scones. There’s not a fussy bit about this invitation.  I simply cannot bear formalities (or bras or any clothing that touches my body) this time of year.  The offering is to take a single ripe peach (you likely have one languishing in your crisper) and a pint of cold cream to make a tender little breakfast treat.

Tender in crumb, but also tender in spirit.  These scones are my call from the kitchen to take it slow, steady, and easy these days.

Here’s how!

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make these easy peach scones:

•  all-purpose flour

•  granulated sugar

•  baking powder

•  kosher salt

•  vanilla extract and a splash of almond extract

•  heavy cream

•  a fresh peach, diced

•  sugar in the raw for topping

•  salted butter for serving

* If you’d like to make this recipe gluten-free, I’ve found the best results with Cup4Cup flour and the addition of an egg for binding the dough.

Here’s why this recipe is so easy and (humbly) genius:  Cold cream will take the place of cold butter in this recipe! That means no cutting cold butter into small bits.  In a small bowl whisk together cold cream and vanilla extract. All of the glorious fat in the cream will act as butter in these scones.

In a large bowl, use a fork or whisk to incorporate the dry ingredients. These are the two elements of our easy scone recipe.

Wait, can you uses half and half or whole milk instead of heavy cream? 

Unfortunately no. Go for the good stuff.  We need all of the fat from heavy cream to make these scones tender and cakey!

Add the cream mixture to the flour mixture and stir into a shaggy dough.

Use a sharp knife to dice a ripe peach into small bite-size pieces.  Peel and all – peaches are so lovely this time of year and this whole recipe is meant to be easy.

Divide the dough in two and shape into 6-inch disks.  The dough will feel sticky and that’s right.  Flour your hands and the top of the dough lightly to make the scones easier to handle.  Place each disk of dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cut each disk into six wedges. Separate those wedges from one another by about 1/2 to 1-inch  They’ll still bake together but they like a little space.

Alternately, you can cut the scones into rounds with a well-floured round biscuit cutter.

Brush lightly with more heavy cream and sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar.

Bake these babies until they puffed and golden around the edges.  They’ll look like puffed pieces of cake that have baked together and that’s exactly right.  I slather one of these scones in salted butter as soon as they cool enough for me to tear into one.  No need for the formalities of plates on the weekend.  Serve warm, in multiples, with hot coffee.

Find the peach scone recipe below and leave any questions or successes in the comments! Happy weekend, friends!

xo

Other weekend recipes that might suit you: 

Peach Cobbler Scones

Tiny Strawberry Cream Scones

Maple Blueberry Scones

Peaches and Cream Scones

★★★★★ 5 from 6 reviews

• Author: Joy the Baker

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 3 cups (360 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup (67 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/3 – 1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream, plus more for topping
• 1 ripe peach, diced small
• Turbinado sugar
• Salted butter for serving

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Instructions

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
3. In a liquid measuring cup whisk together 1 1/3 cup cold cream and vanilla extract. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the cream mixture. Use a rubber spatula to combine into a shaggy dough. If the dough seems really dry, add an additional 3 tablespoons of cream if necessary, 1 tablespoon at a time. There shouldn’t be any dry flour at the bottom of the bowl but the dough shouldn’t be too sticky either.
4. Fold in the peach pieces until evenly combined.
5. Lightly flour a clean counter. Divide the dough in half and gently pat into a 5 to 6-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick.
6. Place the two disks on the prepared baking sheet. Brush lightly with heavy cream and sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar.
7. Cut each circle into six wedge and separate so there’s about 1-inch in between each scone.
8. Place the scones and baking sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes while the oven preheats. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
9. Bake chilled scones for 14-16 minutes, rotating once during baking until golden brown and cooked all the way through (there won’t be any wet looking dough on the top).
10. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for just a few minutes before serving warm with butter.
11. Store leftover scones in an airtight container in the refrigerant for up to 3 days. Freeze, double wrapped in plastic wrap and a freezer safe bag for up to 2 weeks. To refresh, place scones on a baking sheet, cover loosely with foil and reheat in a 325 degree F oven for 10 minutes or so, until heated through.

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