This week's Baked Sunday Mornings recipe, in honor of the Lunar New Year, is Chinese Five Spice Sesame Scones. Even though we keep Chinese Five Spice in our pantry, I have never used it before and I wasn't sure how it would taste in scones -- it didn't seem very appealing, though.
The recipe is straightforward. You mix together all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, five spice powder, salt, and cooled toasted sesame seeds); cut in cold butter; and incorporate buttermilk and an egg yolk. The recipe says it makes eight scones but I made twelve slightly smaller ones instead; I shaped the dough into two disks and cut each one into six wedges. I brushed each scone with buttermilk and sprinkled them with demerara sugar before baking.
I was impressed that the scones held their shape perfectly in the oven, even though I didn't chill or freeze them beforehand. The baking scones filled my kitchen with an earthy, cinnamon aroma that could easily have been mistaken for oatmeal cookies. And when I tasted a scone, the hearty texture and warm spice still reminded me of an oatmeal cookie, despite the lack oatmeal.
I liked these scones quite a bit. The Chinese five spice I used is from Penzey's and contains a mix of cinnamon, star anise, anise seed, ginger, and cloves. It gave the scones a pleasantly warm and mild flavor. The scone was a bit dry -- I like scones to be crumbly, but in the sense that they should be so tender that you can break off a bit at the slightest touch. These scones were crumbly in the sense that they created a ton of crumbs and made a huge mess while you ate one. My favorite part was the interesting texture from the sesame seeds.
I have a made a lot of different types of scones and I can't say that these are on the top of my favorites list -- but they were a tasty surprise that exceeded my expectations.
Recipe: "Chinese Five Spice Sesame Scones" from Baked Occasions by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at Baked Sunday Mornings.
Previous Posts:
The recipe is straightforward. You mix together all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, five spice powder, salt, and cooled toasted sesame seeds); cut in cold butter; and incorporate buttermilk and an egg yolk. The recipe says it makes eight scones but I made twelve slightly smaller ones instead; I shaped the dough into two disks and cut each one into six wedges. I brushed each scone with buttermilk and sprinkled them with demerara sugar before baking.
I liked these scones quite a bit. The Chinese five spice I used is from Penzey's and contains a mix of cinnamon, star anise, anise seed, ginger, and cloves. It gave the scones a pleasantly warm and mild flavor. The scone was a bit dry -- I like scones to be crumbly, but in the sense that they should be so tender that you can break off a bit at the slightest touch. These scones were crumbly in the sense that they created a ton of crumbs and made a huge mess while you ate one. My favorite part was the interesting texture from the sesame seeds.
I have a made a lot of different types of scones and I can't say that these are on the top of my favorites list -- but they were a tasty surprise that exceeded my expectations.
Recipe: "Chinese Five Spice Sesame Scones" from Baked Occasions by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at Baked Sunday Mornings.
Previous Posts:
- "If Life Gives You Lemon Curd, Make Scones: Proof's Bakery Scones," November 19, 2015.
- "Fall Baking Season Has Arrived: Pumpkin Harvest Scones," September 28, 2015.
- "Baked Sunday Mornings: Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones," October 14, 2012.
- "Sweets from Sweetie Pies: Orange-Currant Scones," July 19, 2011.
- "Baked Sunday Mornings: Carrot Coconut Scones with Citrus Glaze," April 10, 2011.
- "The Baked Bakealong Begins: Nutella Scones," November 21, 2010.
Comments