You guys. This is seriously important: I sauteed pears with cinnamon, ginger, and maple syrup then folded them into kerrygold butter-laden, whole wheat, candied ginger-studded scones. AND THEN. 
Oh, and then I did something even better. I drizzled them with a caramel sauce made out of almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and cardamom and ohmygod this is possibly the easiest, most magically delicious caramel sauce I have ever made. Note to self: make a quadruple batch of this to keep in the fridge for drizzling over ice cream, yogurt, oatmeal, and every brownie for the rest of forever. 
Can you tell I’m proud of myself? I really am. There typically aren’t pears laying around in the house; unless I’m specifically buying them for a recipe, I don’t tend to get excited about pears. For some reason, though, the speckled brown skin of the Bosc pears at Atlas Farm stuck out to me last week, so I grabbed a couple. I was originally going to make an apple-pear crumble with them, but ended up eating all the apples before getting around to making dessert. Then, for no apparent reason, I woke up Saturday morning craving scones, and an idea started to form in my mind for these beauties. 
I wasn’t entirely sure what form these scones would take, but I was sure of a few things. I knew I wanted to saute the pears first to ensure they were completely soft and caramelized before getting tucked into the thick, soft, buttery scone batter. I also knew from the start that I wanted some sort of icing on top of the scones. I’m usually content to smear scones with butter and call it a day, but my heart was calling for a sweet sticky icing, and I couldn’t possibly deny my heart it’s deepest wishes.
Life lesson for the week: follow your hearts, people. They might lead you directly to maple cardamom caramel and soft, buttery ginger pear scones. Well, mine did, at least. If your heart happens to lead you to, say, folding your laundry before it’s time to wash the next load, could you send me some of your motivation? I’ll bake you some scones, I promise. 
If you bake a batch of scones this weekend, let me know how they turn out! Leave a comment here, or take a picture and tag me on Instagram or Facebook. Happy Friday, friends!
Ginger-Pear Scones with Maple Cardamom Caramel
Ingredients
Scones
- 3 firm Bosc pears
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour can sub all-purpose, if desired
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 4 Tablespoons cold salted butter
- 1 cup milk coconut, almond, cow-they all work here
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup finely chopped candied/crystallized ginger
Maple Cardamom Caramel
- 2 Tablespoons creamy almond butter
- 3 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 Tablespoon melted coconut oil
- 3/4 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- a pinch of salt
Instructions
- 1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, and put a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat.
- 3. Dice the pears (peeling is unnecessary here) into about 1/2-inch cubes, and add to the skillet with 1 T butter. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the next four ingredients (maple syrup, vanilla, ginger, and cinnamon), and turn off the heat. Let pears cool while you make the scone dough.
- 4. Put flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Dice the butter and add it to the flour. Use your fingers to incorporate the butter into the flour until the flour is flecked with small bits of butter. This can also be done with a pastry cutter or a fork.
- 5. Add all remaining ingredients, including cooled pears and chopped candied ginger, and mix with a wooden spoon to combine. Dough should be wet, but hold together.
- 6. Dump scone dough onto a floured countertop and flatten with your hands until about 1-inch thick. Fold the dough in half and press down, then in half again. This adds layers to the scones. Finally, pat into an 8-inch circle, and cut into 8 triangles like a pizza.
- 7. Transfer triangles to the lined pan, and bake for 17-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- 8. While scones bake, make caramel by putting all ingredients into a small bowl and mixing well. Drizzle caramel over cooked scones, and eat immediately. Scones are best on the day they're made, but will keep at room temperature for 3 days in an airtight container.
Notes