Maple-Oatmeal Scones

The first time I made these scones, I was in a panic about not having enough baked goods to take to the market for my first Saturday. At the last minute, I threw together a batch of maple-oatmeal and cheddar-dill scones. I was shocked when they were the first things to sell out! Since then, I have made countless batches of scones and I really do blame them for my not wearing a bikini again this year. It's a sacrifice I am willing to make though!

Now let me tell you about my maple syrup man. "The Donald" as we affectionately call him lives in Toronto but is from St-Agathe-De-Lotbiniere, Quebec. His family has a sugar bush and The Donald brings back lots of it every time he visits. After trying these scones for the first time, he generously became my "sugar-daddy", sending cans of maple syrup my way every so often. The idea is that he keeps me in the syrup and I make him scones. Every so often, Alan will remind me that it has been a while and that if I don't make some scones, The Donald will cut me off! You wouldn't do that, would you Donald?

Maple-Oatmeal Scones

3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. quick-cooking oats, plus additional for sprinkling
2 T. baking powder
2 T. sugar
2 t. salt
1 lb. cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 c. cold buttermilk
1/2 c. pure maple syrup
4 extra large eggs, or enough eggs to make 1 cup, lightly beaten
1 egg beaten with milk or water, for egg wash
Glaze:
1 1/4 c. icing sugar
1/2 c. pure maple syrup
1 t. pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flours, oats, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
3. Blend the butter in at the lowest speed and mix until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Combine the buttermilk, maple syrup, and eggs and add quickly to the flour and butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough might be sticky but that is a good thing.
4. Dump the dough out onto a well-floured surface and be sure it is combined. You still should see little chunks of butter in the dough. Roll out the dough in a square that is about 1 inch thick. Cut the square into four quarters, then each quarter in half. Then cut each piece in half diagonally, ending up with 16 triangles. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Brush the tops with egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes.
6. To make the glaze, combine the icing sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla. When the scones are done, cool for 5 minutes and drizzle each scone with about 1 T. of glaze. At this point you can sprinkle some uncooked oats on the top of each scone (but I usually forget about that part in my haste to test them!). The warmer the scones are when you glaze them, the thinner the glaze will be.

*Scones can be cut out ahead of time and then stored in the refrigerator for a few days, and baked just before serving.
* I think the glaze keeps these scones from drying out too quickly and you can enjoy day-olds no problem. Just don't microwave them. On Saturday morning, we had day-olds and I was enjoying a rare morning of being brought tea and a scone in bed. As I was waiting for the scone to be delivered, I heard the microwave go off. I yelled downstairs, "You didn't put my scone in the microwave, did you?" A feeble "no" from Alan and he was stuck with his good intention of a warm scone! No wonder Alan feels that he can do no right in the kitchen...