Maple-pecan scones

Most people tend to associate maple with fall. I know that I do, even though I know better. Maybe it's because maple goes so well with the rest of fall's food like squash, sweet potatoes, and apples? Maybe it's because of the maple leaves associated with fall? I'm not sure. But, I do know that maple season is really in March. Around here, it's a pretty big deal. There's an official Maple Weekend, pancake breakfasts all over the place, and lots of freshly boiled maple syrup for sale. We always buy up gallon containers of maple syrup because I use maple in a lot of my cooking and baking. Recently, I was able to get some Grade B maple syrup (which has a deeper flavor and tends to be better for baking) from Beyers Maple Farm. Once I had the delicious Grade B syrup in my hand, I was inspired to bake something that would highlight the maple flavor. I decided on scones, because I had everything on hand for this recipe and thought it would be a lovely treat for a cool Sunday morning. 

These scones were delicious. They weren't too sweet, had a perfect amount of maple flavor, and an earthiness from the whole wheat flour and pecans. This recipe will make 8 scones. 

Maple-pecan scones
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons lightly packed light brown sugar
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes 
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 large egg
1/3 cup pure maple syrup, preferably Grade B
2 tablespoons milk 

for the glaze:
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, preferably Grade B
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flours through brown sugar). Then, using a pastry blender, or your fingers, cut in the butter until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in the pecans.

In a small bowl, lightly whisk together to egg, maple syrup, and milk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently stir until the dough just comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and pat it out into a disk. Cut across into 8 wedges. Place the wedges onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Keep them in the disk shape, but not touching one another.

Bake until golden, about 18-20 minutes. Let cool on the parchment paper and make the glaze. Cook the maple syrup and butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until it becomes thick and reduces. Using a fork, drizzle the glaze over the scones the serve. Let the glaze dry fully and store any leftovers in an airtight container.