I finally checked out Mariano’s, a new grocery chain that is all the rage in our area. There is not one in my neighborhood but on my way home from girls weekend a few weeks ago we passed one that was have it’s grand opening. The store definitely lived up to all the hype! Amazing amounts of gorgeous produce, and the cheese section – I could have just spent the whole time in that section. I ended up grabbing an aged Gouda and big block of sharp white cheddar.
The meat section is pretty amazing too, their homemade sausage was delicious. I got a red pepper Fontina Italian sausage, they were on sale for $1.99/lb. There is a huge meat selection, and a large section of seafood too. Glad it is not too far from our house, because it is cheaper than Whole Foods and has a better choices than the fish market we often go to. They also have a bakery with some incredible bread, I got a pepperoni cheese bread that we devoured for lunch.
They also had my favorite, honey crisp apples from Michigan! I missed the last few weeks of the farmers market so I was happy I could pick up these apples up, I eat one every day. Honey crisps have become my favorite fall food. And what goes better with apples than cheddar, sharp white cheddar to be exact. I made these scones for Blocktoberfest, and made them again recently from frozen. I love a fresh scone, day old scone not so much. They were just as delicious from frozen.
Beyond baking up and cooling the apples, these are really fast to throw together. They are more on the texture side of a biscuit, very light and airy. While I do prefer my scones a bit more dense and dry, these are delicious. Great for breakfast or as a dinner roll.
- 2 honey crisp apples
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
- 3/4 cup sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup half-and-half
- 1 egg
- egg wash
- 1 egg
- pinch of salt
- Preheat oven to 375 °F.
- Peel apples, then cut them into a large chunks. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or greased) for 20 minutes. They will take on a little color.
- Transfer apples to dish and set in fridge for about 15 minutes to cool.
- Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
- Place butter, apple chunks, cheese, cream and egg in the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment. Mix on On low to just combine ingredients.
- With mixer on low, sprinkle flour mixture over the top and mix until the dough just comes together. It will be very wet.
- On large cutting board (or counter top) sprinkle about 1 cup of flour and place the scone dough on top of it. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup more flour on top.
- Use your hands to bring all the dough together in a large ball, work it into a circle shape and flatten to about 1/2 think.
- Cut circle into quarters, then cut each quarter in half.
- Place scones on baking sheet lined with parchment or that has been buttered. Leave a few inches between each one.
- Make egg wash, beat egg with punch of salt. Brush over each scone, top with a pinch of sugar on each.
- {you can flash freeze them at this point, and bake from frozen about XX minutes}
- Bake about 30 minutes.
- Cool on wire rack.
I prefer the whole-egg egg wash, over just the yolk, it gives the scones great color. Results are the same if you egg wash before or after freezing, so go ahead and egg wash them before you freeze.
Next time I am going to try Gouda in place of the cheddar, I think that would be fabulous.
Good Eats!
Yep! Totally making these this weekend! Thanks for posting the recipe Jacky – happy Friday!
Let me know how they turn out.
1) I *triple heart* Mariano’s! You’re totally right about the produce and cheese sections — it’s hard to pull myself away from them. I want to try everything!
2) Those scones look fantastic… guess I need to head back to Mariano’s for more cheese! 🙂
More cheese, yes! I want to get back to Mariano’s again soon.
Sounds like a great place. Have you tried the sweet tango apple? Scones look awesome.
I have not seen the sweet tango, I will keep an eye out for it.
Your scones look absolutely delicious. I think date scones are my absolute favourites, but I’m betting this combo could become a close second.
Date scones? Are these on your site, I need to look! Sounds delicious.
Hopped over from Biz’s blog – these looks incredible. I have a big hunk of smoked gouda at home; I will try them tonight!
Oh let me know how it turns out with the smoked Gouda!