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Ahhh, a new year.  You know what that means….a new scone recipe, obviously.  It’s been quite a while since I made a new flavor so you had to know I was due.  I went on my first big shopping trip tonight since before the holidays, and before heading out to restock the cupboards, I did some inventory of what I needed to get rid of.  Figs!  I had totally forgotten about the couple bags of dried figs I had from when I made challah a few months back.  Well the beauty of dried fruit is that it lasts for-freaking-ever (if you store it properly), but it was definitely time to use them up.

You see where I’m going with this.  I got this recipe from the same blog where I found the challah – she too likes figs it seems.  This is a super simple recipe, though let me warn you – it is stiiiiccckky!  I thought I’d make my scones cute and truly single-portion sized by using a round biscuit cutter rather than just shaping and cutting the dough.  Well, the dough wasn’t stiff enough to stay in the biscuit cutter cut-outs, so I had to roll/pat them into shape.  I kind of ended up with what looks like large cookies, except they are still that amazing flaky scone consistency.  Regardless of their looks, they taste SO GOOD.  I really don’t think you can go wrong with figs and honey.  Give them a try.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking oats)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup diced figs (fresh or dried)

NOTES: Since I can’t ever leave a recipe as is – I added ½ tsp vanilla extract to the wet ingredients.  Pretty much every sweet baked good needs vanilla.  Also, I substituted fat-free half and half for the heavy cream because that is what I had.  It worked fine and it can’t hurt to eliminate that extra fat.  Finally, I only used about 1 ½ tablespoons of granulated sugar.  Figs are pretty sweet, they don’t need much sugar.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and canola oil together. Add the honey and mix until combined. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and fold together with a rubber spatula to combine. Add the cream and mix together (the dough will be a little wet). Cover the diced figs with the sugar and gently fold into the dough.

4. On a well-floured surface, and dusting the top of the dough with more flour, pat the dough out into a 7-inch circle. Cut into 8 triangles. Place on the prepared baking sheet.

5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container, but they are best the same day they are made.

Recipe adapted from www.browneyedbaker.com