Jalapeno Cheddar Scones

Summer is officially here and the city is a-buzzing. After a long, cold winter, everyone comes out of hibernation and each weekend, streets are shut down for the many festivals happening around the city. While I'm sure this aggravates motorists to no end, summer festivals are one of the reasons why I love Toronto.



The past month has been filled with baseball games and bike rides and strolls along the beach. The farmers' markets are in full swing and my dragon boat team's season has started. Life has been busy but in the best, possible (if exhausting) way.



I also had the pleasure of trekking out to Prince Edward County to spend the day at the Great Canadian Cheese Festival, sampling on local wine and cheese. I purchased two blocks of cheese, a lovely smoked cheese from La Fromagerie Blackburn and the award-winning Louis d'Or from La Fromagerie du Presbytère.






With so much delicious cheese on my hand, the next step was to decide on how to use them. I contemplated using the Louis d'Or to make a macaroni and cheese dish but decided to bake them into scones instead. My only regret was removing all the seeds from the jalapenos for fear that it would be too spicy (my scones lacked that oomphed) but other than that, these are tasty.

Jalapeno Cheddar Scones
Adapted from NYMag via Joy the Baker.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into small cubes
2 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 pound cheese, cut into small cubes
2 medium jalapenos, some seeds removed, diced small

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.

Heat 1/2 tablespoon butter in a small saute pan and cook diced jalapenos until softened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Let the diced peppers cool and them mix with the diced cheese. Toss mixture in 1 tablespoon of flour and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the rest of the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Work in the cold butter with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Some butter pieces will be the size of peas and the flour will be nice and crumbly.

Whisk together 2 eggs and heavy cream. Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients, fold together with a fork until almost fully incorporated. Add the jalapeno and cheese mixture to the shaggy dough and work together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 30 seconds. Form into a disk about 1 inch thick and cut into eight wedges. Refrigerate for 10 minutes before baking.

When ready to bake, place chilled scones onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.