Crumb Cake Scones

In spite of my love of cookbooks and my collecting addiction, I had not found a true favorite in several years until I purchased A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman.

One of the many things I love about this cookbook is the fact that her mouth-watering pictures are not sterile, crumb-free renditions of her recipes but instead reveal all the nooks and crannies and non-perfect edges that "normal" bakers achieve. Her photos scream "freshly made" with drips of icing and those moist-looking crumbs that you like to mash with your thumb and eat. She also includes photos of step-by-step techniques for her easy to follow recipe instructions. The introductory "Baking Secrets" is a great read--I felt an immediate affinity with her unpretentious modus operandi.


Each month, I bake variations of one of her scone recipes for a customer, and this past week I dreamed up crumb cake scones.


Here is the recipe:

Crumb Cake Scones

Basic Scones
3 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 cup cold unsalted butter (1-1/2 sticks), cut into small cubes

2 large eggs, slightly whisked
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Crumb Topping:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup flour

In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients. Blend with fork or pastry blender to cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Whisk eggs slightly, add vanilla and cream. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Add flour, sugar, salt and baking powder to a food processor and process briefly. Add butter and pulse till mixture has little lumps the size of peas. Put mixture into large bowl and make a well in the center. Mix together whisked eggs, vanilla & cream and add to flour mixture; mix lightly, adding cream if necessary, to make a soft but firm dough, (I use my hands for this). Knead lightly and briefly. Dough will be like a nice cookie dough.

Divide dough into 2 parts. Place one part on floured board & pat into rectangle approximately 12 inches long by 5 inches wide. Sprinkle on half of crumb topping, pressing lightly into dough. On another floured surface, pat remaining half of dough into same size rectangle. Carefully lift with floured hands and floured spatula or baker’s bench knife and place on top of crumb-topped half. Lightly pinch edges to seal. Sprinkle on remaining crumb topping and very lightly press into dough.

To form scones, cut dough in half (I measure and use a baker’s bench knife). Divide each half into thirds and cut each third diagonally to make 12 scones. Carefully lift each scone with floured spatula or bench knife and place 6 scones on each baking sheet, making sure edges are together.

Bake till lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes, switching pans from top to bottom halfway during baking time.

Carefully remove scones to wire rack to cool for about 15 minutes, then finish with a glaze made from powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla, or use this recipe.