There have been a number of back-to-school posts popping up in my reader these days (I switched to Bloglovin’ if you’re wondering, Google Reader RIP…) and I feel like I’m just starting to enjoy my summer now that I’m settled. But I guess I’ve been back-to-school since July, so I shouldn’t be so affected. When you work with kids everyday it becomes very obvious when your conversation starters change from “How’s your summer going?” to “So when are you going back to school?”. It’s a sad but necessary transition, and today I’m coping with a grade school lunchtime classic – PB&J. Last August I made these adorable peanut butter and jelly sandwich cookies, and this year the treat is a little more rustic looking, but just as sweet and salty, and maybe a tad more sophisticated (but I always say that about scones). It’s the perfect PB&J for someone entering 21st grade like myself :) Except for the lack of alcohol mixed in, but I still haven’t gotten a hold of this peanut butter vodka yet…
I dreamed these scones up after seeing a picture of pecan scones with a luscious layer of raspberry jam peeking out from the middle. Rather than using her raspberry pecan recipe, I used my own basic scone recipe and borrowed the concept to make a scone based off everyone’s childhood sweet and salty favorite (unless you count peanut butter cups, because then there’s no competition). The scones are spiked with a healthy amount of peanut butter chips and drizzled with a luscious peanut butter glaze for plenty of PB goodness. I opted for a mixed berry jam to layer in the dough and although strawberry jam is my favorite in a PB&J sandwich, I love how the deep purple color looks with these! Scones often run the danger of being too dry, so I was worried to use peanut butter but they turned out wonderfully and the jam helped keep things extra moist. It’s common to see scones served with jam, so I guess in the end I’m just saving everyone a step by baking the jam right in.
I actually ended up making these last week because my co-residents started doubting that I truly had a baking blog. Everyone, even some of our attendings, had read my blog, but none of them had reaped the benefits of working with a baking blogger even after an entire month together. So I decided to finally attempt to live up to their expectations with these scones. I figured if I brought them in the morning no one would feel too bad about indulging early on in the day. Plus, you can totally make scones without a mixer or food processor, and I wasn’t in the mood to make too big of a mess on a weeknight. So these scones ended up fulfilling all of my goals – easy to make, impressive for new friends, and really, really yummy!
Peanut Butter and Jelly Scones
Yield: 16 scones
Ingredients:
for the scones:
3-1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp sugar, divided
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup peanut butter chips
4 tbsp jam
2 tbsp butter, melted
for the peanut butter glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
3 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
for the scones:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut int he butter using a pastry cutter, 2 forks, or your fingers until coarse crumbs form.
- Stir in the buttermilk until just moistened and fold in the peanut butter chips. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until dough is no longer sticky. Divide dough into 4 and form each into a 7" circle.
- Spoon 2 tbsp of jam on top of one circle, and place another circle of dough on top. Seal the edges and repeat with other 2 circles of dough.
- Brush the tops with the melted butter and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Cut each circle into 8 wedges and place on prepared pans. Bake for 10-13 minutes or until just lightly browned.
for the peanut butter glaze:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar to break up any clumps. Then add the peanut butter, vanilla, and milk and stir until smooth.
- When the scones are slightly cooled, drizzle glaze over them and allow the glaze to set before serving.
this will be a hit with my husband, he is a huge PB&J fan :)
I honestly love everything about these! It’s the perfect way to keep scones exciting, when usually they tend to be dry and boring.
These sound amazing.
I absolutely love PB&J. This sounds like the perfect scone to me. I always feel a bit guilty when a long time goes by and I haven’t brought any treats to work. It’s a lot of pressure.
Why not pack a couple of these into your childrens’ lunchboxes? I am sure they would love to have something like this for lunch. :-D
My fiancé and I made these and were so disappointed that all the jam oozed out and burnt onto the silpat! Darn it! We followed the recipe so carefully. Haha.
Erica — September 11th, 2013 @ 1:58 am
I’m so sorry to hear that!!! Maybe you didn’t seal the edges well enough? I hope you’ll try them again :)