Roasted Banana Walnut Scones

I was traumatized by two giant crows the other day.

Two giant black crows (do crows come in any other color?) were sitting on my windshield wipers when I came out of physical therapy. I had no idea what to do and the creatures were huge. If I threw a show at them or tried to swipe them away they might have attacked me. A coven of crows came after me in seventh grade so I know they do it and I know its scary as f***. I slid, shaking like a leaf, into my driver’s seat as the crows just watched me with their big orb eyes. I don’t think I could’ve gotten in if it had been my driver’s side they were creeping on.

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I thought getting in my car, honking my horn, or starting my car would get them off. I thought wrong. They just moved to the center of my windshield. So now I’m freaking out and full on terrified that these crows are going to peck through and shatter my windshield and attack me. I start driving away. They ruffle their feathers but seem otherwise unfazed by the sudden movement. Their feet grip the wipers harder. I drive to the nearest intersection and they just continue glaring at me. And can no one else see this?! I make the turn onto McBean and speed up, completely convinced that these cores are going to stay on my car until I get home and then they are going to kill me.
Once my car gets up to 40 mph, one crow spreads its wings menacingly then flies off, having scared me with a final threat. But his bigger friend refuses to leave the front of my car! Now hanging on to the edge of my windshield, two miles from where we started this nightmare, bracing himself. I’m basically crying because I’m terrified and at a loss as to what will get this crow off my car. I look around me; the street is clear. I cross myself and pray (okay that part didn’t happen). I speed up to 50 mph, then brake hard, then speed up again. Finally the demon crow loses his grip and goes careening over the back of my car!
In that last moment, as I unclench my taut muscles, I glance in my rearview mirror and scream. The crow is splayed across my back window, wings spread wide, and a clear look in his direct eyes.
“I will get you for this.”
That second lasts a lifetime as I scream and the crow finishes tumbling off my car into the street behind me, breaking his neck on impact (I hope). As I drive away shaking but alive, I see the crow twitching in the street as cars drive around it.
Real life horror movie right there. I seriously couldn’t have made this up. And now I’m traumatized, but I’m a survivor!

And survivors deserve these scones. Specifically, a soft and sweet yet hearty scone that blends bananas, walnuts, and brown sugar goodness into one soothing triangle. Triangle? Yes I said triangle! Because these scones are more typical American breakfast or brunch scones and not my usual British tea scones. Sometimes–and after nearly dying at the beaks of two crows is one of those times–you need comfort food. Breakfast and brunch are comforting, even if it is really second breakfast.

Roasted Banana Walnut Scones

Roasted Banana Walnut Scones

A few notes about the scones, then a few notes about making them, and then a few minutes to compose myself post-crow-attack before I whip up another batch of these myself. These are denser than most of my other recipes because they are breakfast/brunch scones and not tea scones, but they are still lighter than what you tend to find at bakeries and coffee shops. They are also super moist from the bananas and the yogurt. Walnuts are optional and can be subbed out with pecans or left out entirely, but they lend a nice chewy texture to the soft crumb. I don’t know about you, but when I’m eating something for breakfast, I like it to have some substance and tooth to it. But hey, your scones, your preference. Unlike my other banana scone recipes, these definitely have more of a banana bread flavor, nothing to complain about!

And since they have yogurt and only a quarter cup of sugar in the whole recipe, they are health food right? So we can add a glaze and go full-on American here? Excellent. No need to top these with anything other than the glaze, though I wouldn’t say no to a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream next to one of these scones fresh from the oven. To calm the nerves of course.

Roasted Banana Walnut Scones

Roasted Banana Walnut Scones

roasted banana walnut scones

ingredients

For the scones

  • 3 ripe bananas, in peel
  • 2-4 tbsp whole milk (you may or may not need this)
  • ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp white sugar
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter
  • ¼ cup chopped walnuts

For the glaze

  • 1 tbsp salted butter
  • 2 tbsp whole milk
  • ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ – ½ cup powdered sugar

 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes. Banana skins will be a wonderfully deep brown or black. Set aside to cool as you start the scones.

Roasted Bananas

Roasted Bananas

Whisk together flour, sugars, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Grate in the butter (or for the less fancy version, cube the butter) and rub it in until the clumps are smaller than a pea.

Peel and mash the bananas in a large measuring cup. Add milk if needed to bring banana level up to 1 cup. If you have more than 1 cup mashed banana, don’t worry about taking any banana out and just enjoy the extra banana in your scones when you eat them. Stir in yogurt. (By the way, this alone tastes fantastic so keep this in mind for a breakfast one morning: roasted bananas, Greek yogurt, and granola. You’re welcome.)

Add banana yogurt mixture to the flour and mix until just incorporated—as usual I used my hands but you can also do this with a fork or rubber spatula. Fold in nuts.

Here we can depart into two options. Option 1: evenly distribute dough into a 8-wedge scone pan. Option 2: Form dough into a 1 inch thick disk and turn out onto a dinner plate lined with wax paper. Both options: Cover the dough with wax paper and put in the freezer for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Option 1: Remove from freezer and transfer immediately to oven. Option 2: Remove from freezer and remove wax paper. Turn out onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Cut disk into 8 wedges, pulling apart slightly. Both: bake for 30-35 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

Make the glaze: Heat butter and milk in a microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds. Stir in the brown sugar and vanilla until sugar is melted. Whisk in powdered sugar starting with the lower amount until the glaze has reached your desired thickness. When scones are cooled, drizzle glaze over the top and serve immediately.  There will be glaze left over unless you literally coat the scones in glaze. Which I won’t blame you for. Pour leftover glaze on everything in sight to eat as well.