I was traumatized by two giant crows the other day.
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
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
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
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.