Currant-Oat Paddles

Growing up, mom would often put currants in her scones, so I had high expectations for these currant-oat paddles from Nancy Silverton going in. I hit a few stumbling blocks along that way to heavenly scone-dom. However, I've baked enough scones that I like to think I know my way around good scone dough and the flaws were pretty minor in the scheme of things, so I happily wound up with very tender and rich scones, delicately spiced by the cinnamon-sugar on top and the whiskey-soaked currants inside. I really appreciated the combination of flours in these - the pastry flour (or all-purpose flour plus cornstarch) keeps the crumb light and airy, while the oats and whole wheat flour give the scones complexity, depth of flavor, and wholesome appeal that is missing in standard scones.

A few of the issues I had with this recipe for currant-oat paddles were timing based, while others were logic based. To start with, Nancy's recipe says to simmer the currants and whiskey together until all the liquid is absorbed, "about 2-3 minutes". This took me closer to 30 minutes. I didn't mind, but if I'd been rushing to get breakfast on the table I would have been pretty upset.

After letting the currants cool, you begin making your scone dough, following the standard format of "mix together dry ingredients, cut in butter, fold in the liquid". Here, I hit another snag. The original ½ cup of cream was not nearly sufficient to bring the dough together. I needed a full 1 cup of cream to get my dough close to forming a cohesive ball, and even then it was quite crumbly. This isn't the first time I've found I needed a lot more liquid than a scone recipe called for, so I recommend you start with less and add more if you find it necessary for your kitchen environment.

Since my dough was so crumbly, even after giving it a short knead, I used my hands to shape the dough log rather than trying to roll it. I wasn't able to pat it out to the full length of 12 inches, nor was my dough perfectly rectangular, so I got 7 scones instead of the 8 promised. After cutting the dough log vertically into even pieces, it's time to shape the scones into their paddle shape. I found the instructions for shaping the dough to be rather confusing, but decided it didn't really matter. These are supposed to look rustic, not perfect and petite (although I did try to add some additional clarity to my instructions).

In the original recipe, the scones go straight from shaping to a cream wash/sugar topping, and then baking. I was worried about how they would hold up in the oven being so crumbly (I've had scones fall apart in the oven before), so I opted to freeze my currant-oat paddle dough for an hour before topping and baking. That also gave my butter time to re-chill and allowed the flavors to marry. It also gave me time to consider whether I really wanted to bake these monster scones as they were or if I wanted to cut them in half. I decided to try both ways, and I have to say, unless you're feeding some really hungry people, cutting the scones in half before baking is likely plenty (and you can always go back for seconds). While the original recipe says to bake these for 30-40 minutes, my "normal-sized" paddles were fully baked and golden in just under 30 minutes and my half-sized paddles were done in about 17-19 minutes.

After my meddling, I really enjoyed these currant-oat paddles from La Brea Bakery. They are great for breakfast, brunch, or with an afternoon coffee/tea and way better than anything you'll find at most coffee shops or bakeries.

Original source: Nancy Silverton's Pastries from La Brea Bakery

Currant-Oat Paddles

These monster-sized currant-oat scones from La Brea Bakery are a gorgeous combination of delicate flavor, light spiced, minimal sugar, and wholesome flours. Cut them in half before baking if you aren't ravenous.

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Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 55 minutes minutes

Servings: 0 scones

Ingredients

Scones

• 1 cup (6 ounces) currants
• ½ cup whiskey
• 1 ¼ cups rolled oats
• 1 cup flour*
• ½ cup stone-ground whole-wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch*
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ + ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
• ⅛ teaspoon Kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar lightly packed
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 10 tablespoons (5 ounces) unsalted butter cut into ½-inch cubes and frozen
• 2 ½ tablespoons mild-flavor honey
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¾-1 cup heavy cream** plus extra for brushing the top

Topping

• 2 tablepoons granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

• In a small (1-2 qt) saucepan, simmer the currants and whiskey over low heat until the liquid evaporates, about 25-35 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Prepare a lightly floured work surface with a small mound of flour along the side for dusting your hands later.
  
• Using a food processor fitted with the S-blade, a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a large bowl and your hands, combine all the dry ingredients. Pulse, mix on low, or stir to blend together.
  
• Add the butter and pulse 3-5 times or mix on low to distribute the butter into the dry ingredients. The mixture should become pale yellow and have the consistency of fine meal with small bits of butter.
  
• Add the cream, honey, and vanilla extract to the small saucepan of cooled whiskey currants. Whisk to combine.
  
• If using a food processor, transfer the flour-butter mixture to a large bowl, otherwise proceed with the bowl you already are using. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet currant mix into the well. Using one hand, gently fold in the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. The dough will be crumbly.
  
• Carefully turn the dough out onto your prepared work surface and dust your hands with the flour you set aside for that purpose. Gently knead the dough a few times to bring all the crumbly pieces together into a ball.
• Roll or pat the dough out into a 12-inch log. Using the palms of your hand, flatten the log into a rectangle about 4 inches wide and 10-12 inches long. It should be about ¾-inch thick.
  
• Cut the dough log lengthwise into 1 ½-inch-wide strips. You should have 7-8 pieces and you may need to press together the pieces from the two ends depending on how precise your starting rectangle was.
  
• Place the pieces 1 inch apart on the parchment-lined sheet. Flatten each piece at one end with one palm while cupping the other end to stabilize it and form rounded corners. Repeat for the other side of the piece. You should have oval-like pieces about ½ inch thick and 4 ½-5 inches long. 
  
• Freeze on the baking sheet for 1 hour. (If freezing for later, transfer to a freezer-safe container after they've been frozen and store up to 3 months.)
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the rack in the upper middle position. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
• Once the oven is preheated, remove the dough paddles from the freezer. If you want smaller scones, cut the paddles in half at this point. Brush each paddle with a thin layer of cream then sprinkle with an even layer of the cinnamon sugar topping.
  
• Bake immediately for 17-30 minutes (17-19 minutes for half size, 28-30 minutes for the large size). The scones will be nicely browned on top and along the edges. Let rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, otherwise they will fall apart when you try to move them. Serve.
  

Notes

*This combination of 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons of cornstarch mimics regular pastry flour to give the scones a tender crumb. You could opt to use 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or 1 cup + 2 tablespoons pastry flour instead.

**The original recipe called for ½ heavy cream, but I found that was not nearly enough to bring my dough together. I needed a full cup of cream to yield a remotely cohesive dough. However, from my experiences baking with Baked Sunday Mornings, it may be a temperature/humidity issue because other people have gotten away with less liquid in their scones. Start with the smaller amount and add more liquid as necessary. You should not need more than 1 full cup.

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