Tasty Snack Tuesday - Banana Bread Scones with Browned Butter Glaze

I love banana bread.  Love, love, love it.  And I love scones.  Love, love, love those as well.  And browned butter?!  Oh my.  Oh my, oh my, oh my.  When I found the recipe for these, as with most must-make recipes I find, I immediately thought, okay, when is the soonest I could have a reason to make these (not that a true reason is necessary)?  Luckily, yesterday evening was the perfect timing.  Some new friends moved to the area and we got to enjoy a great dinner with them, so of course I made these for dessert (who says scones are only for breakfast? not me!).  Even my little picky-pants James likes them.  I mean, come on, just look at those browned bits of butter in there!  There is just nothing better.  Here's the recipe:

Banana Bread Scones with Browned Butter Glaze

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
few dashes of nutmeg
1 stick butter, unsalted
3 large ripe bananas
1 cup plain, nonfat Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
buttermilk or milk, if needed

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 stick butter, unsalted
milk or water for thinning, if needed

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper (I really, really recommend using parchment, especially for scones, so that the bottoms don't get too dark).  In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugars, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Using your hands, a pastry cutter, or two knives or forks, cut in 1 stick of butter until your mixture looks like course meal.  Set aside.  In a small bowl, combine the bananas and Greek yogurt until smooth (I like to use my immersion blender for this).  Gently stir the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.  If your dough seems really dry and you have trouble incorporating everything, add a tablespoon of milk or buttermilk at a time, until the ingredients come together (I didn't have to do this).

Turn the scone dough onto a lightly floured surface and press it to about a half-inch thick.  Using a round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, cut rounds of dough and place on parchment-lined pans about 1 inch apart.  Bake for about 15 minutes, until golden brown (15 minutes was perfect for me, just keep an eye on them after about the 12-minute mark since your oven will bake differently than mine).  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack.  I got 26 medium sized scones.

While the scones are cooling, make the glaze.  Place the 1/2 stick of butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until golden brown (being careful not to burn the butter).  It will smell nothing short of amazing.  Pour the butter into the powdered sugar in a small mixing bowl and whisk until smooth.  I found the consistency here to be perfect for me, but if you want the glaze to be thinner, just add a few drops of milk or water at a time until you have the desired consistency.  At this point, I used a pastry brush to apply the icing to the scones and I had exactly enough for every scones, using the very last drop.

These are so good, especially if you warm them up a smidge before eating.  They taste like fresh-from-the-oven deliciousness.  And, guess what?  You can enjoy a scone WITH that awesome browned butter glaze for UNDER 200 calories.  No kidding.  Leave it off and you're around 150 calories.  I've said it before, but that's amazing for a scone, especially when butter is always a major backbone ingredient in any scone recipe.  And side note - don't ever try to cut corners in scones and use anything other than 100% pure butter - your dough will NOT hold together.  And if you enjoy these in moderation, they are too tasty to compromise their flavor by trying to replace ingredients (and this is coming from the queen of subbing applesauce and bananas for different things).

So get to the kitchen and make some scones!  (Don't want to make a big batch?  You can easily cut this recipe in half, or do all the prep work and then freeze the scones.  Bake them straight from the freezer for a few extra minutes.)

I'll see you soon this week to tell you about another great circuit workout, and to also share my own with you!  Stay tuned!

Recipe The Kitchn, further adapted from Annie's Eats