After a brief summer hiatus, I’m jumping back into sourdough treats! You may remember that I created my own sourdough starter, affectionately named, “Paul Riser”, this past winter. I’ve posted recipes in the past for sourdough jam cinnamon rolls, and dried fruit & nut sourdough bread. I’ve baked boule upon boule of delicious crusty bread, all of which were slathered with butter and devoured almost instantly. In short, I’ve been having a very good time eating all of these goodies!

Back in the Spring – sort of on a whim – I entered into a local cooking contest. I’ve never submitted any of my recipes for judging before, so this was a pretty big leap for me! I decided to branch out a bit, instead of just bringing in a bread or a cake. I went into the kitchen, and worked out this addictive sourdough scone recipe that uses the scraps from a fed sourdough starter. Waste not, want not!

Here’s what ended up the winner: Sweet local apples mixed with tangy sourdough-butter dough, tossed with ground chai tea, and sprinkled with turbinado sugar. This is a New England fall day in a single bite! My Apple Chai Sourdough Scones are perfect on a chilly morning with a mug of coffee or tea. And luckily for me, the cooking contest judges agreed!

Apple Chai Sourdough Scones

makes 12 large square scones or 24 small triangle scones

1 cup of sourdough starter, after peaking
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon loose high quality chai tea, ground in a motar & pestle or spice grinder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup (or two sticks) salted butter, cold & cubed
1/4 cup buttermilk (or heavy cream)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 large firm apple, peeled, cored and roughly cubed into 1/4 inch pieces
1/4 cup raw sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350F and prepare two baking sheets with parchment. Reserve.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or other large mixing bowl) combine the flour, ground chai tea, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix lightly to combine.

In a separate medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the sourdough starter, buttermilk (or heavy cream), vanilla extract, and egg. Quickly whisk to combine. Let sit for 5-7 minutes.

Next, take your cold butter, and with the mixer speed on low (or hand mixer on low), gently add the butter cubes one at a time, until incorporated into the flour. You want to do this slowly, and on a low setting, to make sure the butter is mixed throughout, but the dough remains in a crumbly texture. This takes about 7 minutes.

With the mixer speed on medium-low, carefully add the wet mixture to the dry until just combined. Stop the mixer, and add the apple cubes.

Now, with the mixer set on ‘stir’, gently incorporate the apples into the dough. The dough will seem a little dry, but this is correct: we don’t want a fully incorporated dough.

Turn out the ‘crumbly’ dough onto a lightly floured cutting board or floured counter.

Using your hands, with as little kneading as possible, bring the dough together into a loose rectangle. The heat of your hands will melt the butter a bit, and you want to press and shape as you bring the dough together. Try to get a flat dough about 3/4-1 inch thick.

Using a butter knife or sharp cutting knife, slice into three segments, top to bottom. Then, cut into four segments horizontally. Ideally, you’re looking for 12 more-or-less square pieces.

Using a spatula, gently transfer the scones to the prepared cookie sheets. Make sure to leave room between the pastry to bake.

Sprinkle evenly with raw sugar (optional).

Bake for 25 minutes, or until the bottom edges are golden brown and the tops are just starting to color.

Let cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Cut diagonally for a traditional ‘scone’ triangular shape.

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