Reginald’s Nut Butters
You might be wondering, how does a (very good) artisanal nut butter company Reginald’s Homemade based in Richmond, Virginia can connect with the upcoming release of the (awesome and beautifully photographed by Tina Rapp) Baked Elements by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito cookbook?
Reginald’s Homemade create what I think are one of the best nut butters out in the country. It’s pure nut butter without the sugar. To make the nut butters interesting, they do make blend some of nut butters with booze. (If you are curious, I do highly recommend the Bourbon Pecan Peanut Butter, which I have used in this scone recipe from Baked Elements.)
Baked Elements Cookbook
In regards to Baked Elements (published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang), the authors Lewis and Poliafito organized their book based on an ingredient’s flavor and the first flavor they wrote about was peanut butter, as it’s the most quintessential American ingredient/flavor. (There’s also chapters on lemon and lime, booze, pimplink, malted milk powder, cinnamon, cheese, chocolate, and banana.)
Based on my baking experience with Reginald’s Homemade peanut butter and trying to implementing it with Baked Elements‘ recipe of the oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip scone, I had to adjust the amount of flour since the peanut butter is more oilier than what Baked would prefer (the authors do want you to make your own peanut butter and there’s a recipe for that). I made the scones slightly different by adding some candied ginger and a touch of cinnamon to make it interesting, also I used chopped chocolate in fairly large chunks than chocolate chips because I wanted large pools of melted chocolate smeared on my fingers and lips when I’m eating a freshly baked scone. The latter is for my sensual pleasure of eating something delicately crumbed even though it’s a very large slab of a scone.
Admittedly, the authors wanted highly recommend crunchy peanut butter for texture but the relative smoothness of Reginald’s nut butter does create a very rich, dense, crumbly texture to the scone. Here’s the recipe…
Peanut butter scone
Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Ginger Scones
Very close adaptation of Baked Elements by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito
Ingredients:
2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 ounce candied ginger, sliced into 1/8-inch cubes
1 cup rolled oats
3 ounces (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 large egg, separated
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (I used Reginald’s Homemade Bourbon Pecan Peanut Butter)
6 ounces (about 1 cup) semisweet or milk chocolate, chopped into large pieces
2 tablespoons raw sugar (optional)
- Preheat oven to 400°F and position the rack in the center. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, candied ginger, and oats. Add the butter and use your fingertips or a pastry cutter to rub or cut the butter into the flour mixture until the butter is pea size and the mixture looks like chunky, coarse sand.
- In a glass measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg yolk until combined.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the buttermilk mixture into the center of the well. Add the peanut butter. Using clean, dry, lightly floured hands, gently mix and knead until incorporated. Do not overwork the dough.
- Turn the dough out onto the prepared baking sheet and shape it into a disk 7-1/2 to 8 inches in diameter and about 1-1/2 inches high. Beat the egg white slightly, brush the top of the dough with the egg white, and sprinkle with raw sugar, if you’d like.
- Cut the dough into 8 wedges—but do not separate the wedges—and bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until the scones start to brown, rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Alternatively, check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the scone. If the toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs clinging to it, the scones are done.
- Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes and re-slice and separate the scones. Serve slightly warm or transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Scones taste best when consumed within 24 hours of baking, but you could store these scones in an airtight container for up to 2 days.