These scones are an easy, great way to use up some of that discard you have from feeding your starter. Because the scones use baking powder for lift, you can bake them immediately, and you also don't have to worry if your discard isn't ready to do much lifting. If you'd like to let the sourdough process do its thing, feel free. Just let the scones sit out for a while before baking them. They'll have a more pronounced sourdough tang and, if your starter is good, get a bit more lift to them. Either way, the scones are tangy and sweet with a great punch of ginger to them. They're just the thing with a cup of tea or coffee for breakfast or a snack.
Sourdough Pineapple-Ginger Scones -- Makes 8
1/4 cup of whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 cup of sugar
4 tablespoons of butter
1/4 cup of canola oil
1 cup of sourdough discard/starter
1/4 cup of preserved crystallized ginger (or use uncrystallized, if you prefer)
1/4 cup of candied/preserved pineapple chopped into small pieces
Sugar for sprinkling (optional)
Combine the flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse them together. Cut the butter into small bits and pulse it into the flour mixture. Drizzle in the canola oil and pulse it in a few times. Add the discard/starter and pulse until it's blended into the mixture. Pulse in the crystallized ginger and pineapple, just until they're mixed in (if you pulse too much, they'll be pulverized, and you don't want that--you want little bits of flavor in your finished scones--or at least I do!). Dump the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and pat it into a round about an inch thick. Cut out 8 wedges and place them an inch or two apart on the parchment. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While the oven is heating, if you'd like, you can brush the tops of the scones with a little water or milk, then sprinkle on some sugar. Bake the scones for 15-20 minutes or until they're golden brown.
No food processor? No problem. Just mix the dry ingredients together well, then cut in the butter and oil with a fork or pastry blender. Stir in the discard/starter and the crystallized ginger and pineapple and continue with the remainder of the recipe.
