Tahini scones for International Scone Week #ISW2019

International Scone Week finishes today.  I always treat it as a time to try new scones.  I wasn't so happy with my first batch of scones but instead of tweaking it I tried a different batch of scones.  The common factor between the two batches was experimenting with tahini instead of butter.  Both could be tweaked but both were enjoyed in our household.

I had lots of ideas for International Scone Week.  Cauliflower cheese scones (which Sherry actually did), a scone ring (as seen on Tiffin), or pinwheel scones with pizza sauce and cheese.  But I thought of what I really needed to use in my kitchen.  There were sun dried tomatoes that seem to get lost in the fridge and there was the parsley we brought back from my mum's garden.  My natural instinct was to add cheese but I was curious to try tahini, especially once I read about it being used instead of butter in scones.

I have always made scones by rubbing butter into the flour with my fingers.  So I did this with tahini.  The scone dough and resulting scones seemed fine but the flavours were a little off balance.  My mum was visiting to help with the big winter pruning of the roses.  She thought they were not quite right.  I agreed.  So in the recipe below I have upped the salt and lemon juice which I think would help.

And despite the tahini making the taste a little dour, we enjoyed these.  I had some with my lunch, my tea and took one for morning tea the next day.  E also had some and before I knew it they were gone.

I had good intentions of trying these savoury scones again before International Scone Week was out to test my theory on the scones needing more lemon juice and salt.  But today when I finally had a  chance to bake again, Sylvia had decided that lunch would be for our black cat, Shadow.

It was quite a festival of cats.  If you look closely at the mixture above you will see a toy cat from Sylvia's tablepiece had fallen into my mixing bowl.  The dark mixture is black tahini.  I use my usual beige tahini from time to time.  The black tahini is harder to find recipes to try it in.  Beige recedes into the background but black is in your face.  It seemed the perfect time to try it with a black cat at the heart of celebrations.

I think the tahini made a little impact but the copious amounts of cocoa helped too.  I added more cocoa when the mixture was really sticky and not dark enough.  I should have added a bit more sugar to balance the extra cocoa.  However  I liked these intense chocolate flavour of the scones, even if it wasn't very sweet.  They were far better with butter and cherry jam than the more traditional raspberry jam and whipped cream.  I really wanted to try them with peanut butter but did not get the chance.

Scones don't last well so I have put some of the chocolate scones into the freezer and look forward to snacking on them during the week.  (I will write more soon about our cat's birthday celebrations.)

Meanwhile I send thanks to Celia who started International Scone Week and to Tansy who has kept the event alive that past few years.  It has inspired me to do some fun scone experiments.  I am sending these tahini scones to Tansy for International Scone Week 2019 and look forward to seeing the scones baked by others who have joined in this event.

More scone recipes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Beetroot, apple and walnut scones (v)
Gruyere scones
Kale scones (v)
Pumpkin scones
Pumpkin, pecan and poppyseed scones (v)
Strawberry marscapone scones
Walnut, brie and apple scones

Chocolate and tahini scones
Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe
Makes 18 small scones

juice of one lemon
1 cup milk
2 cup SR flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tbsp sugar, or more 
Pinch salt
4 tbsp tahini
4 tbsp maple syrup
extra milk and sugar to glaze

Preheat oven to 220 C. Lightly grease a baking tray.

Mix milk and lemon juice and set aside. 

Place flour, cocoa, sugar and salt in a bowl. Rub in tahini with your fingertips (or as you normally would do – pastry cutters, food processor etc) til it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Gently stir in milk mixture and maple syrup til it forms a soft and sticky dough.  I use a knife to make sure I go easy on the dough.

Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface and knead lightly til smooth. Press dough out to a 2cm thickness. Dip biscuit cutter or glass in flour and cut as many scones as possible from dough. Place scones on a baking tray. Lightly knead off cuts into a ball and press out again and cut more scones. Repeat until all dough is used.

Brush the scones with a little milk and sprinkle with sugar (I used raw sugar). Bake in over for about 15-20 minutes until lightly browned and sound hollow when tap on top. Remove from tray and wrap in a clean teatowel. Eat hot with butter and jam or cream and jam or your choice of toppings.

Sundried tomato, parsley and tahini scones
Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe
Makes 9 scones

juice of one lemon
1 cup milk
2 cup SR flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp tahini
1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomato
handful parsley, finely chopped
extra milk to glaze

Preheat oven to 220 C. Lightly grease a baking tray.

Mix milk and lemon juice and set aside. 

Place flour and salt in a bowl. Rub in tahini with your fingertips (or as you normally would do – pastry cutters, food processor etc) til it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add milk mixture and stir in gently til it forms a soft and sticky dough.  I use a knife to make sure I go easy on the dough.

Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface and knead lightly til smooth. Press dough out to a 2cm thickness. Dip biscuit cutter or glass in flour and cut as many scones as possible from dough. Place scones on a baking tray. Lightly knead off cuts into a ball and press out again and cut more scones. Repeat until all dough is used.

Brush the scones with a little milk. Bake in over for about 15-20 minutes until lightly browned and sound hollow when tap on top. Remove from tray and wrap in a clean teatowel. Eat hot with butter, cheese spread or your choice of toppings.

On the Stereo: 
Don't try this at home: Billy Bragg