This recipe is sure to please a variety of people whether or not they are interested in black licorice. The flavors of both the licorice and orange peel play well together to leave a sweet yet savory taste. It is also a good change of pace to add to your baking repertoire.
I found that this combination of ingredients not only pleased licorice lovers but also pleasantly surprised those who normally dislike licorice. The recipe calls for the use of soft candies but if you have hard candies available to be melted down, those work as well; the scones just will not be as chunky.
Ingredients (yields 12-16 scones, depending on size - 45 minutes)
- 1/2 cup soft black licorice candies, melted
- 1 large orange, peel only (about half the orange)
- 2/3 cup sugar + more for topping
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter, unsalted and straight from fridge
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a small saucepan on medium low heat, add licorice candies & 1 tbsp of water.
- Remove just the zest (orange part without softer white part) of orange. You can use a paring knife or long vegetable peeler for this process.
- Grind in a processor with sugar. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, & salt. Process thoroughly.
- In a separate bowl, mix sour cream, eggs, & vanilla extract well.
- Using a silicone spatula when stirring, add water in your saucepan a tablespoon at a time until the licorice is gelatinous and mostly melted. It's okay if some of the bits remain - they'll give the scone good texture.
- Add licorice to the sour cream/egg/vanilla extract mixture and whisk very well - you should see all the parts of the licorice break up and incorporate into the wet mixture.
- Cut in butter straight from the fridge into your dry mixture. When reduced to fine crumbs, add to wet mix until a soft dough forms.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop heaps of scone mixture on it.
- Sprinkle sugar for topping and place in oven.
- After 15-20 minutes (check for golden color), remove and cool.
- Enjoy warm!
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