Femme Brûlée: Banana Bread Scones

Since October 1 I’ve been on an 11-day road trip from Los Angeles and Seattle and back for a friend’s wedding. Given how hectic things have been in my life and the world this year I was looking forward to having this trip to disconnect and relax, and was doing a great job at that until it was time for this post. The Airbnb I booked that I thought would be perfect to bake in was adorable ended up not having an oven or stove at all.

Whoops!

I panicked and considered trying to find somewhere else to stay for about a day, and then decided to accept the challenge. There was a toaster oven, that would work and I’d just have to pull something together with what was available in the tiny kitchen and my road-trip supplies. I had some bananas in the trunk that were starting to make my whole car smell so was thinking banana bread but there was no loaf or muffin pan. What WAS in the kitchen that lead to a stroke of genius were these little cuties:

Habañero honey sticks. I’d never seen or heard of these before but after I tasted one I suddenly couldn’t stop. The next thing I knew there were seven empty sticks on the counter and I was waking up from a surprise post-crash nap. Once I pulled myself back together I decided that what I needed to do was make banana nut scones and top them with drizzles of habañero honey. Scones would totally fit in the toaster oven, are super easy to make, don’t require any special pans, and are the perfect breakfast for camping/driving. Portable, delicious, and simple. The addition of a spicy honey drizzle on top of these sweet nutty scones really puts them over the edge. If you can get your hands on some Habañero honey I seriously recommend it and I hope you invite me over to help you eat it. Of course regular honey or maple syrup will be delicious as well if spicy isn’t your thing. If you’re a reader that’s constantly on the go or lives in a tiny house or apartment with an adorably small but mighty kitchen like this one and are always left out of the baking party, this one’s for you!

Banana Bread Scones with Habañero Honey Drizzle

1 cup raw walnuts
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ tablespoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold butter, cubed
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 large or 3 small bananas)
½ cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup habañero honey, plain honey, or maple syrup for drizzling
*note: these can easily be made vegan by subbing oil for butter, non-dairy milk for cream, and maple syrup for honey.

1. Preheat oven to 400º F. Pour the walnuts onto a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for 2-3 minutes to let the oils release. They can burn pretty quickly, so keep an eye on them. You’ll know they’re ready when they start to smell delicious and nutty but not burnt. After toasting pull them out and chop them into pieces then set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 350º.

2. In a medium bowl mash the bananas with the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Next, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. Honestly you can use whatever spices you want and it will be amazing. I’m just really into cinnamon and nutmeg lately and think ginger steals all the attention sometimes, plus given that I’m a youngest child I don’t like competition. Once you’ve got your spices handled add the cold cubed butter and cut the butter into the flour mixture until the butter breaks down to the size of peas. Once it’s ready pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients and stir. Lastly fold in the walnuts then chill the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes.

3. Flour a cutting board or the counter and your hands very generously then dump the dough out and pat it into a circle about 1/2 an inch thick. This dough is very sticky so you might need to flour your hands a few times as you go. I end up with flour pretty much everywhere, which is fine at home but stressful in an Airbnb that involves being reviewed after leaving.

4. Cut the dough into eight slices with a floured knife or pizza cutter.

5. Bake the scones for 12-15 minutes. I had to do them in two batches in the toaster oven and was too hungry and impatient to wait for the rest to finish to drizzle the honey on and eat them which is why there’s only four in all the pictures that follow.

6. Drizzle! Pour that honey on top. Don’t stop till you get enough. This is the best part. Seriously. Now grab a warm beverage and be super proud of yourself for baking against the odds.

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Reneice Charles

Reneice Charles is a just another queer, liberal, woman of color using the Internet to escape from reality and failing miserably. She received her MSW from New York University and is an Entrepreneur and Vocalist living in Los Angeles. She spends her spare time wishing she didn't have to use her spare time convincing people that everyone deserves the same basic human rights.

Reneice has written 104 articles for us.

13 Comments

  1. These look so good! Funnily enough I just moved out of a place that didn’t have a proper oven (I am now /super/ good at mug cakes), but I’m looking forward to trying these out in my new, oven-including kitchen!

    • Ya know, i’ve never made a mug cake but if I ever end up in an oven-less situation again i’ll have to remember that!

  2. Pretty sure you showed more resilience and fortitude in making these scones happen than I ever have in my life.

    Also they look delicious as always but you knew that.

  3. Do you just know the ratio of stuff to make a dough or batter viable off the top of your head for all the baked goods? If so that’s amazing.

    I know by eye when somethings not right in the ratio from bread to cake and what it needs to get right, but I can’t pull a recipe ready ratio outta my head.

    Also such a wonderful example of Don’t Need a Scone Pan to Do Scones.

    • *googles scone pan* I didn’t even know that was a thing! And I don’t know the exact ratios off the top of my head, but I’ve made enough versions of things that fall into certain categories that it’s basically second hand to come up with a recipe now! There are also really handy websites and books that teach you how to get better at making your own recipes and what the general formuas for baked goods are.

      • They’re a fun (b/c cake sammiches!!) but hard to clean thing scone pans are.

        Exact ratios smashios getting the ratio of flour, wet stuffs and fat right without a reference other than your own brain is awesome to me.

        Any of those you’d recommend?

  4. I can’t wait to try these (though I just used up the last of the heavy whipping cream making fettuccine alfredo). I’ve made your pancake recipe several times now and they are always delicious!

    • Nothing makes me happier than knowing people like my pancakes! And you can totally make these with any kind of milk, dairy or non-dairy, I just like using heavy cream for that extra fat/moisture content.

  5. This one seems maybe simple enough for me to try out. Or at least simple enough for me to convince someone else to bake for me :)

    • Yes! Try it! Scones are an awesome place to start for beginner bakers because they’re freeform and super simple. You can do it ;)

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