One of my favorite things about a trip to our local farm stand is I’m never exactly sure what I’m going to bring home! Browsing the stand and seeing the bins overflowing with beautiful, fresh produce provides so much inspiration for my cooking. I love letting these moments dictate the recipes I’ll be making that week! Most often we choose to visit the darling farm stand at The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano. They sell all certified organic produce, either sourced directly from their own 28 acre farm, or from farms located within a 250 mile radius. On my last trip I came across the most delicious looking peaches. I bought a ton and right away knew I would be making scones with some of them!

Scones are one of my go-to easy breakfast treats. They come together so quickly and when you have a base recipe like this one (adapted from Ina Garten’s recipe), you can easily swap out the main ingredient. This time we chose the peaches, but other favorites include blueberry and cranberry orange! See below for the recipe!

Peach Scones

Ingredients:

• 4 cups all purpose flour plus 1/4 cup
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 sticks cold unsalted butter, diced
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup heavy cream, plus 2 tablespoons
• 2 cups fresh peaches

Vanilla Glaze

• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 2 teaspoons water
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix 4 cups of flour, ¼ cup of granulated sugar, the baking powder and salt.  Add the cold butter and mix at the lowest speed until the butter is the size of peas.  Combine the eggs and heavy cream and, with the mixer on low speed, slowly add to the flour and butter mixture.  Mix until just blended.  The dough will look lumpy!  Combine the peaches and ¼ cup of flour, add to the dough, and mix on low speed until blended.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it into a ball.  Flour your hands and separate ball into two equal pieces. Flatten each ball and shape into a flat disc, about 1 inch thick. Cut each disc into 8 wedges.

Brush the tops of the scones with heavy cream and sprinkle with granulated sugar, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are fully baked.  The scones will be firm to the touch.  Allow the scones to cool for 15 minutes.

For glaze, whisk together confectioners sugar, water and vanilla extract. Drizzle over cooled scones.