I’m always on the lookout for ways to use up opened items in my fridge. Right now I have a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. I have never seen a recipe that calls for more than three peppers at one time. And I’m guessing a can contains  anywhere from 6 to 10 peppers.

Because I decided to be adventurous and make clotted cream for New Year’s Day, I thought I should also make a variety (or two!) of scones to go with the clotted cream. I found a good-looking recipe at adventuresinthekitchen.com, which would help me use up some of those chipotle peppers.

ingredients.

• 2 3/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 T. baking powder
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 c. cheddar cheese, grated
• 4 to 8 slices bacon cooked and chopped (depending on how much you like bacon)
• 1 stick (1/2 c.) butter, cut into small cubes and frozen
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 1 tsp. chipotle puree
• 1 T. butter, melted
• fresh cracked black pepper, for garnish
• additional grated cheddar cheese, for garnish

directions.

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add the butter and using a pastry cutter blend the butter into the flour mixture until the dough forms pea size balls of dough. Add grated cheese and bacon and stir to combine.
4. Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the cream and chipotle until just combined.  The mixture will be a bit dry.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead a few times to gather it into a ball.  (This took me awhile because my dough was really dry. I actually added a bit more cream.) Roll the dough into an eight-inch square a little more than 1/2-inch thick.  Cut the square in half. Cut the rectangles in half and then cut the remaining four squares at the diagonal to get 8 triangles. Place on baking sheet.
6. Brush the tops with melted butter.  Sprinkle with a pinch ground pepper and if you’re feeling really wild, sprinkle with additional cheddar cheese.
7. Bake for 25 minutes, until lightly browned. Serve immediately – these are best warm! Eat plain, with butter or clotted cream.

Recipe rating: 

I cannot explain to you how delicious these scones were right out of the oven. They were so good I actually thought I need to open a bakery just to sell these babies. They were nearly perfect. Could have used a bit more chipotle flavor (I could barely tell they were chipotle at all), so I would up the chipotle in them to a tablespoon – maybe more. (I did not measure. I used two peppers, minced.) I also didn’t measure the cheese. I’m sure it was about a cup?)