Jalapeño Pepper Jack Scones

 If you're not reading Joy the Baker yet, you're missing out. Her irreverent writing style is always entertaining and though I have a zillion of her recipes starred in my reader, this is my first time baking anything of hers. The awesome smoothie from last month was hers though.

I made these for Valentine's Day because I had most of the stuff around the house and I love cheese. So I guess you could the love between Aaron and I is spicy. And cheesy. Also, delicious. This recipe been sitting in my reader for awhile now, but I'm glad I finally got around to making them.

Jalapeño Pepper Jack Scones from Joy the Baker:

Makes 6 large scones

2 c. all-purpose flour
2 Tb. cornmeal
1 Tb. baking powder
1 tsp salt
8 Tb. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
2 large eggs
½ c. heavy cream (plus more for brushing the tops of the scones)
¼ lb. pepper jack cheese, cut into small cubes
2 medium jalapenos, some seeds removed, diced small
2 tsp. olive oil
1 Tb. all-purpose flour

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.

Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a small sauté pan and cook diced jalapeños until softened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Let the diced peppers cool and them mix with the diced cheese. Toss mixture in 1 tablespoon of flour and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Work in the cold butter with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Some butter pieces will be the size of peas and the flour will be nice and crumbly.

Whisk together 2 eggs and heavy cream. Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients, fold together with a fork until almost fully incorporated. Add the jalapeño and cheese mixture to the shaggy dough and work together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 30 seconds. Form into a disk about 8” around and 2” thick. Cut disk into six wedges and refrigerate for 10 minutes before baking.

When ready to bake, place chilled scones onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and delicious.

These are so good! They're much spicier than you might expect which pairs well with the fattiness of the cheese. I think this would work so well with soup, but they're awesome just on their own. Even for breakfast!