Macadamia Nut Scones with Cream

Ingredients

3/4 - 1 c. macadamias chopped
2 c. plain flour
4 Tbsp. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
10 Tbsp. cold butter grated
2/3 cup heavy cream or Half & Half
2 Tbsp. extra Half & Half to brush scones
Cream:
4 oz. softened cream cheese
3/4 c. heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Instructions

To make the scones, preheat oven to 400°. Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silpat baking mat. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
Add the grated butter and, using your fingertips rub in the butter until the mixture is the consistency of coarse crumbs. Add the cream and gently stir. Before it becomes a ball, add in the nuts.
Gather the dough and knead gently to make a smooth round. Pat the round down to about 3/4" thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut scone shapes. Cut straight down and don't twist the cutter. Reroll remaining dough* and continue to cut out. You can also make two rounds and cut these into triangle shapes.
Place the scones on the prepared tray and brush with a little of the extra cream. I sprinkled my scones with some pearl/hail sugar. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the scones are puffed and golden.
For cream put the cream cheese into a mixing bowl and beat until soft with a hand mixer. Add in the powdered sugar and whipping cream and continue to beat until you have stiff peaks. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Serve the scones warm with the whipped cream mixture.

Recipe Notes

Note: Instead of rerolling I have started stacking the pieces of scrapes and pressing back out before cutting additional scones. This way you get a better finished product.

To Freeze scones: After brushing with cream and sugar put on tray and freeze. When frozen you can put in bags or small freezer containers. To bake frozen scones remove scones from oven and place on baking sheet THEN turn your oven on and when preheated, add your scones. Baking may take a few minutes longer.