Peppered Pear and Goat Cheese Scones
I’ve been waiting patiently all week to post these… I loved them so much that I wanted them to get three full days on top of the Girl Cooks World main page. These peppered pear and goat cheese scones are the perfect marriage of savory and sweet.
Punctuated with small chunks of tender pear and tangy goat cheese, these light and moist scones are perfect for breakfast or brunch (I happily ate one just about every morning for a two week period); they’d also make a fun gluten-free bread option for a festive dinner.
Although I love love loved the pear and goat cheese combo, feel free to play around with other combinations like apple and cheddar. Hope you guys like these as much as I did.
Peppered Pear and Goat Cheese Scones
Yield: 8-12 scones
Ingredients:
* 1 cup plus 3 Tablespoons superfine rice flour
* 1/2 cup potato starch
* 1/2 cup tapioca starch
* 2 Tablespoons sugar
* 1 Tablespoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1-1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
* 8 Tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
* 1 pear, peeled, cored and diced
* 4 ounces goat cheese, roughly crumbled
* 1/2 cup plain yogurt, preferably whole milk
* 2 Tablespoons milk, plus extra for brushing
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
Place the rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, sugar, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt and pepper in a large bowl and mix to combine. Add the butter and use your fingers to break it up into small pieces and incorporate into the dry ingredients, but do not overwork it and melt the butter.
Add the pear and goat cheese and carefully mix. In a small bowl whisk together the yogurt and 2 Tablespoons of the milk. Pour into the flour mixture and gently fold to combine. Use your hands to divide the dough into roughly 8-12 scones, depending on how large you'd like them to be. Arrange on the prepared baking sheet, leaving about an inch of space between the scones. Gently flatten the top slightly and then brush with milk. Sprinkle with a little extra ground black pepper, if desired.
Place in the preheated oven and bake 22-25 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack.
Adapted from Savory Baking
Welcome! I'm Cate and Girl Cooks World is my recipe journal from my culinary trip around the world. 
These look so good. I love the combination of pear and goat cheese. I will have to try these out soon. Thanks!
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CATE — March 31st, 2012 @ 11:55 pm
This was my first experience with the pear and goat cheese pairing… I loved it! But then again I love goat cheese with just about anything :)
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Wow, these look amazing! I bet they would vanish nearly instantly a from a party buffet.
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CATE — March 31st, 2012 @ 11:56 pm
Thanks Eileen! Yep- these were a big hit with everybody who tried them. They were great both warm and at room temp.
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Yum! I haven't delved into the world of savory scones, but these look delicious – both savory and sweet! They also have a nice-looking biscuity texture.
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CATE — March 31st, 2012 @ 11:57 pm
These were actually my first savory scone… needless to say I'm a convert :) Although blueberry scones will, of course, always have a place in my heart as well!
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