Goat Cheese Pistachio Date Scones

I’ve been M.I.A., I know.  It’s been a crazy, busy month.  And I know I’ll be back soon with something really important to say, but for now I shall try to make you like me again with this uber delicious scone recipe (yes, it’s another scone recipe…I just can’t stop. Sorry.)

These scones have one of my favorite things inside of them.  Young goat cheese, or chevre..  Gosh, I love the stuff.  I’ve made mac n cheese with it, biscuits, I’ve used this pistachio-goat cheese combo for some amazing croissant paninis, my twice-baked rutabagas have goat cheese in them, I’ve even made ice cream out of the stuff.  If it’s on a menu, I’m ordering it.  Period.  And I love the color that pistachios bring to a dish.  Such a vibrant, spring green, it’s just beautiful.

I had been toying around with the concept of a green scone since St. Patrick’s Day. I wanted to do a scone with pea puree but my husband vetoed it. Then I forgot about it…until I did a pantry raid today.  I discovered a bag of pistachios that I had totally forgotten about.  I don’t usually keep them around because they’re so dang expensive, but I had gotten these on sale awhile back and I guess I was hoarding them.  I also had half a log of goat cheese in the fridge that I was wanting to use in a scone recipe soon, so I put two and two together and here we are!

These are, kinda like, awesome.  I grind the pistachios in the food processor with the dry ingredients so the scones are flecked throughout with vibrant, spring green.  It’s simply beautiful.  You get the rich, almost sweet taste from the pistachios and their beautiful color without having a giant nut in each bite.  I hate that.  That’s why I don’t like nuts in things…they can really ruin a bite.  And I chose to use dates in these scones because I love the syrupy taste of a date, it really pairs beautifully with the tang from the goat cheese.  All in all, I’m super proud of these, they’re sweet but not overly so, and just so delicately flavored with some wonderful ingredients.

I do hope you enjoy them!

Goat Cheese Pistachio Date Scones
*Add the following to a food processor-
3 cups AP flour (or WW pastry)
1 cup white sugar
1 TB baking powder
rounded 1/2 tsp kosher salt
some freshly grated nutmeg (I would imagine 1/4 tsp or so)
rounded 1/2 cup shelled, salted pistachios (2 oz)
*Pulse until the pistachios have broken down and peppered the dry ingredients. You will know it’s done because you will stop hearing lots of loud noises from the food processor.

*Add in 1 stick of very cold unsalted butter (I usually cut mine, then put it in the freezer while I prepare the dry ingredients) and 4 ounces of very cold chevre goat cheese.  Pulse again until the butter and cheese have been distributed throughout the dough.

*With the mixer on, slowly pour some half and half, cream or evaporated whole milk into the spout of the food processor.  You will probably use about 1/2 cup.  Keep slowly adding the milk until the dough has been moistened, but has not become a giant dough ball. You want to be able to squeeze the dough with your fingers and create a ball.

*Transfer the dough to a floured surface.

*Knead in a rounded 1/2 cup of chopped, pitted dates (3 ounces). Distribute the dates evenly throughout the dough but be careful to not overwork it.  Shape into a disk and slice into 8 triangles, as if you were cutting a pie.

*Place each triangle on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven, on the top rack for 17-22 minutes.  They’re done when the tops are golden brown and firm, but the centers appear to still be ‘creamy’.  They will firm as they cool.

*Allow to cool on the pan until you can safely touch them, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.  Store in an airtight container either at room temperature for 3 days or in the fridge for a week.  Or store, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and then foil, and then placed in a food storage bag for up to three months in the freezer.
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I always taste one of my new scones after they come out of the oven, usually when they’re still warm.  I just can’t seem to wait the appropriate amount of time.  I have burned many a tongue doing this.

Tonight, it was getting close to dinner time and I only wanted a bite to make sure I did my job correctly.

Oh man, that’s good.  Wow, OK. I think another bite is needed just to be sure.

(I take really big bites)

Well, damn. Scones for dinner, it is.