Nope. These scones are NOT made with sourdough starter or discard. Not a bit of it. Perhaps you need to take a rest from sourdough? Your family has had it with sourdough pancakes, waffles, biscuits, cookies, etc.? It's okay. You can leave your starter in the refrigerator for another day and make something else. In this case, you can also feel virtuous because the recipe enables you to use up those bananas that have been lingering on your counter and are turning brown. The recipe also uses no butter and relies primarily on peanut butter for the fat that keeps the scones moist and tender. Peanut Butter and Banana Scones are not traditional scones. They bake up more like a muffin with crispy sides. My husband prefers them that way, because he likes his scones moist rather than dry--no need for butter, jam, or cream cheese. I use a scone pan to bake the dough/batter, which yields eight large scones. If you don't have a scone pan, it's okay. Just drop the dough/batter by 1/4 cup scoops onto a piece of parchment paper. You won't need to roll the dough out. In fact, you can't as the dough is more of a batter. Should you add the chocolate chunks? That's entirely up to you, but the chocolate, in addition to making for a sweeter scone, goes nicely with the banana and peanut butter combination. We eat these scones for breakfast but also think they're great for dessert (try one warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!). They keep well and warm nicely in the toaster oven. Try them for a quick and easy break from your sourdough.
Peanut Butter and Banana Scones -- Makes 8 large scones
1 cup of whole-wheat flour
1 cup of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of canola oil
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1 1/2 cups of mashed banana (about 3 bananas)
1/2 cup of chocolate chunks or chips (optional)
1-2 tablespoons of sugar
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar. With a fork, work in the canola oil and peanut butter until you have tiny pieces and pea-sized pieces that are visible. Stir in the mashed banana and chocolate chunks, if you're using them. Coat a scone pan with baking spray (the kind with flour in it). Divide the dough/batter among the wells. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the dough/batter. Bake the scones for 25-35 minutes or until a pick comes out with no moist batter attached and the scones are firm to the touch (if you're baking your scones "free form" on a piece of parchment, check them after 15 minutes--they won't need as long as in a scone pan). Let the scones cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then tip them out to cool completely.
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