Date & walnut scones

Instructions

1. Pit and roughly chop the dates, then put in a saucepan over a medium heat along with the milk, and heat until steaming (not boiling). Remove from the heat and mash the dates into the milk using a fork – don’t worry if there are a few lumps. Stir in the vanilla and leave to cool completely.

2. Tip the flour into a large bowl and mix in the cinnamon plus a pinch of salt. Chop the butter into small cubes, and roughly chop the walnuts. Add the butter to the flour mixture and rub in using your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the brown sugar and most of the walnuts using a cutlery knife.

3. Pour the cooled date mixture into the dry ingredients, and use the cutlery knife to bring everything together into a soft, scrappy dough. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until there are no floury patches. Try not to overmix – the less you handle scone dough, the lighter the scones will be. Pat into a roughly 3cm deep disc.