Peanut butter and jelly "sandwich" scones

Yesterday was "national peanut butter lover's day" so I apologize because I meant to post this yesterday in honor! Oh well..it's the though that counts right? And it is never a bad day to make something with peanut butter in it is it? I mean, who doesn't love peanut butter? Peanut butter is that person at the party that can pretty much get along with everyone. But what is the one thing that peanut butter is best known for getting along with? Its soul mate in life..jelly.

So I knew that I wanted to pair up peanut butter again with its long time comrad..jelly. But how? In a cupcake? In bar form? Some fancy layer cake that would take hours. Ain't nobody got time for that!  When you think of peanut butter happily married to jelly, what do you think of? Me too! A peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Crust optional. No I did not make you a sandwich.  So my mind went immediately to where it goes everytime. Scones.  And what better way than to reinvent the peanut butter and jelly sandwich but in my favorite form- a scone!

My gears were turning..but I was still left with one important question...how do I get that jelly in there? Swirl throughout? Drizzle on top? Then it struck me. I'll sandwich that jelly in there. It truly would be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. In the form of a scone. I'll sandwich that jelly in between two pieces of bread..err.. I mean layers of peanut butter scone dough. So that's what I did. I made you a peanut butter and jelly "sandwich" scone. 

This scone starts out very typical. I used my favorite scone recipe from Cook's Illustrated (i.e. America's Test Kitchen). I switched out the cream for the almond milk. First, I didn't have cream. Second, I figured almond milk..peanut butter...it's all in the same family, right? How could that be bad? I added in some crushed peanuts as well to bump up that peanut butter flavor. Next time, I am totally adding in peanut butter chips! If you make these and add in chips, let me know what you think. I added in my peanut butter when I added in my cream. The peanut butter ended swirling throughout the dough.

Now adding the jelly is where it got tricky. Here is what I did. I formed my dough into about a 10 x 10 circle. Then spread a layer of grape jam on one half of the circle. I folded the other half over and tried pinching the sides down. Basically, at this point it looked like a scone calzone. Hey..that rhymes. (sorry, that's the teacher in me!) I then proceeded to cut my scones into triangle wedges.  I am definitely not saying this was the smartest way. Pretty messy actually. I think I got a little carried away with the jam. Less is more here people. I attempted to seal the edges with each scone wedge, with little luck. I think if I was to make these again I would make the dough a little thinner and use a biscuit cutter to cut ou circles. I would then layer the jam in and sandwich two dough circles together (more of a ravioli approach as oppossed to a calzone technique). However you get the jam in there it was well worth it. My co-worker said, "These were one of the best scones he has tasted." Then again, he eats everything. I promise you though, peanut butter and jelly were happily joined again. So make up a batch of these and celebrate National Peanut Butter Lover's Day (even if you are a day late!)

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Scones

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2 cups AP flour
3 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
5 Tbs butter, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup jam (use to your discretion..I did use more when I made them and ended with a big mess. So start with a 1/4 cup)
turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine your flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.
3. Cut your butter into your flour mixture with a pastry cutter (or you can use a food processor).
4. Stir in your peanuts.
5. Add in your milk and peanut butter and stir to combine.
6. Turn your dough onto a floured surface and knead 5-10 times to incorporate the floury bits.
7. Pat into a large circle of dough (at this point, you could cut it into circles and spread jam on individual scone halves if you wanted to)
8. On one half of the circle, spread the jam.
9. Fold over your dough and cut into wedges. Try to seal the down the edges best you can! It will be a little messy, but that's ok!
10. Transfer your scones (carefully!) to your baking sheet. Bake them for 12-15 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.