Fry Bread Scones Family Recipe (Beignets)

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Last updated on October 23rd, 2021 at 02:13 pm

Behold the family tradition recipe that I knew growing up simply as ‘scones’. Until I learned later what most people consider scones – which are kind of crumbly and dry-looking and honestly, I’ve never had one (they’re probably tasty in their own right, but they are not my scones…). But still, I guess I should call them fry bread scones to avoid confusion.

Kind of like an obscure cousin of beignets and donuts, these are fried slabs of perfectly golden-brown dough. Add some sweet toppings and it is a dessert that usually masquerades as a breakfast item. Which I love.

My mom started making these on the mornings of our church’s big conference held twice a year. So it became a tradition and a special treat that we rarely had. And one that we always looked forward to growing up.

Because it was a tradition, my wife lovingly made these for our family when the time came. For the longest time, she would use a photo on her phone of a recipe card that had super shorthand instructions to make this. Similar to the German pancake recipe that I had written on a scrap of paper.

So, it is finally immortalized and a little bit easier to follow.

Making and Frying the Dough

My mom first learned of this from a friend. And it starts out with a simple white bread dough recipe.

Begin by mixing together the dry ingredients while heating the wet ingredients together to just melt the butter. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and thoroughly mix them together.

I recommend using a stand mixer with a dough hook to mix everything together. It is faster and easier to bring the ingredients together into a slightly sticky dough.

From there, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and start kneading it for about 5 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. It should no longer be sticky when you have finished kneading it.

Now comes the patience. Let it rest in a bowl to rise for an hour.

Once it has about doubles in size after rising for an hour, you are good to start rolling out the dough and cutting your scones. You can honestly cut them into whatever shape you want. It might be interesting some time to try out some cookie cutters and see how that goes…

But rectangles are easy.

Toss them in the melted shortening and let them fry. Actually, don’t toss them. Hot Crisco will get everywhere. Gently place them in the pan and wait until they are golden-brown. Make sure you flip them halfway through cooking.

Then drain them on a paper towel-lined plate, let them cool enough to not burn your tongue, and start chowing down. After you top it with more deliciousness, of course.

Topping Fry Bread Scones

Anything that would go well with a simple fried dough will work. Which is basically everything. We seem to keep uncovering new things that pair with the scones.

We always treated these sort of like pancakes or waffles with respect to toppings. My favorite growing up was a Knott’s Boysenberry syrup that no longer seems to be available anywhere. Also, melting a little butter on top first because apparently frying them in Crisco was just not enough.

Try topping or serving with any of the following:

• Berries
• Whipped Cream
• Salted Caramel or Butterscotch Sauce
• Powdered Sugar
• Three-Berry Syrup
• Nutella

Mix and match and set them all out as options for people to top their own however they like.

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