Have I mentioned how much I love our house? I am sitting here in our piano room/office, surrounded by the furniture, framed pictures, lamps, vases, candles, magazines and more that would normally be in our living/front room. But we are painting the living room right now (a TOTALLY rad color scheme, I might add). This room is a temporary jumble. The living room furniture is in the middle of the room and there are drop cloths, buckets of paint and equipment all over the place. It is a weird time to be feeling lovey dovey for our house. But I do.

Even though the furniture is everywhere, when our painting project is done the rooms will be better than ever. Even though the plants are just little nubs right now, I love the growing garden outside. Even though our poor clock – the only “real” clock in the house – doesn’t keep very good time, I like hearing it tick. Even though projects take work and a period of time where all of your crap is in temporary disarray, I love doing projects with Dave to improve our home. There is something really tangibly awesome and nest-y about making the home you have together better. I highly recommend it.

We made these scones the day we started working on our project. I am quite pleased with how they turned out! The almond flavor compliments the whole wheat nuttiness nicely. And, unlike many whole wheat projects that have come before this, these scones were incredibly soft.

Here’s what you need:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup almond meal (aka almond flour OR pretty finely ground almonds)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup + 1-2 Tbsp. milk
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/3 cup chopped almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In one bowl, stir together the flour, almond meal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into the dry materials using a fork, a pastry cutter or your fingers.

In a separate bowl, use a fork to beat together the 3/4 cup milk, egg and almond extract. Fold the liquid into the flour mixture. The dough should fold together to create a dough that is pretty sticky. If there is not enough liquid to incorporate all the flour, add more milk one tablespoon at a time until incorporated.

Form the dough into a disk on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper or nonstick baking sheet such as a silpat. Slice into 6 wedges, pizza-style with a pizza cutter. Sprinkle with chopped almonds and tap lightly to embed a little in the top of the dough. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. You will probably have to go over your cut marks again to slice and separate the wedges.