Kinda summery, huh?

I’m of the camp that says that if you are going to call a dish or baked good something that conjures up what ingredients are in it and what it might look like or taste like, you’d better make sure that the flavors and textures are all there. Which is why I had to make a few batches of this recipe a couple of times. But I think I finally have it! Aren’t you excited? 🙂

A little bit of background as to why I made these. The usual reasons for deciding to make anything I post here often has to do with what ingredients I have on hand that need to be used. And I still had canned pineapple from the matcha pineapple macadamia nut cake.

And while canned pineapple can probably stay in the cupboard unopened for a long time, I also read a story last week about the recent passing of the creator of the Hawaiian Pizza, which is one of my favorite types of pizza.

He was a Greek who immigrated to Canada in the 1950s and came up with this pizza. His name was Sam Panopoulos. Who knew?! I just assumed it originated in Hawaii.

These scones are on the tender side. The buttermilk makes a big difference. If you like firmer scones, find some that don’t have buttermilk, or other dairy, or eggs. It goes well with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese and gives a nice toasted color on top. Also, you can probably make it without the cornmeal at the bottom, but I think that really gives it that pizza feel in your hand when eating it!

Hawaiian Pizza Scone (makes 8 large scones)

ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 Tablespoons fine grate parmesan cheese

1 and 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

4 ounces (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, very cold, cut into small cubes

1 egg

1/2 cup buttermilk, full-fat “Bulgarian” buttermilk, if possible

6 ounces Canadian bacon slices, each slice cut into four even pieces

16 ounce can of pineapple chunks, drained

4-5 Tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, canned in oil with spices, pureed or finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped canned green chiles

coarse cornmeal for sprinkling on parchment paper under scones before baking

method

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place the first nine ingredients (all-purpose flour to the parmesan cheese) into a medium bowl and stir several times with a whisk to fully incorporate. Add the butter and mozzarella and toss with your fingers, much like making pie dough, where you don’t want the palms of your hand to make the cheese and butter warm.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg and add the buttermilk and whisk until combined. Pour into the first bowl with the flour and fold with rubber spatula or wooden spoon until flour forms a very loose dough.

Add the sun-dried tomatoes and mix with spatula or a clean hand until evenly dispersed, but don’t mix too much.

On plastic wrap or a sheet of parchment paper, flour the surface and place the dough in the middle and shape into a square, flattened to about an inch thick. Lay about 3/4th of the Canadian bacon, 3/4ths of the pineapple, and chopped green canned chiles, if using.

With a spatula or your hands, or also using the sides of the plastic wrap or parchment paper, you can fold the dough over itself, enclosing the toppings from each side, closing it together.

Turn it over and add another piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper and flatten back, this time into a large circle, roughly 10 inches in diameter. Add the 1/4 of each of the ingredients and brush lightly with more buttermilk, if desired.

Cut like a pie into 8 pieces. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and sprinkle coarse ground cornmeal, if desired.

Baked for about 25 minutes-30, until lightly browned on top with no wet looking areas. Let cool slightly on wire rack. Sprinkle crushed red pepper flakes over tops, if desired.