makes 6 scones
I was playing around with a few ideas for scone flavor combinations one afternoon when Peter suggested rosemary and dried fig: a pungent, savory herb matched with a sweetly strong fruit. When it came time for me to show my cards, I said I thought anise, though savory, has a real affinity for sweetness and that pistachios would add a toasty, buttery crunch. We were pretty much sold on the combination before we even tried it; some recipes just sound right in the conceptual stage. You need to be careful with rosemary, though, because it wants to take over. So in this recipe, I use it in the form of an infused butter. This technique allows you to control how much presence an herb has in the final flavor. I find this to be a nice scone for winter since the ingredients are all readily available. It has just enough sweetness to qualify as a scone and therefore is perfect for times when you’re looking for something more savory for breakfast or tea.