PERILLA SOYBEAN SESAME SCONES

If you’re into savory scones with Korean-inspired flavors, this is a recipe for you. This combination was unexpected but I had some perilla leaves in the fridge that were about to go bad and went down a wormhole as I did some research and looked for a baked good to make. I was inspired by The Korean Vegan (her recipe recordings with moving life lesson voice overs on Instagram are a favorite) who made perilla sesame bagels, but bagels didn’t speak to me at the time and I wanted something more packed with flavor. I (clearly) decided on scones instead since I’ve been craving a savory version recently and because they can be easily modified to hold different flavor profiles. Savory scones usually go the route of some sort of cheese and herbs, like feta and chives or cheddar and green onions, so why not sub the green with perilla leaves and notch up the fermented funk with doenjang? The sesame seeds sprinkled on top give the scones a nice little crunch, and the nutty notes themselves are helped along by some sesame oil in the batter. These scones are fluffy on the inside, not the dense, hard rocks that scones can sometimes be, and in general I was shooting for more of a cake-y version than crumbly. Was pretty happy with how these turned out and hope you enjoy the same!

Perilla Soybean Sesame Scones
Scone base adapted from Joy The Baker
Makes 15 small scones

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tbsp sugar

• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into little cubes

• 2 eggs — 1 for dough, 1 for egg wash

• 1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil

• 2 tsp soybean paste (doenjang, wish I had used 1 full tbsp though)

• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

• 6 perilla leaves, roughly chopped

• Roasted sesame seeds

To make: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and prep baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together until combined. Add in the cold butter cubes and use hands to press in and mix until course in texture (does not have to be fully combined, crumbly texture with loose flour is fine here). In medium bowl, mix 1 egg, yogurt, sesame oil, doenjang and perilla leaves together until combined. Pour all of the wet mixture into the dry mixture and use hands to mix and knead until fully combined (~10-15 kneads). Form dough into 15 dough balls and refrigerate for 15 minutes. After refrigeration, place 6-8 dough balls on baking sheet (depending on how big sheet pan is — these don’t spread very much), pressing tops down slightly to flatten and make 1-inch in thickness. Beat the other egg in a small bowl and brush tops of dough discs with egg wash and sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds. Bake for 15-18 minutes and serve warm.

Notes: The flavors in the scone are fairly subtle, but if you want funkier, more savory notes, add more doenjang. A note on doenjang — each brand and variety tastes different. I usually use a kong (bean) based one by Chungjongwon (청정원 순창 구수한 메주 콩 된장) for soups because I like its umami flavor, but for these scones specifically, I used something more like a pepper paste, which adds a bit more kick to the batter. It’s called chungyangcho by Haechandel (해찬들 그대로 된장찌개 청양초) specifically to be used as a ready-made doenjang jjigae base, but I think can be easily replicated by mixing normal doenjang with some gochujang. Perilla itself is pretty fragrant, so you can also add more leaves too for stronger flavor. The key to flaky, soft scones is cold butter, and keeping dough (and butter) cold will keep them from spreading and flattening out. If you have dough that is waiting to be baked, keep it in the fridge until it goes in the oven. Sally’s Baking Addiction post on scones was a great resource for me before making/finalizing this recipe to learn more about important components and how they work. If you’re making additions/substitutions, remember to keep things relatively consistent in wet vs. dry ratios and fat content (i.e. sub whole milk for yogurt, but not skim milk).