Yesterday morning, I decided to bake the remaining scones I had purchased for this article about red-eye gravy. My boyfriend was hanging out and, since he is a dude who works in construction, I assumed he would eat at least two of the four. I baked them and offered him one — with ham — only to be told he “doesn’t like scones.”
[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2019/03/use-stale-leftover-coffee-to-make-red-eye-gravy/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/kzso7ze6qmpqmfaj5rpe.jpg” title=”Use Stale, Leftover Coffee To Make Red-Eye Gravy” excerpt=”I grew up in a house of caffeine obsessives. My father drinks a whole pot before anyone else even opens their eyes, and my mother and sisters drink much more throughout the day than their tiny bodies should be able to process (at five-foot-four, I am the tall one). When I’m around them, I feel like I too am a coffee person, but once I’m back home alone, the cup or so of coffee I leave to languish in the pot every single day proves otherwise.”]
I assumed he meant store-bought scones because, while they are fine drowned in sausage gravy, it’s hard to beat homemade — but no. He clarified that he doesn’t like “the texture” of any scone. This admission left me extremely annoyed, and with two uneaten scones.
In any case, I did not eat all four scones. The remaining two sat on the countertop, forgotten, because we had to suddenly rush out the door. I did not think of them again until this morning, when I went to make coffee and was greeted by sad, dense, stale scones. If I had stored them properly before leaving the house yesterday, a simple toasting might have revived them, but these were too far gone. So I did what I always do with sad bread, and made croutons.
I have made many a crouton in my time, but scone-based croutons are now my favourite. They absorb whatever fat you toss them in far better than any other bread, and they cook up super-crispy on the outside while remaining tender and every-so-slightly chewy on the inside.
Once the oven was preheated, the entire process took all of seven minutes. You can use whatever cooking fat you like but, since we are dealing with biscuits, I recommend salted butter. To make scone croutons, you will need:
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Sad, stale scones, however many you have
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1 tablespoon of salted butter per biscuit
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Garlic powder
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Fresh pepper
Preheat your oven to 190 degrees. Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Swirl the butter around until it is fully melted. Pull the scones into bite-sized pieces and toss them in the melted butter.
Transfer the biscuit bits to an ungreased cookie sheet, and give ‘em a light dusting of garlic powder and freshly ground pepper. Bake for 5-10 minutes, until the croutons are a deep golden brown.
Serve immediately, or store in an air-tight container for up to three days. Serve them on wedge salads, in a creamy tomato soup, or with this very easy black eyed pea stew. Or you could just eat them by the handful, which I may or may not have down while writing this. (I did.)
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