Put the chopped pecans, maple syrup, brown sugar and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes until the syrup bubbles up, thickens and coats the pecans in a sticky glaze.

Tip onto a piece of parchment paper and spread out so the pieces aren't clumped together. Leave to cool completely and harden, about 15 minutes. Once hard, roughly chop again if needed. Set aside about a quarter of the pecans (the nicest-looking pieces) to press on top of the scones later.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar.

Grate the frozen butter into the dry ingredients. Rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs, but don't rub it all the way to sand. Leave some visibly larger flakes and pea-sized pieces of butter, these are what create steam pockets and flaky layers in the oven.

In a separate bowl or jug, whisk the sourdough discard, egg, maple syrup and 1 tablespoon of the milk together.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry and fold together with a spatula or your hands until just combined and shaggy. Add more milk, a splash at a time, only if the dough won't come together. Stop as soon as there's no dry flour left. Overworking the dough here is the most common cause of tough, dry scones.

Fold in three-quarters of the candied pecans, distributing them evenly without overmixing.

Pat or gently roll the dough into a round about 15cm (6 inches) across and a full 4cm (1½ inches) tall. This is taller than a typical wedge-cut scone on purpose, a shorter, wider disc will give you flatter, drier scones.

Cut into 8 wedges using a bench scraper or sharp knife, pressing straight down rather than dragging the blade, which can seal the cut edges and blunt the rise. Space the wedges out on the baking sheet and press a few pieces of the reserved candied pecans into the top of each one.

Freeze the shaped, cut scones, uncovered, on the tray for 20 minutes before baking. This isn't a step to skip, it re-firms the butter so it stays in solid pieces until the oven heat hits it, which is what gives you a dramatic rise and flaky layers rather than a flatter, denser scone. (You can also freeze them at this stage for up to a month and bake straight from frozen, adding 3-4 extra minutes to the bake.)

Brush the tops with milk or double cream.

Spoon or drizzle the glaze over the cooled scones, top with the remaining candied pecans and a light pinch of flaky sea salt while the glaze is still wet, so it sticks.