Scones are a special treat, especially with freeze-dried strawberries and white chocolate - YUM!
People love to dip scones – in coffee, tea, latte, flavored icing or even fruit dip! My favorite version is to drizzle icing on the fresh baked scones and serve them alongside fruit with the fruit dip. And, when you serve them with a variety of bite sized fresh fruit chunks, they make an easy and delicious treat for breakfast, brunch or a mid-afternoon treat with friends.
These are not the dry scones you may remember having years ago. I’ve added more butter for flavor and tenderness and bake them at a lower temp in order to make them more delicious. Yes, they are still dippable in your morning coffee or milk, but are still moist enough to skip that if you want.
I personally love these the scones with the strawberry flavored icing. And, serving them alongside fresh strawberries with fruit dip definitely enhances the experience.
This is such an easy recipe. No kneading and no proofing. There’s no reason to set it in a warm place to rise like other doughs. Just a little chill time is needed just before baking. That’s a good time to relax or get another recipe started if you’re a constant baker.
Begin by whisking the dry ingredients together and grating or adding small cubes of ice-cold butter. Mix them together with a pastry cutter or two forks to combine the dough. I don’t use my fingers to squeeze them together in order to avoid softening or melting the butter. You really want small pea sized coarse crumbs so that the dough steams inside from the melting butter as it bakes. That’s what creates the delicious layers in the finished scones.
Stir in the broken up freeze-dried strawberries and grated or rough chopped white chocolate. Just stir in, don’t overmix.
Add the whisked together wet ingredients and stir in. There’s no need to knead this dough. In fact, you don’t want to knead it because you want those delicious butter pieces available to bake that steam into the dough.
Then pour the dough out onto a clean floured surface. It will be crumbly (but not sticky) so don’t try to knead it.
Separate the dough two piles of dough, adding a little more flour if needed or a little more milk. Then pat each one together and press it or use a rolling pin to flatten it to about ½” – ¾” thick. If you like thicker scones, feel free to roll it a little thicker. I personally like a thinner scone, so I roll it to ½” thick and it will definitely raise to get a little thicker as it bakes.
Cut the scones in triangles and place them 1-2” apart on the two parchment paper lined baking pans. If you want rectangles or rounds, those work just fine, too. And, if you like smaller scones, go ahead and cut them smaller…make sure to set the timer at a shorter time and check them for doneness.
Place the pans in the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes. I like the longer time to give the butter spots to solidify. But, if you’re in a hurry, 10 works just fine.
Cool and don’t forget the icing for a sweeter taste. It makes it a special dessert at breakfast time or for mid-afternoon snack.
Sprinkle with more strawberry crumbs for color and more flavor.
This recipe produces 16 good sized scones, or more smaller ones.
Prep your baking pan:
Line two large baking pans with parchment paper. It helps keep the scones from sticking to the pan and keeps cleanup to a minimum.
Preheat your oven to 375F degrees a few minutes before you’re ready to bake.
Many scone recipes call for 400F degrees, but I find they get too dry and sometimes burn around the edges or on the bottom at that high temperature. So, I’ve found that I like mine better baked at 375F degrees for a light golden brown top color and less dry inside.
Gather the Ingredients:
10 T Butter, ice cold and cubed
1 C Heavy Cream
1 Egg
2 T Strawberry preserves
1 t Vanilla extract
½ t Strawberry extract (optional)
2-3 drops Red gel food coloring
3 C Flour
½ C Sugar
4 t Baking powder
½ t Salt
¾ C Strawberries, freeze dried and crushed
1/3 C White chocolate, grated (or chips, rough chopped)
Gather up the Icing Ingredients:
2 C Powdered sugar
2 T Butter, melted
2-4 t Milk or heavy cream
¼ t Strawberry extract, optional
1 drop of red gel food coloring, optional
Gather up the Fruit Dip Ingredients:
8 oz Cream cheese, softened
7 oz Marshmallow crème
Orange zest & juice of 1 orange (optional)
Mix and bake:
-In a plastic bag or small mixing bowl, crush the freeze-dried strawberries to a fine powder, leaving about a quarter of them as a little bit larger size. Set the bowl aside, keeping a quarter cup out for sprinkling over the baked and iced scones.
-In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
-With a pastry cutter, mix the ice cold butter into the flour mixture so it resembles coarse pea sized pebbles.
-Stir in the freeze-dried strawberry crumbs and the white chocolate chips (or grated white chocolate) and set aside.
-In a separate bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, egg, strawberry preserves, vanilla extract and red gel food coloring.
-Add the wet to the mixture and mix just to combine. It should be a little crumbly.
-Pour the dough mixture onto a well-floured surface.
-Pat and press the dough together without working it too much or kneading it.
-Form it into two separate portions, and into two rectangles about ½-3/4” thick. Or divide it into two round discs as I've done here.
-With a large knife or board scraper, cut each rectangle into 8 triangles by alternating the angle of the knife or scraper from side to side as you make the slices. Every other triangle will be right side up and the alternate triangles will be upside down when you are done slicing.
-Place the scone triangles on two parchment paper lined baking pans, keeping the scones about 1-2” apart.
-Place the pans of scones in the refrigerator to chill for 10-20 minutes. I like the longer time to give the butter spots a chance to solidify. But, if you’re in a hurry, 10 works just fine.
-Bake at 375F degrees for 15-20 minutes. I check them at the 12-minute mark and rotate my pans so they get golden brown more evenly. They are done when they are a light golden color on top and on the edges.
-Let the scones cool on the pans at room temperature.
-Leaving the scones on the parchment paper, drizzle with the icing and sprinkle with more dried strawberry chunks.
Whisk up the Icing:
-In a medium mixing bowl, whisk a cup of the powdered sugar with the melted butter.
-Stir in the extracts.
-Add a couple teaspoons of milk or and whisk together.
-Add the other cup of powdered sugar, continuing to whisk.
-Add more milk or powdered sugar to attain the desired drizzle quality you like. Test it by dipping a fork into the icing and drizzling it on a portion of the parchment paper. It will dry, and you can speed that up by placing it in the refrigerator.
-Add the optional red food coloring.
-When you have reached the drizzling quality (heavy or thin) you like, drizzle all over the cooled scones which have been left on the parchment paper.
-Add more color by sprinkling ground freeze-dried strawberries on top.
-Use leftover icing as a dip for your scones or make the fruit dip as a dip for the scones and fresh strawberries. And, why not add chunks of other types of fresh fruit for dipping?
Mix up the Fruit Dip:
-With a whisk or electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and marshmallow crème together to combine as a smooth dip.
-Add the optional orange zest and juice, beating it in to combine.
-Serve your scones with coffee, milk, latte or even tea. They are great for dipping in the drink or fruit dip. Add fresh fruit chunks and you have a healthy little eating adventure.
Change up the flavors for more selection:
Try other dried or freeze-dried fruit for a variety of savory bites. Dried blueberries with lemon zest…orange zest with dried cranberries…Rum-soaked golden raisins…maple extract with toasted pecans…freeze-dried raspberries with white chocolate chips…rough chopped mixed nuts…rough chopped macadamia nuts with white chocolate chips…the combos are endless.
This is a fun recipe to make, even for the kids, since there is no kneading needed. Get them involved in crushing the freeze-dried strawberries, mixing the dry ingredients or even stirring in the strawberries and white chocolate. It’s a great hand to eye coordination exercise. And, it’s a wonderful way to help kids understand fractions when measuring the ingredients.
Storage:
-Store the scones in a covered (not airtight) container at room temperature for 3-5 days.
-To freeze, wrap them separately or layer between parchment paper…all in an airtight container for up to a month. I even freeze them with the icing.
-Thaw them in the container in the refrigerator overnight to have them ready for breakfast. Enjoy!
Add scones to your baking expertise by trying this recipe. It’s a delicious way to practice your no need to knead bread baking skills. And, however you serve them, be sure to Bake your own Memories!