(mini) cranberry & white chocolate scones

I took another stab at scones this morning, using yet another recipe. They turned out beautifully -- moist, tender and not greasy like my previous attempts. And beautiful to look at too. This recipe is definitely a keeper. I also liked the cranberries (rather than the raspberries as in previous attempts) -- no seeds!

Cranberry & White Chocolate Scones

1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 Tablespoons half & half (I used fat-free half & half)
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup dried cranberries
l/2 cup white chocolate chips

Blend flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter. Add cream, egg, cranberries and white chocolate chips. Stir until dough begins to hold together. Turn onto lightly floured board. Knead for 2 minutes. Pat into 1/2" round, cut into 8 wedges. To make mini scones, divide the dough into 2 rounds and cut each into 8 wedges, making 16 total. Transfer to baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 400 degrees for 14 minutes until golden brown.

Adapted from The Inn at Barnum Point recipe.

raspberry white chocolate scones, version 2.0

I wasn't in love with my last attempt at scones so I thought I'd give it another go. I had another scone recipe kicking around in my files and liked the idea of the yogurt instead of the traditional cream. Given the yogurt, I'm not sure how authentic a recipe it is, so maybe they are "scones," rather than scones. These "scones" are moist without being greasy (unlike my previous attempt). The picture above is actually of an ugly one -- it was the first one I ate!

Here is my adaptation:

Raspberry White Chocolate Scones

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10.63 ounces)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter, cold
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup fat-free vanilla yogurt (I used Columbo)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups frozen raspberries, unthawed (I used Cascadian Farms Organic)
1 cup white chocolate chips (I used Nestle... I'm on a budget!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients, using a pastry blender, until it is the size of small peas. Whisk together the milk, yogurt, egg, and vanilla in a small mixing bowl. Add to the dry ingredients, along with the frozen raspberries and the white chocolate chips, mixing just until the dry ingredients are moist; the dough will be soft and the raspberries and chips may not be well-incorporated. Scoop 1/3 cup of dough (using a measuring cup as your guide) for each scone on to your cookie sheet. You will need to use your hands to gently form the scones and make sure the chips and raspberries are making good contact with the scone blob. Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on cookie sheet for 15 minutes before serving.

Makes about 1 dozen scones.

raspberry-white chocolate scones

I've been having a hankering for scones, but they are hard to find out here in the sticks and I can't really stomach spending $5 on 6 scones that aren't even scones (they're dry, dusty biscuits with fruit in them) at the supermarket bakery. For some reason, the raspberry - white chocolate combo sounded appealing although I can't remember ever having that combination in my scone-eating life. So after spending considerable time searching for a scone recipe that seemed authentic and that I liked I decided to make the Simple Scones recipe from the King Arthur Flour website. I added 1 cup of frozen raspberries and 2/3 cup of white chocolate chips to the dough. In the future I'll probably add the raspberries in after all the other ingredients are blended since they did "bleed" a bit (I thought that by not thawing them in advance that wouldn't be such a problem). Also, I opted for the mounding method rather than using a scone pan and they did spread a bit more than I would've liked (all that butter!). So maybe they're not the most attractive -- but they were YUMMY. L. had to be rousted from bed to eat them warm, but ended up wolfing down 3. So I guess that means he liked them!