This month Sallys Challenge was Maple Oat Pecan Scones. I am not a fan of pecans so substituted macadamia nuts.
I am a little embarrassed by the look of these scones, but not by the flavor, they are wonderful. The nuts add a nice crunch and the maple syrup yields the perfect sweetness,
The first scone crumbled when I dipped it in the maple icing. Normally this isn’t a bad this for a short crust pastry, but I did have to spread the icing with mixed in deconstructed scone on the rest of them,
Despite chilling the scones prior to baking they spread during the first 10 minutes of baking. I straightened them up at the half way point of baking which helped, but a real scone pan would be best.
What do to with extra berries and heavy cream screaming to be used? Berry Drop Scones, of course. I made a recipe using the extra blueberries and being a raspberry-a-holic I made another recipe with some freshly acquired raspberries.
This is my go -to recipe for any variety of berry scones. (These are my favorites.) They are also great to freeze and when the urge hits, thaw on the top of a toaster.
Berry Drop Scones
INGREDIENTS
2 ½ cups (312g) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup (67g) sugar
Zest of 1 small lemon (or orange or lime)
½ cup (115g) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
150-175g berries. Use any berries that you like.
1 cup heavy cream + extra if required
Coarse or turbinado sugar for topping
Makes about a dozen 3” scones
METHOD
Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and zest. Pulse a few times to incorporate.
Add the cubed butter and pulse to incorporate. The mixture should resemble very coarse sand.
Empty the flour mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the cream and stir until just barely incorporated. Add additional cream by the tablespoon to help the dough come together
Gently fold in the berries. (It’s fine if the raspberries or blackberries break up a little – it adds a nice pink stain to the dough.) The dough should just be moist, not wet, but also not crumbly or powdery looking. If it looks too dry, add a tablespoon of cold water.
Spoon the dough into 12 equally sized pieces on the parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle some coarse or turbinado sugar over the top, if desired.
Bake for 16-19 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The scones should be lightly golden and cooked through. I rotate the pan after 10 minutes
Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes then carefully remove to a cooling rack.
I make these drop scones with whatever berries I have on hand. I would rather spend a half hour making scones, than throwing slightly old berries away.
I made some Caramel Coconut Macaroon Thumbprints for Sally’s Baking Addiction April Challenge and had some strawberries left over. (They were BOGO.) Waste not, want more.
Berry Drop Scones
INGREDIENTS
2 ½ cups (312g) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup (67g) sugar
Zest of 1 small lemon (or orange or lime)
½ cup (115g) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
150-175g berries. Use any berries that you like.
1 cup heavy cream + extra if required
Coarse or turbinado sugar for topping
METHOD
Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and zest. Pulse a few times to incorporate.
Add the cubed butter and pulse to incorporate. The mixture should resemble very coarse sand.
Empty the flour mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the cream and stir until just barely incorporated. Add additional cream by the tablespoon to help the dough come together
Gently fold in the berries. (It’s fine if the raspberries or blackberries break up a little – it adds a nice pink stain to the dough.) The dough should just be moist, not wet, but also not crumbly or powdery looking. If it looks too dry, add a tablespoon of cold water.
Spoon the dough into 12 equally sized pieces on the parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle some coarse or turbinado sugar over the top, if desired.
Bake for 16-19 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The scones should be lightly golden and cooked through. I rotate the pan after 10 minutes
Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes then carefully remove to a cooling rack.
INGREDIENTS Scone • 3 ½ c AP flour, plus extra for dusting • 2 ½ Tbl baking powder • 1 tsp salt • 1 cup heavy cream • 1 cup lemonade • zest of 1 lemon Chantilly Cream • 1 c cold or whipping cream • ½ c powdered sugar • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste • (Option #1 for stabilized chantilly cream – 1/3 cup mascarpone, fridge cold (40%+fat) • (Option #2 for stabilized chantilly cream – 1 Tbl per cup of cream) Raspberry Jam • Equal weights raspberries and sugar • Juice and zest of 1 lemon (2 Tbl)
METHOD Chantilly Cream
At medium high beat the cream, icing sugar, vanilla (plus mascarpone if making stabilized cream). Move the beater around the bowl until the required stiffness is achieved.
Stiffness options – Beat for around 1 ½ minutes if you want soft peaks (kind of dollops) or 2 minutes for stiff peaks (for piping).
Set aside in a piping bag Raspberry Jam
Mix berries, lemon and sugar in a suitable sized pan and heat on medium-low until berries start to release their juice.
Strain the mixture to remove the seeds, return to heat.
Heat to 220°F
Set aside to cool. (Better to make the day prior to using) Scones
Preheat oven to 390°F. Line tray with baking/parchment paper.
Combine the flour, cream and lemonade in a bowl and mix until flour is mostly combined. Do not over mix, it will make the scones dense! The dough should be soft and sticky.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead gently just 3 – 5 times to bring dough together, then gently pat into a disc shape 1″ thick.
Use a 2.5″ round cutter to cut rounds – press straight up and down (don’t twist), flour cutter in between.
Use a knife or spatula lift (avoid touching sides) and place on tray, slightly touching each other (they help each other rise).
Brush the tops lightly with milk.
Bake for 15 minutes until golden on top. Place on rack to cool. Place tea towel over them to stop the tops from getting crusty.
Serve with copious amounts of Chantilly cream and jam
Notes
Lemonade – Any brand lemonade works fine, or even 7Up. Just needs to be lemony, fizzy and sweet!
“Thickened cream” is a term typically used in Australia and New Zealand that generally refers to a cream that is simply thicker than regular milk or light cream, but not whipped, often used in sauces or as a pouring cream, while “whipped cream” is when the cream has been beaten to incorporate air bubbles, resulting in a light and fluffy texture; essentially, thickened cream is just a thicker liquid cream, not aerated like whipped cream.
Storage – keeps for 3 days in an airtight container but needs to be reheated to serve. Also freezes well, for up to 3 months.
It’s a dangerous thing taking a day off from golf. I wanted to make more berry drop scones for a couple of weeks, but never seemed to find the time, until today when there was no golf on my schedule..
We also had no snacks for after dinner so I decided to make Millionaires Shortbread Cookies this afternoon to be ready for dessert. It’s good to have a plan and to execute it properly.
I had a couple of cups of blueberries in the fridge that were complaining about being ignored, so I made them into drop scones for breakfast yesterday. Actually, I froze half of them so they will continue to be enjoyed for a while. They thaw on the counter and are as fresh as new.
Berry Drop Scones
INGREDIENTS
2 ½ cups (312g) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup (67g) sugar
Zest of 1 small lemon (or orange or lime)
½ cup (115g) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
150-175g berries. Use any berries that you like.
1 cup heavy cream + extra if required
Coarse or turbinado sugar for topping
METHOD
Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and zest. Pulse a few times to incorporate.
Add the cubed butter and pulse to incorporate. The mixture should resemble very coarse sand.
Empty the flour mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the cream and stir until just barely incorporated. Add additional cream by the tablespoon to help the dough come together
Gently fold in the berries. (It’s fine if the raspberries or blackberries break up a little – it adds a nice pink stain to the dough.) The dough should just be moist, not wet, but also not crumbly or powdery looking. If it looks too dry, add a tablespoon of cold water.
Spoon the dough into 12 equally sized pieces on the parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle some coarse or turbinado sugar over the top, if desired.
Bake for 16-19 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The scones should be lightly golden and cooked through. I rotate the pan after 10 minutes
Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes then carefully remove to a cooling rack
My blackberries finally succumbed to the heat. I picked several pints but lost many times that due to dehydration in the 100+ temperatures. Luckily I froze a few pints and used about 175g of them to make scones this morning and have enough to make another couple of dozen scones later. Also Luckily, the scones freeze well and only need to come to room temperature to be as good as fresh.
Berry Drop Scones
INGREDIENTS
2 ½ cups (312g) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup (67g) sugar
Zest of 1 small lemon (or orange or lime)
½ cup (115g) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
150-175g berries. Use any berries that you like.
1 cup heavy cream + extra if required
Coarse or turbinado sugar for topping
METHOD
Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and zest. Pulse a few times to incorporate.
Add the cubed butter and pulse to incorporate. The mixture should resemble very coarse sand.
Empty the flour mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the cream and stir until just barely incorporated. Add additional cream by the tablespoon to help the dough come together
Gently fold in the berries. It’s fine if the raspberries break up a little – it adds a nice pink stain to the dough. The dough should just be moist, not wet, but also not crumbly or powdery looking. If it looks too dry, add a tablespoon of cold water.
Spoon, or use your hands, the dough into 12 equally sized pieces on the parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle some coarse or turbinado sugar over the top, if desired.
Bake for 16-19 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The scones should be lightly golden and cooked through. I rotate the pan after 10 minutes
Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes then carefully remove to a cooling rack.
Continuing the thread of gluten free bakes, this one provides a nice gluten free snack or breakfast without being “breads.”
The only changes I made to the original recipe are including xanthan gum and substituting milk and cream for almond milk.
Gluten Free Berry Drop Scones
INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free AP flour
1 tablespoon baking powder • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt • 1/3 cup sugar • 1 ½ tsp xanthan gum (optional) • Zest of 1 small lemon • 1/2 cup vegetable shortening chilled and cut into cubes • 150-175g fresh raspberries • 1 cup almond milk (See NOTE below) • Coarse or turbinado sugar for topping
METHOD
Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, baking powder, xanthan gum (optional), salt, sugar and zest. Pulse a few times to incorporate.
Add the cubed Crisco and pulse to incorporate. The mixture should resemble very coarse sand.
Empty the flour mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the almond milk and stir until just barely incorporated. (NOTE: I use ¼ c heavy cream and ¾ c 2% calcium free milk)
Gently fold in the berries. It’s fine if the raspberries break up a little – it adds a nice pink stain to the dough. The dough should just be moist, not wet, but also not crumbly or powdery looking. If it looks too dry, add a tablespoon of cold water.
Spoon (I used my hands, wetted if necessary to form small balls of dough) the dough into 9-12 equally sized pieces on the parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle some coarse or turbinado sugar over the top, if desired.
Bake for 16-19 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The scones should be lightly golden and cooked through.
Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes then carefully remove to a cooling rack.
I needed to make some snacks for someone with dietary restrictions. The challenge was to make gluten and dairy free pastries, without sacrificing taste and texture. Severe modifications to my drop berry scones filled the bill.
Replacing regular AP flour with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free AP flour, substituting cold cubed Crisco for cold butter and using almond milk instead of whole whipping cream paid the bill in full.
They were delicious, every bit as good as the standard “gluten-y” scones, with comparable texture. While I prefer blueberries for these scones, I have a large bag of Costco frozen mixed fruit (blueberries, raspberries and blackberries) I am trying to use up.
Gluten Free Berry Drop Scones
INGREDIENTS • 2 1/2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free AP flour • 1 tablespoon baking powder • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt • 1/3 cup sugar • Zest of 1 small lemon (I froze the zest of several lemons and take a pinch when needed) • 1/2 cup Crisco chilled and cut into cubes • 150-175g fresh raspberries (about a cup) • 1 cup almond milk • Coarse or turbinado sugar for topping
METHOD
Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and zest. Pulse a few times to incorporate.
Add the cubed Crisco and pulse to incorporate. The mixture should resemble very coarse sand.
Empty the flour mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the almond milk and stir until just barely incorporated.
Gently fold in the berries. It’s fine if the raspberries break up a little – it adds a nice pink stain to the dough. The dough should just be moist, not wet, but also not crumbly or powdery looking. If it looks too dry, add a tablespoon of cold water.
Spoon the dough into 9-12 equally-sized pieces on the parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle some coarse or turbinado sugar over the top, if desired.
Bake for 16-19 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The scones should be lightly golden and cooked through.
Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes then carefully remove to a cooling rack.
While I was waiting for other items to mix/chill/rise/etc I made a few other items this morning.
We were nearly out of bread (amazing.) I made a loaf of my honey high-hydration no-knead bread. This may be the prettiest loaf I have made. The slashes on top were well defined and kept the bread from blowing out anywhere else.
Oh, by the way, there are three-berry scones in the background. I like to freeze them, then on golf days take them from the freezer and snack on them on the course. They don’t seem to help my game, but do make it more enjoyable.
This time, I made the scones bigger than usual. I used some frozen berries we had (ever frugal) and had trouble incorporating them into the dough. They ended up being delicious!
