As I was gathering ingredients for the cinnamon chocolate bundt cake this week, I spied the largeish container of raspberries I had bought in the fridge. Raspberries seem to spoil incredibly quickly, so I thought I'd use a cup or so of them and bake some scones. Many scone recipes require cream, which I didn't have, so I did a quick search for a recipe that uses yogurt. This was the one I found first, and though I hadn't planned on the addition of chocolate, the flavor combo reminded me of a seriously decadent chocolate-raspberry muffin we devoured at the farmer's market recently.
The scones tasted good just out of the oven. The raspberries were tart, but sweet, and the chocolate chunks played off well against them. I may have underbaked them a bit - good in brownies, but not so in scones. I generally like scones a little drier, but all the mix-ins (and how close together they were on the baking sheet) made it hard to judge doneness. I made the mistake of storing them in a sealed tupperware. I should've left the lid a bit ajar. The tops were a little soggy in the morning, because the demerara sugar on the top melted a bit. Ick.
They weren't hard to make, but I did have a bit of a challenge with the consistency. The instructions say to stir just until the dough comes together and then turn it out and knead it a few times. The dough was very dry and didn't appear to be absorbing all of the flour, so I added about another teaspoon and a half of yogurt. Whoops! I was probably overzealous and should have just given it a few more stirs first. When I turned it out onto the board, trying to knead it together while not squishing the fresh raspberries, it suddenly went beyond fully incorporated and into gloppy territory. In fact, the dough was so wet that it was hard to separate the triangles. I quickly slipped some parchment underneath so they wouldn't stick to the pan.
I liked the recipe, and I like the idea of yogurt-based scones since I almost always have yogurt on hand, but I probably wouldn't make them again without tweaking the recipe. Josh thought the chocolate was overkill, and I agree. It also might be nice with other fruits that aren't so delicate, or even chopped, dried fruit. One final note: here's another example of where recipes can vary so much. This recipe calls for 2 cups of flour, which they equate to 280 grams. Out of curiosity, I measured 280 grams and checked the equivalent in ounces: 9 7/8 ounces! Using my usual measurements (based on KAF), a cup of flour is 4.25 ounces, so two cups equals 8.5 ounces. I used their measurements just for consistency's sake.
Chocolate Raspberry Scones
2 cups (280 grams, 9 7/8 ounces) all purpose flour
1/3 cup (65 grams, 2 3/8 ounces) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
2 ounces dark chocolate chunks or chips (about 1/2 cup) (50 grams)
3/4 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 cup whole milk plain yogurt (I used a combination of sour cream and yogurt)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
milk or cream for brushing tops of scones
demerara sugar for sprinkling on tops of scones
Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chunks and raspberries. In a small measuring cup whisk together the yogurt, vanilla extract, and egg. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix.
Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently four or five times and then pat, or roll, the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round and about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut the dough into sixteen triangles. Place the scones on the baking sheet. (Since I was having trouble with the dough being wet, I formed the circle and cut the triangles ON the parchment, laid on top of a cutting board. Then I separated the triangles to give them room to bake, and I slid the baking sheet under the parchment.) I skipped brushing them with milk but just sprinkled the sugar straight on.
Bake for about 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Comments