in the Kitchen, there are typically 2 kinds of people. Cookers and bakers. I fall solidly in the cooker category but occasionally like to venture towards the latter. I lack the confidence as a baker that I have as a cooker but if you don't get out of your comfort zone you will never learn, expand or improve. With baking it seems most of the expanding is at my waistline! LOL! This weekend I just had the overwhelming urge to bake something, not just anything, scones. I don't know why. I mean I like them well enough but I wouldn't say I LOVE them. I remember my first scone was made in 7th grade home ec class. They weren't horrible but I remember them being dry and kind of bland. Fast Forward 20+ years .....a new bakery opens in my office building. They have raspberry white chocolate chip scone. WOW they were good. Still not overly sweet but just right with coffee. The downside though is they were HUGE (remember that waistline comment)! Eventually the bakery moved down the street so temptation was not greeting me at the elevator every day. But this weekend man was I hankering for one of those scones. I decided to take a walk on the wild side and make some myself. To the internet I went in search of recipes, I didn't have buttermilk and wasn't going to make a special trip for it so all those went out the window, checked out Tyler Florence's recipe - It looked delicious but make my own butter - um no. Finally I found one on
chew out loud. It had sour cream in it and the reviews all commented on home moist the final product came out. I went through the ingredient list and I had everything I needed - BAM! We had a winner. I followed the recipe and I admit there was some trepidation getting that dough to come together. The raspberries were not enjoying the process and the dough was getting stickier and more pink the more I handled it. Finally I got it to the point where it seemed right and I cut it and put it in the oven. When the kitchen timer rang and I checked on them they looked awfully wet and under-cooked so I turned the oven off and let them sit in there another 10 minutes just to be safe. That seemed to work because when I finally removed them from the oven they actually looked OK. I did regret using red colored sugar as a topping because it made them look like they came off the set of a slasher movie but live and learn. They certainly tasted great and that's really what matters.
Raspberry White Chocolate Chip Scones
4 cups all purpose flour
⅔ cups granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp table salt
2 sticks (16 TB) salted butter, frozen
1 bag white chocolate chips
1 cup whole sour cream
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 container fresh raspberries
1 egg + 2 tsp water, lightly beaten together (for egg wash)
coarse sugar for sprinkling
In a large bowl,
whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Using large holes of a box grater, grate frozen butter into the flour.
Use fingers to work in the butter until it resembles a coarse meal. Stir
in white chocolate chips.
In separate bowl, whisk together sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract until fully incorporated.
Use
a fork to stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large clumps
form. Gently stir in chips and raspberries with a rubber spatula. Do be gentle,
but the berries will break up somewhat; that's ok. Use hands to gently
form dough into two even sized balls. Don't overwork dough. Dough will
seem rather wet. Wrap dough balls tightly and chill until it's easier to
work with, about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set oven to 400F, with rack on lower-middle position.
On
a lightly floured, flat surface, gently pat each dough ball (might
still seem too wet, but it will bake up fine) evenly into an 8-inch
circle, about ¾ inch thick each. Using a very sharp knife, cut each
circle into 8 triangle wedges. Place triangles on lined baking sheets, 1
inch apart.
Brush
the egg wash on top of each triangle. Sprinkle tops with coarse sugar.
Bake one sheet at a time, about 14-17 minutes or just until tops are
light golden. Do not over bake. Allow scones to cool completely to room
temp.
Serve immediately,
or store in airtight container for up to 2 days.
