This scone is a new twist in your regular scone. A scone filled with chunks of chopped fresh Strawberry plus bits and pieces of chopped white chocolate. Let me introduce you to Strawberry White Chocolate Scones or Berry White Scones. How heavenly is that? This is something that I definitely welcome on my table any time. It is almost like a dessert scones to me, and dessert for breakfast is always a winner in my book.

Scones are my new obsession lately, on top of homemade breads. I just love making scones both sweet and savory. There are times that I crave for a savory breakfast and that is when I make a savory scone or biscuit variation. There are times like today that all I want is to satisfy my sweet tooth craving and yet still enjoy the abundance of fresh Summer fruits. This is where this scones comes in. Fruity, very fruity with a decent amount of white chocolate to satisfy my sweet tooth craving.

This scone was inspired by a bakery that I visited last week. I actually saw the scones first in advertisement and thought that would be a great idea to make at home. They used Raspberry for the scones, but since what I have is Strawberry, that is what I used instead. Plus, I made a Raspberry scones before and its kind of messy to handle because of the very fragile texture of Raspberry. I feel that since Strawberry texture is more stable even when squeeze and gathered to form a dough, it is a better choice for this scone. I am happy to report I was right. This scone turned out to be better than what I had expected. It taste so good one is not enough.

About This Recipe

• Ease in Making the Recipe: Scones is one that I consider to a be a very easy recipe, regardless if you are making sweet or savory version. You can make scones in 1 hr, that already include the chilling time of 30 minutes. This is one pastry that I often prefer to make in the morning when I feel like having it for breakfast. For me, nothing beats freshly baked Scones. With easy recipe like this, baking it the same day you are serving it is what I recommend you do.
• Ingredients: The ingredients are simple and easy to find, not to mention flexible. You can use this base dough to make both sweet and savory variation. All you need to change are the mix in, this recipe uses chop white chocolate and fresh Strawberry.
• Texture, Taste & Flavor: It’s a flaky buttery scone, that’s for sure. It has just the right sweetness even after the addition of white chocolate. Sweet scone doesn’t have to be overly sweet, that is how I always like it. The scone has a very tender crumb texture. Thanks to the cake flour, it surely made the texture soft and light. The amount of Strawberry is just perfect, it has the balance amount of dough to Strawberry. Do not be tempted to add too much Strawberry as it could make the scone too heavy and wet.
• Make-Ahead: Definitely Yes! You can make the dough ahead of time and keep it frozen up to 2 months, But with a recipe this easy, I highly recommend just make it the same day you want to serve it. I always say and I stand by it that scones and biscuit are best eaten the same day they are made, even better few minutes after baking.

Ingredients for Strawberry White Chocolate Scones

• Cake Flour or All-Purpose Flour – Cake flour produces a lighter crumb Scones and so this is my go to most of the time. This is not saying that you cannot make it using all-purpose flour, you can and it will work too but with slight difference in texture.
• granulated Sugar – this recipe uses small amount of sugar, only 1 tablespoon. You can make it 2 or 3 tablespoon if you like it sweeter but take into consideration that there is white chocolate added in this so that is also sweet.
• Baking Powder & Baking Soda – I used 2 leavening agent to gift a lift to the scones. Since there is buttermilk which is acidic, adding baking soda makes sense. The baking powder is also needed since we are adding a lot of heavy chopped Strawberry plus the chocolate, it will really need all the help it could get to push the scones to rise.
• Salt – always add salt to enhance the taste. I used table salt.
• unsalted Butter – I always grate my butter when making scones. Grating the butter makes an even size pieces that easily mix with the dough. Freezing is highly recommended for easier grating and for a more flaky scones.
• Buttermilk – Buttermilk produces a light tender crumbs because of its acidic nature that works with baking soda. No need to buy an entire carton, make one at home by simply mixing the milk + 1 teaspoon of pure white vinegar or lemon juice. Leave it for 5 minutes until it curdle.
• Strawberry – I used fresh Strawberry and chopped it into small pieces for easy mixing. Use ripe but not mushy ripe Strawberry as it could get the dough too wet. Reserve the overripe bruised Strawberry for snacking instead.
• White Chocolate or Chocolate Chips – I used Bakers White Chocolate bar which is meant for baking. I find that using bar or block chocolate and chopping it is better and it melts and combine with the scones when bake. You can also use chocolate chips if that is what you have but bear in mind that chocolate chips have stabilizer so they do not melt as much as chopped bar chocolate.

Can I use frozen Strawberry?

Do it only if you cannot find fresh one. When using frozen Strawberry, chop it but do not thaw it. Thawed Strawberry have too much moisture and it will make the dough to wet. If this happen, add a little bit of flour to dry out the dough and generously flour the surface you are working on.

Why Use Cake Flour?

I used to make scones and biscuit using all-purpose flour, and it does work too. For years I thought it was great, until I started usign cake flour to make them. They are fine, they taste good and a lot of recipe online uses all purpose flou too. But if you want more than great scones and biscuit, if you want a light tender scones, cake flour will do the job better. Cake flour have the lowest protein content among all other type of flour, about 5 – 8 percent which produces a light tender crumb. This is why this is the recommended type of flour when making cakes as cakes are better with light tender texture. Another benefit of using cake flour is that it absorb liquid and sugar better thus making the bake product moist. This is one thing also that you have to keep in mind, if you are swaping all-purpose flout for a recipe, consider the amount of liquid you are putting in, you m ay need less than usual.

All-purpose flour on the other hand have 10 – 12 percent protein content. The higher protein content produces a chewier compact baked product like cookies and flaky pie crust. Over mixing will easily result to a tough baked goods with flour that have high protein content. High protein content flour like bread flour are made specially for bread, hence the name. Bread flour have protein content of 11 – 12 percent. The high protein content produces a chewy texture that we love in bread.

This is not saying that All-purpose flour will not work, as I mentioned I tried it several times before and it also worked but with difference in texture. When I started using cake flour for my scones and biscuits, I immediately noticed the difference and never looked back. Give it a try and compare the texture if you want to test it yourself. Judy, one of the reader commented this when she made my Flaky Glazed Orange Scones

“Great recipe! I followed your suggestion of using cake flour along with the high protein KA flour I normally use. My scones were finally the light and tender texture that I have been missing since switching over to KA flour about 5 years ago! (I have been blaming my new oven for 5 years!). Thanks!”

How to Make Strawberry White Chocolate Scones

Everything in this process is easy. Scones always start with cold butter and mixing it with the dough along with the flour, sugar, salt, leavening agent. The add-ins can vary and is very flexible. For this recipe, I used chopped white chocolate and Strawberry as mix in.

Mix the Dry Ingredients

To start the process, sift the dry ingredients in a bowl. Sifting is important here because we are using cake flour here and cake flour tends to have lumps. Sifting also aerate the flour, making it lighter and fluffier thus producing light and soft scones. Once all all mix, add the chopped white chocolate and Strawberry. I like adding them before adding the liquid so that whatever liquid the Strawberry have will be absorb by the flour. This way, you can easily adjust the amount of liquid as you work through the dough.

Add the Wet Ingredients

Gradually add the liquid which is buttermilk in this case. I often add half of the liquid to start with and then add more liquid as needed. Because we are using fruit that is quite wet, the dough could get easily sticky when you ended up more liquid than required. If this happen, simply add small amount of flour to dry up the dough, and rub your hands with some flour too so it doesn’t stick to the dough. Just do not add too much flour as you do not want ending with a tough scones. Once you can gather it together to form a disk and it is not cracking, then you can stop adding more flour or liquid. This is pretty much applicable to any kind of scones not only for this variation.

Shape, Freeze

Once that is done, wrap the dough and freeze it at least 30 minutes, if you have 1 hr to spare, freeze it for 1 hour. You can even freeze it up to 3 months. No need to thaw when ready to bake, simply add 2-3 more minutes when baking frozen raw Scones.

Bake

Now the brushing of the top. You can use buttermilk to brush the top, that is if you do not want to crack 1 egg just to use to brush the top. Of course using egg wash will produce a better browning on top but it will not affect the overall taste of the scones. Arrange the scones in a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in a pre-heated oven. Bake at 400F, hot oven is key to producing a great scone.

The process of making the scone is pretty basic, even if this is your first time making it. I left few tips below on scone making, spare some time and read it because it is crucial to having a soft and flaky scone.

What Type of White Chocolate to Use

I used the Bakers White Chocolate Bar and had it chopped to smaller pieces. You can use any other plain baking bar chocolate, whatever brand you have in your area. Chopped white chocolate has a better melting point and makes the scones extra creamy. However, if you cannot find a bar baking chocolate, you can use chocolate chips, chop them a bit so that it blend easily in the dough.

Tips to a Successful Flaky and Light Scones

• Cold Ingredients: This is one of the secret to a flaky Scones just like with biscuit and pie crust. Eggs, cream/milk/water should be cold not only the butter. Using cold ingredients prevents the butter from melting before the scones are baked, leaving it instead to melt in the oven and create a super-flaky end result
• No Over Mixing:  Just like when making bread over mixing could result to a tough scones. This is why it is very important to handle the dough with care, slightly and gradually push it around but do not knead it too much to make the texture smooth. Stop as soon as you are able to gather it up together. With scones, lumps and bumps is perfectly fine, it gave the scone a more rustic look
• Chill or Freeze Before Baking: The dough will soften as you handle it because of the warmth of your hands, so as extra precaution, chilling it or even freezing it before baking is highly recommended for a flaky texture.
• Hot Oven – Pre-heated hot oven is recommended when baking scones or biscuits. This is important so that the scones could reach its fullest height and lightest crumb.

Substitute for Buttermilk

You do not have to buy a carton of buttermilk just forr this recipe. You can make your own by adding 1teaspoon of lemon juice or plain white vinegar to the same amount of liquid in this recipe. Leave it for 10 minutes until it curdles. If you do not have lemon juice or vinegar, you can also use full fat milk or heavy cream. Add the liquid gradually as each of this substitute have different level of moisture that could affect the dough.

Ok, I think that’s about it. Spare sometime watching the video and carefully read and follow the instructions below. Let’s get started!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Cake Flour or All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 1/3 teaspoon Salt
• 1/8 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/4 cup COLD Butter (Freeze overnight or minimum 1 hour)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh Strawberry
• 40g chopped White Chocolate or Chocolate Chips
• 4 – 5 tablespoon COLD Buttermilk (plus more for brushing top and as needed, about 1 tbsp)

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a large holed cheese grater, grate the frozen butter. Add the sugar, chopped Strawberry and white chocolate. Mix to combine.
3. Wet Ingredients: Gradually add buttermilk to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough starts to come together. You may need more or less of the recommended measurement. You do not have to use all of it, once it start to come together, stop adding more. If you are using a really ripe Strawberry, you might need less liquid as the juice from Strawberry will add moisture to the dough. Start by adding half of the liquid first then gradually add as needed.
4. Shape the Dough: Carefully gather to bring the dough together. It you find some spots dry, add a bit of buttermilk to moisten it. If you find it too wet, add small amount of flou. Form the dough into a 5 (thicker scones) or 6-inch disk.
5. Freeze: Wrap with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 30 minutes. You can leave this overnight in the freezer for baking the following day. This can be kept frozen up to 3 months. No need to thaw once ready to bake. Simply add 2 – 3 minutes in the baking time.
6. Arrange: Cut the dough into 4 wedges. Place the scones on the baking sheet spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Brush top with remaining buttermilk or egg wash (1 beaten egg + 1 teaspoon water).
7. Bake for about 18 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean. Rotate the pan halfway through. Check at 15 minutes to make sure the top is not browning too fast. If this is the case, simply cover the top with aluminum foil. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
   

Makes 4 scones

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