White Chocolate Apricot Scones

White Chocolate Apricot Scones
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

This recipe comes from "Bread for Breakfast" by Beth Hensberger, a book which I requested interlibrary loan after seeing a form of these scones on Cream Puffs in Venice, one of my favorite baking blogs.

Bread for Breakfast looks like it has some great stuff - I have my eye on the rhubarb coffee cake for the weekend, since rhubarb is still in season right now.

These scones are an amazing combo of fruit and sweet - if my husband didn't have nut issues I think the salty crunch of the nut would have been a nice addition. I had a tupperware of white chocolate chips just begging to be used. I made these in one of my most recent kitchen acquisitions - a scone pan! Instead of having to cut out dough or cut it into wedges (which is admittedly not that hard), I just plop the dough into the pre-wedged circle and they come out beautifully!

Apricot, White Chocolate and [Walnut] Scones

Makes 8 scones

2 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup cold buttermilk, plus more, as needed
4 oz white chocolate, cut into 1/2" chunks, or 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup chopped dried apricots

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a fork, cut in the butter until it has the texture of soft crumbs.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. Pour this mixture into the flour mixture and stir until the dough forms a soft, shaggy ball, adding additional buttermilk 1 tbsp at a time, as needed. Add the white chocolate, walnuts, and apricots, stirring until evenly distributed.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently about 10 times, or just until the dough holds together. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Pat each dough piece into a 1-inch-thick round, 6 inches in diameter. Using a sharp knife, cut each round into 4 wedges.

5. Place the wedges 1/2 inch apart on the baking sheet. Bake on the center rack of the oven 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and cool on the baking sheet. Serve the scones the day they are baked.

Jenny's notes: I of course omitted the nuts. I think this would be good with pecans too.

I prefer to mix the butter in with my fingertips, like I was making biscuits. And I mixed the apricots and chips into the flour butter mixture before lightly mixing in the liquids. This is the order all of my favorite scones recipes do it, and I believe it keeps the dough from getting overmixed and becoming too heavy.

These would look very pretty cut out into spring shapes!

Categories: Apricots, Baked Fruit, Buttermilk, Scones