Strawberry Scones with Ricotta
Strawberry scones with ricotta are an easy teatime treat that's ready to eat in 45 minutes. This easy English scone recipe incorporates whole milk ricotta cheese and spring's first fruit, the sweet strawberry, for a deliciously tender and moist scone that's always light and flavorful!
Servings: 12 scones
Cost: $0.32 each
Equipment
- bench scraper or long sharp knife
Ingredients
- 1 cup strawberries fresh, chopped into fine pieces
- 2½ cups flour plus 1 tablespoon, divided
- 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons cold butter cut into pieces
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- ¾ cup whole milk ricotta cheese or farmers' cheese
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream chilled
- heavy whipping cream for brushing the tops of the scones
- coarse raw sugar for sprinkling the tops of the scones
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. In a small bowl, toss together the finely chopped strawberry pieces and the 1 tablespoon of flour. Set aside.
- In a food processor combine the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse 5 times to combine. Add in the butter pieces and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- Flour a work surface on which to knead and shape the scone dough. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and set aside.
- In the food processor combine the egg, ricotta, and ¼ cup whipping cream. Pulse until somewhat smooth. Add the ricotta mixture all at once to flour mixture. Next add the strawberry pieces. Using the tines of a fork, stir just until moistened. Resist the urge to overmix.
- Turn dough out onto the floured work surface. Knead dough by folding and gently pressing it for 10 to 12 strokes or until dough is nearly smooth. Dough will be 'soft' to the touch. Shape dough into a 10-inch x 4-inch rectangle. Use a bench scraper to cut in half lengthwise and in sixths crosswise to make 12 rectangles.
- Place rectangles 1 to 2 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Use a pastry brush to brush with additional heavy whipping cream. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for 18 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and baked through. Remove baking sheet from the oven and loosen scones with a spatula but do not remove from baking sheet. Allow scones to cool as the baking sheet cools. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with butter, jam, or simply plain.
Notes
- Frozen strawberries may be substituted for fresh; however, they must be chopped and very well drained before incorporating into the pastry dough.
- For an extra flavor boost, cut the fresh strawberries into tiny pieces, transfer to a small bowl, and add just a teaspoon of vanilla extract to them. (This works well with chopped frozen strawberries to give them a boost.) Let them sit for about 30 minutes to absorb the vanilla. The taste is subtle in the end--the strawberry the more dominant profile--but it's noticeable, and it's good.
- No biscuit cutters are needed for these scones. Shape the dough into a 10x4-inch rectangle and use a bench scraper to make one long cut down the middle, then do five cuts across. This leaves you with 12 squares.
- Much of the bake time will depend on your oven, so you must begin testing for doneness at around 18 minutes. Once they're tinging on golden brown and baked through, I remove the baking sheet and loosen the scones with a spatula.
- Don't remove them from the baking sheet; rather, allow them to keep cooking as the hot baking sheet cools down on my counter. This tiny step adds to the overall proper doneness.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 231kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 284mg | Potassium: 76mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 399IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 105mg | Iron: 2mg