This same acidity creates tenderness and tempers the sweetness of the resulting scone. But thanks to the sprinkling of brown sugar on top and the bursts of intense apricot flavor studding each bite, these are unmistakabely a morning treat (or brunch, or afternoon, or…you get the picture). These are delicious served with lots of sweet butter, but I didn’t have to tell you that.
This recipe is easy to retro-fit to sweet cream if you’d prefer–use a tablespoon of baking powder instead of the baking powder/baking soda combination. For just one delicious example, check out Laura’s Pear Ginger Scones featured here on Honest Cooking.
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Apricot Scones
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8
Description
A simple scone recipe using sour cream or creme fraiche.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240g) all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (50g) light brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 5 tbsp (71g) cold unsalted butter, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
- 2/3 cup (160mL) sour cream or creme fraiche
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (85g) chopped dried apricots
- 1 egg, beaten (for glaze)
- Additional brown sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Mix dry ingredients.
- Add butter and rub it into the flour mixture (or use a pastry blender) until it resembles cornmeal. (Alternatively, pulse until desired consistency in a food processor).
- Stir sour cream and vanilla together, then quickly stir into the dry mixture to form a rough dough.
- Turn out onto lightly floured surface and sprinkle with chopped apricots. Knead dough just until apricots are incorporated.
- Flatten dough into 8-inch round and cut into 8 wedges.
- Transfer wedges to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush with egg. Sprinkle with brown sugar.
- Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- To make dried apricots easier to chop, either chill them in the fridge first, or lightly oil your knife.
- Try to work butter into the flour as quickly as possible: keeping the dough cold is the key to light and flaky scones.
- These scones are a good fallback because nearly all the ingredients can be kept in the pantry.
- You won’t be put in the slightly absurd situation of buying more food in order to use up food you already have, and you can substitute in other kinds of dried fruit or nuts to use what you already have.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Baking
- Cuisine: British
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 scone
- Calories: 230
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does this recipe use both baking powder and baking soda?
Sour cream and creme fraiche are slightly acidic, and baking soda needs an acid to react and create rise. So I use 2 tsp baking powder plus 1/2 tsp baking soda — the soda reacts with the acidic cream for leavening and tenderness, while the powder provides additional lift. If you swap to sweet heavy cream, use just 1 tbsp of baking powder and omit the soda entirely.
Why is it so important to keep the butter cold?
Try to work the butter into the flour as quickly as possible: keeping the dough cold is the key to light and flaky scones. Cold butter creates steam pockets during baking; if it melts into the flour before the oven, the scones become dense rather than flaky. I call for 5 tbsp (71 g) of cold unsalted butter cut into 1/4-inch pieces.
How do I chop dried apricots without them sticking to the knife?
I suggest two solutions: chill the apricots in the fridge first so they firm up, or lightly oil the blade of your knife before chopping. Either method prevents the sticky dried fruit from clumping on the blade.
Love the taste of these scones, but the dough is too dry. Most recipes call for about twice as much liquid as this one.
I don’t want to admit to how long a package of sour cream has been sitting in my fridge, waiting to fulfill its baking destiny, but since I own all the ingredients in this recipe… well, scones for everyone!