Better Baking's Berry Scones with Dark Chocolate-Famous Fridays
Almost guilt-free baking--if that sounds good to you, you are going to love today's Famous Fridays post featuring Better Baking, Wholesome Ingredients, Delicious Desserts by Genevieve Ko. The book is filled with treats that not only look and taste good but are good for you as well! Like these Berry Scones with Dark Chocolate--if healthy tastes like this, sign me up!!
Guys, I really love this book. Sometimes, healthy baking books have been somewhat of a turnoff to me--they may cut the sugar and fat but they just don't deliver in the taste department or rely on too-weird, hard-to-find ingredients. But not so with Genevieve's book--much of what she does is replace white, refined products with whole grain ones and healthier fats like coconut and olive oil and low-fat milk. Sure, she still uses butter-- it's here in these scones for the feel-good mouth appeal that only real butter can give, but in most cases it's at a minimum and so is the sugar. You don't miss anything and instead appreciate the hearty richness that whole grains deliver. I've only made a few recipes so far, but they've all been terrific and I can't wait to delve further into the book. If you like to bake a lot and especially if you've got kids and want to help them learn to develop healthy tastebuds, this book is a must!
Now, onto these wonderful scones which in addition to being filled with whole wheat pastry and almond flour, are also loaded with freeze-dried strawberries. Do you know about them? They're a great alternative to use when fresh ones are out of season. Plus, they have the added benefit of not adding any extra moisture to the dough. And they are yum-my to eat by the handful. Pick up an extra bag because you're definitely going to want to snack on them while you're making the scones and you don't want to do that with the chocolate or it kind of defeats the purpose of baking up a healthy batch!
The scones come together really easily--if you wanted to serve these for breakfast, you could get all your dry ingredients prepped in a bowl the night before, pre-cut the butter into cubes and leave it in the fridge and then just wake up, mix everything together and stick them in the oven for at max, a 20 minute bake. When they emerge, they're light, crumbly and full of sweet strawberries and melty chocolate. Eating them while the chocolate is warm is a must!!
So have a great weekend, get in some healthy baking if you have the time and I'll see you next week as we close out January and head into February or as food bloggers affectionately like to think of it: the month of football-watching snacks and heart-shaped chocolate desserts!!
Better Baking's Berry Scones with Dark Chocolate-Famous Fridays
Makes 12 scones
Prep Time: 15 minutes; Bake Time: 17-20 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, plus a bit more for shaping the dough
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1/2 cup freeze-dried strawberries (you could also use raspberries)
- 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips or about 3 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate
- 3/4 cup 1% milk
The Recipe
1. Make sure rack is in the center of the oven and preheat to 400ºF. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Add the butter and toss to coat the cubes. Then, use a pastry blender or your fingers to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until small crumbs form and a few larger pea-sized lumps remain. Add the strawberries and chocolate and toss to coat. Pour in the milk and use a fork to stir together until a the dough forms into a craggy mass.
3. Scrape half the dough onto one side of the prepared pan and the other half onto the other side of the pan. Flour your hands and pat the mounds into 5-inch rounds. Use a knife to cut each round in half and then cut each half into thirds. Use a spatula to slightly separate the wedges from each other.
4. Bake for 17-20 minutes, turning the pan once during the baking process, until the scones are golden brown and cooked all the way through. Let cool on a rack and serve while warm. These are best on the day they're made but also pretty darn good if kept covered at room temperature and reheated for up to 3 days.
Enjoy!
Note: Recipe adapted from Better Baking by Genevieve Ko.
