Apricot White Chocolate Scones

I love scones. They make me happy. And they remind me of London. These scones are nothing like the ones I ate in London. Why? Because these scones are freakin' awesome! They are the make me RIGHT NOW of the scone world.

I saw these a few weeks ago on my reader via David Lebovitz. And they sounded so good that I had to make them that morning for breakfast. His were white chocolate and sour cherry scones but he suggested that dried apricots would be a good substitution for the cherries and as I was on my dried apricot kick then, they made it in the bowl.

The dough is very wet. So wet that I had to add more flour to get it to a manageable consistency. I found that while I love the traditional shape of a scone, sometimes going non-traditionally and using a scoop is a lot easier on my sanity. Even though I added more flour, it was still a sticky mess after I rolled out and tried to cut the scones.

I absolutely fell in love with these scones. They were sweet, almost a dessert like scone (but I had just had to eat them for breakfast all week!). Perfect for those who like their breakfast on the sweeter side. They also froze beautifully. The batch made 8 scones and I froze most of them as soon as they cooled. Taken out and allowed to thaw as I drove to work, they were just like freshly baked.

A few of the guys at work were a little jealous that I didn't share these babies with them. I just couldn't. They were too scrumptious to share with silly stinky boys after all. They get muffins, I get out of this world scones. I think that's quite fair don't you?

The recipe below contains my revisions based on what I had in my kitchen and my method. For the original, see David's wonderful blog!

Apricot White Chocolate Scones

Adapted (with permission) from David Lebovitz

Makes 8 large scones

For the Scones:
1 large egg
about 1/2 cup non-fat milk (You can use whatever milk you like, this is what I had in the fridge)
1 1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup ground almonds (I had this left over from another recipe)
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut into cubes
1 cup white chocolate chips (They held their shape very well in baking)
1/2 coarsely-chopped dried apricots

For the Glaze:
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon milk

granulated sugar for sprinkling on the scones

Preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

1. In a small bowl (or measuring cup as I do!), mix the egg and the milk.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, ground almonds, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

3. Using a a food processor, work in the cold butter into the dry ingredients until the pieces are about the size of corn kernels.

4. Add the egg mixture, stirring just until the dough is moistened, then add in the white chocolate chips and dried apricots.

5. On a lightly-floured surface, shape the dough into an 8-inch circle. If it's too wet and is very sticky, knead in a spoonful or two of flour on the countertop. (Next time I would do the drop method, my dough was still very wet after adding extra flour!)

6. Divide the dough into eight wedges and brush the tops of each wedge with the glaze. Sprinkle the top of each scone with sugar then evenly space the scones apart on a baking sheet. (Pay attention to the spacing part. They spread a lot! Some of mine ran together!)

8. Bake the scones for 25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Enjoy!