Homemade Applesauce & White Chip Scones
Homemade Applesauce White Chocolate Chip Scones are a breakfast treat. These tender, flaky scones are loaded with apple and cinnamon flavoring and sweetened with white chocolate chips. Not only will the house smell wonderful while they’re baking, they’re a great way to start the day.
I tried scones before and didn’t really like them. They were tough, and not very tasty. I couldn’t understand how something that looked so good, could be kind of a downer.
Chalking this up to a bad scone experience and I thought maybe it was time to try a scone fresh from the oven…my oven. It became my mission to do a little research and learn what separates a bad scone from a good scone.
How To Make Tender Homemade Applesauce White Chip Scones
After a little internet digging and kitchen experimenting, I found out three things that are critical to making tender and delicious scones:
Tip 1: Don’t overwork the dough. Overworking the dough releases the gluten and will make the scones tough. Just mix the dough until everything is moistened and starts to hold together. It’s tempting to keep working that dough, but don’t do it.
Tip 2: Use Cold Butter. When cutting the butter into the flour, you need to make sure the butter is cold. It’s also okay if your butter is different sizes, it’s actually better that it’s not mixed in uniformly.
When you bake the scones, at a high heat the cold butter melts and releases steam. This leaves a hole in your baked good and makes it flaky. So it’s really important to use cold butter and to not overwork the flour when you’re adding in the butter.
Tip 3: Cool down the dough. After the scones are cut and placed on the baking sheet, pop the dough into the fridge or freezer. By cooling down the scones you relax the gluten in the flour, resulting in a better rise and a more tender scone. Also by chilling the fat, the scones become flakier.
More Tips & Tricks
The other nice thing about scones, is since they need to be cooled before baking, you can make them the night before. Just leave them in the fridge overnight and bake them in the morning.
To revive a scone the next day, pop it in the microwave for about 10 seconds. This little tip will warm it up while also keeping it nice and tender.
Fresh scones are perfect for breakfast or even a mid-afternoon snack. Serve your Homemade Applesauce White Chocolate Chip scones with with butter, jams, or even a fruit curd – which are a type of spread.
Want another Applesauce-infused baked good? Try my Homemade Baked Applesauce Oatmeal – it’s like having an oatmeal cookie for breakfast.
Homemade applesauce scones feature a touch of cinnamon and are sweetened with white chocolate chips. Perfect for a fall breakfast or as a snack.
- 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 lb. cold butter (8 tablespoons)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup half & half
- 1/3 cup applesauce
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
- Turbinado Sugar (Sugar In The Raw)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp water
-
In a very large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Lightly whisk the ingredients together to add some air to the flour and also thoroughly blend the dry ingredients.
-
In a medium-sized bowl blend the eggs, vanilla, half and half and the applesauce and set aside.
-
Next cut in the 1/2 lb of butter into the flour mixture. Work the dough until the mixture it crumbly, but not working it too much. The butter can be different sizes in the dough.
-
Then add the applesauce mixture and white chocolate chips to the flour. Lightly combine until everything is moistened and it starts to hold together. Don’t blend the dough smooth or the scones will be tough.
-
On a floured surface turn out the dough and using a floured rolling pin lightly roll out the scones into a rectangle shape about 1″ to 3/4″ thick. Then using a sharp knife cut the scones into triangles. Make sure to cut straight down, do not use a sawing motion.
-
Pre-heat the oven to 400-degrees. Then line a baking pan with parchment and lightly flour, then place your scones on the baking sheet. If you don’t have parchment paper sprinkle a little flour on the non-stick surface.
-
Brush each scone with the egg wash solution and add a generous helping of Turbinado sugar to each scone. Then place the pan of scones in the freezer for 10 minutes to cool the butter or place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
-
Once the scones have chilled down, and the oven is ready, place the pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
-
Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes and serve with yogurt, butter, jams or a curd spread.
-
For a beautiful golden brown color, in a small bowl combine the egg yoke with the water and blend.
For a shine, in a small bowl combine the egg white and the water and blend.
Recipe Adapted from King Arthur Flour Sweet Scones