Intrigued by the berry-studded ricotta scones at Studio Coffee Roasters here in Bozeman, I set out this morning to make a knock off. Holding to my belief that you only need one great scone recipe, I started with my cream scones, swapped a little cream for a cup of ricotta, and it worked! Last change was to spoon cream and sugar over each which baked to a crackly coating similar to the real deal.
I use whole-milk ricotta from Bellwether Farms because I like its creamy texture and flavor. Try it, you’ll like it!
dough formed into one round for 6 large scones
baked scones (6 large)
Ricotta Scones
makes 6 large or 12 smaller scones; inspired by Noelle Johnson's scones at Studio Coffee Roasters and adapted from my Cream Scones recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour Wheat Montana blue bag
- 2 tablespoons sugar (granulated or turbinado)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta scooped from tub to drain liquid Bellwether Farms or other fresh ricotta best
- ¼ cup heavy cream 4 tablespoons (possibly more if ricotta is on the drier side)
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup frozen blackberries or other berries or peaches
for glaze: 2 tablespoons heavy cream mixed with 2 tablespoons turbinado or granulated sugar
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400° F. Mix together the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Add the butter pieces and use a pastry blender (or your fingers) to cut in the butter until mixture is pebbly.
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Using a fork, combine ricotta and cream in a glass measure or bowl, whisk in the egg, and pour over flour and butter. Mix with fork until dough just comes together, adding additional cream if it is too dry. Knead in the bowl until the dough just comes together then gently incorporate the berries.
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Turn out onto smooth work surface and either pat into one round about 1.5-inches thick for large scones, or divide in half and pat into two rounds for smaller scones.
Cut round into 6 pieces (press straight down with bench scraper or chef's knife) and transfer to a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet spacing each scone apart from its neighbors. Spoon glaze over each scone.
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Bake large scones for 25–28 minutes, small scones for 18–20 minutes, until tops are golden. Let cool 5 minutes on pan then transfer to a cooling rack.
Recipe Notes / Tips
- Use fresh or frozen berries. Coat frozen berries in flour before incorporating in the dough if the color bleed bothers you.
- You can make the dough in advance, cut into wedges and freeze the scones. Bake right from freezer, just adding a few minutes to bake time.
