White Chocolate Raspberry Scones

Start your morning with one of these white chocolate raspberry scones, bursting with fresh berries and filled with white chocolate chunks!

It’s been a while since I posted a new scone recipe!

You may remember such classics as almond poppy seed scones (so good!), Earl Grey scones with rose and lavender icings (my very close second favorite), and orange cardamon scones with orange glaze (my aaaabsolute favorite!).

Well, my afternoon tea section was looking a little neglected so I thought it was time to write a new recipe, especially since there are so many amazing flavor combos possible with a humble scone! This recipe uses raspberries, which I can never get enough of, and white chocolate, which is a perfect pairing for the vibrant fruit.

I brought two batches of these white chocolate raspberry scones (the first, inferior test batch, and the second batch which came out jusssst right!) to a game night at a friend’s house and they disappeared before we knew it! There were only a couple left at the end of the evening, which one friend was happy to take home to share with her fiancé.

How to make white chocolate raspberry scones

Making these white chocolate raspberry scones was a bit of a challenge due to the moisture content in the raspberries, which is why I had to make them twice.

My first attempt to make these came out… fine.

I washed the raspberries, chopped them, and mixed them into the dough. The berries were pulverized and since they weren’t completely dry it made the dough extremely soggy to the point where I had to add an extra half cup of flour. The scones came out dull and chalky looking.

My husband loved them. I knew they could be better.

So I made them a second time. This time I was more deliberate about washing and drying the raspberries.

How to wash raspberries

Rather than rinsing the berries under running water, which damages the delicate structure of the fruit, I first filled a bowl with cool water and added a splash of white distilled vinegar. The acidity of the vinegar makes it an effective homemade fruit cleanser.

Then you add in the raspberries and gently swirl them around in the water to dislodge any dirt that may be stuck to the inside or outside of the berries. I double checked the insides of the fruit and had to manually free a couple stubborn pieces of dried leaves that were stuck. Don’t let them soak too long or the raspberries may absorb some of the vinegar flavor!

Afterward, I laid the berries out on a baking sheet lined with paper towels to dry, and I made sure they were completely dry before adding them to the scone dough.

Making the scone dough

Scone dough starts out a lot like a pie crust or other flaky pastry dough. You cut cold butter cubes into flour until it’s crumbly and resembles wet sand. You can have some small chunks of butter in there, but no more than pea-sized.

You can do this in a food processor, pulsing until you get the texture you want, with a fork or pastry blender, or with your fingertips (not the palms of your hands, which are much warmer and will soften the butter too much).

I’ve found the food processor method to be very convenient, but for this recipe I felt the need to get back to basics and cut in the butter with my fingertips.

Then you mix in egg, vanilla, and heavy cream to get a moist but slightly crumbly dough.

How to add raspberries to scone dough

My other mistake the first time I made these, besides not properly washing and drying my raspberries, was chopping the berries and mixing them into the dough. This made the dough vaguely berry-flavored but didn’t do much for texture.

The second time, I tried to keep the berries intact as I folded them into the dough — so you’ll get nice juicy bursts of jammy raspberry goodness as you eat your scones, as well as a stunningly vibrant color and presentation.

I can tell you everyone at the game night went straight for the second batch of scones, unless they got one of each so they could compare (they unanimously preferred the second batch).

What I did was roll out the base scone dough into a rectangle and added half the berries and half the chopped white chocolate to half the dough. Then fold the naked half over the berries and chocolate like a blanket.

I rolled out the dough a second time into a long rectangle and repeated the process, adding the other half of the raspberries and chocolate to half the dough. I folded the remainder of the dough over the raspberries and chocolate, making an approximate square shape.

Then, after patting the dough into the square I was looking for, I could cut it into 18 scones — first 9 squares, then each square into a triangle.

After laying out the scones on a baking sheet, I like to brush the tops with a little extra heavy cream, which gives them a beautiful, slightly glossy finish. It’s not the high sheen you get with an egg wash (great for pies but weird for scones), and it’s much nicer than the dull surface you get without any treatment.

And what could make it better than a beautiful little drizzle of white chocolate over the top? Nothing. Okay, except maybe some clotted cream or lemon curd to go with it. Ohhhh my mouth is watering again.

Having tea? Try serving these with:

• Mini Lemon Meringue pies
• Easy Lemon Curd
• Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Pinwheels
• Marinated Cucumber and Carrot Tea Sandwiches

Love White Chocolate Raspberry Scones? Try these other scones too!

• Cardamon Orange Scones with Orange Glaze
• Earl Grey Scones with Rose and Lavender Icings
• Almond Poppy Seed Scones

Did you make this recipe?

Tag me in a photo on Instagram @pinchmeimeating and I may feature you in my IG stories! I’d love to see how yours came out!

Raspberry White Chocolate Scones

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 18 scones

Author: Caroline Lindsey

Ingredients

• 2  cups  flour
• 1/3  cup  sugar
• 1  tbsp  baking powder
• 1/2  tsp  salt
• 8  tbsp cold unsalted butter  diced
• 1/2  cup  heavy cream  plus a little extra for brushing the tops of the scones
• 1  egg
• 1  tsp  vanilla extract
• 6 oz container raspberries about 1.5 cups
• 4 oz white baking chocolate chopped
• 2 oz white baking chocolate for drizzling

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt.
• Add cold butter cubes and use a pastry blender, a fork, or your fingertips to cut in the butter until it has the texture of wet sand. (or use a large metal whisk like a potato masher.
) Avoid using the palms of your hand too much so the butter stays cold.
• Beat egg, cream, vanilla extract in a separate bowl. Pour into bowl and mix with flour mixture until just combined.
• Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat mixture into a long rectangle and put half the chocolate and raspberries on one side. Fold over. Shape again into a long rectangle and repeat.
• Pat mixture into a 7 inch square. Cut into a 9-square grid, then cut each square diagonally to make 18 triangle-shaped mini scones. Arrange on a baking sheet.
• Brush the tops of the scones with cream.
• Bake for 12-17 minutes, or until you can see golden brown around the bottoms of the scones and tops are lightly golden at the edges. Cool on a wire rack.
• Microwave 2 oz. white baking chocolate in 15-second increments until melted, stirring in between. (chocolate can be melted while retaining its shape, so stirring is necessary!) Spoon into a plastic baggie and cut off a small corner. Drizzle tops of scones with chocolate. Let harden. 
• Enjoy scones with tea and lemon curd!

Notes

Due to the fresh raspberries in these scones, I’d store them in a sealed container in the fridge, rather than at room temp.