Tasty Tuesday: Whole Wheat Blackberry Ricotta Scones

If everyday could be like today, I would never complain.

Since waking up bright and early this morning, I've gone to class, done a little baking, finished my homework, soaked up some sun with Monk, got my hair done, and now I'm working on dinner while catching up on some Dr. Phil and blogging. Holy perfect day. 

Anyway, since it's Tuesday (Tasty Tuesday, that is) and I did a little baking today, I have a recipe for you guys! This recipe is awesome. After ranting about my dream of becoming a better baker yesterday, I decided that today was a great day to start making that dream a reality! :) So far, so good. I didn't burn anything and everything was edible. Total success. Scones are a great place to start for beginner bakers. They are pretty simple and once you have the basic recipe for scones perfected, you can throw just about anything into the batter and call it a day. 

While this recipe is not vegan, it can easily be made for vegans by simply making a few substitutions. If you are interested in that recipe, let me know! Also, in order to keep this recipe "healthy" please only eat one scone a day and resist the urge to shove the entire batch into your mouth once they've cooled. Okay? Okay!

Whole Wheat Blackberry Ricotta Scones

  

::ingredients::

 - 1 cup whole-wheat flour

 - 1 cup all-purpose flour

 - 1 tbsp baking powder (preferably aluminium free)

 - 1/4 cup sugar

 - 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt

 - 6 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled

 - 1 cup fresh blackberries 

 - 3/4 cup whole-milk ricotta

 - 1/3 cup heavy cream

::instructions::

Preheat your oven to 425F / 220C degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt together.

With a pastry blender: Add the butter (no need to chop it first if your blender is sturdy), and use the blender to cut the butter into the flour mixture until the biggest pieces are the size of small peas. Toss in the blackberries, and use the blender again to break them into half-and quarter-berry-sized chunks.

Without a pastry blender: Cut the butter into small pieces with a knife, and work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Roughly chop the blackberries on a cutting board, and stir them into the butter-flour mixture.

Both methods: Using a flexible spatula, add the ricotta and heavy cream to the butter mixture and stir them in to form a dough. Then use your hands to knead the dough gently into an even mass, right in the bottom of the bowl. Don't fret if the blackberries get muddled and smudge up the dough.

With as few movements as possible, transfer the dough to a well-floured counter or surface, flour the top of the dough, and pat it into a circular disk about 1-inch high. With a large knife slice into six equal wedges. Transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet with a spatula. Bake the scones for about 15 minutes, until they are golden at the edges. Cool on the pan for a couple minutes before transferring to a cooking rack. Allow to set and cool a bit before eating.

Makes six extra-large scones.

*I used about two cups of fresh blackberries and while my scone still turned out great, they were pretty purple and not as dry as a traditional scone. So feel free to use more but just know that it will throw off the texture a little! 

xo

Adapted from the Whole-Wheat Raspberry Ricotta Scone recipe in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman.