If you love the bright, cheerful flavors of a clementine then you are going to love these scones. They are tender, moist and bursting with sweet citrusy goodness with a little bit of white chocolate and a sweet clementine glaze.
While traditional scones require cold butter and eggs, these scones are made with heavy cream which makes them much more delicate and rich. They are delicious and stay moist for a few days after baking them up, so you don’t have to rush to enjoy them.
Let’s get started…
Begin by combining 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour with 1/4 cup of cornstarch, 1 teaspoon of salt, 3 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/3 cup of granulated sugar and 3/4 cup of white chocolate chips in a large bowl.
Next, zest and juice about 3 clementines. You will need a tablespoon of zest and about 1/3 cup of juice for the scones and the glaze. When you are juicing the clementines, try to include some of the pulp, because it will add lots of great flavor into your scones.
Be sure that your clementines are very clean before zesting them and buy organic, if possible.
In a medium bowl, whisk 1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream with 1/4 cup of the fresh clementine juice with pulp, 1 tablespoon of clementine zest, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon of orange or citrus extract, if you have it on hand.
Pour the heavy cream mixture over the flour mixture and begin working the ingredients together with a fork.
If this is your first time making scones, you only want to combine the ingredients until you no longer see dry flour in the dough. This scone dough should be similar to a biscuit dough and should stick together when you squeeze some in your hand. If the dough crumbles apart when you squeeze it, add just a tiny bit more heavy cream until it can be squeezed into a ball. It should not be as wet and loose as a muffin batter, but should be able to hold a formed shape in your hands.
Now divide the dough and transfer it into a parchment lined baking sheet. Form the dough into 2 equally sized disks about 6 inches wide and evenly thick. Transfer the dough into the freezer and let it chill for 30-60 minutes before baking.
Once the dough is quite firm, use a sharp knife to cut each disk into 6 equal wedges (like a pizza) and separate them by about 2 inches on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush each wedge with heavy cream and generously sprinkle some coarse sugar over the tops. I love turbinado and demerara sugar, but any coarse sugar will work here.
Bake the scones for 22-25 minutes on the center rack of a 400 degree oven. They are ready to come out when the tops feel lightly set, but still springy and the edges are lightly golden brown.
Transfer the baked scones onto a cooling rack and mix up this simple clementine glaze to dress them up a bit once they have cooled…
For the glaze, sift about a cup of confectioners sugar into a bowl and add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Slowly add enough fresh clementine juice to create a drizzle-able consistency. It should take 1-2 tablespoons of juice to get the consistency just right, but just play around with it. If the glaze is too thick, add more juice. If the glaze is too loose, sift a little more confectioners sugar into the glaze to thicken it up a bit.
As soon as you get your glaze just right and the scones have cooled down, give them a generous drizzle…
I like to lay a sheet of parchment paper under the cooling rack to catch any glaze that escapes and if you have drizzled each scone and have any glaze left, give them all a second layer. There is no such thing as too much of this sweet clementine glaze…
These clementine and white chocolate scones are simple fantastic. They are moist and tender with a delicate crumb and so much wonderful clementine flavor. The white chocolate adds just the right amount of sweetness, the coarse sugar adds just a bit of crunch and that glaze brings everything together is the perfect way.
If you love soft, citrusy scones then I am so excited for you to give these clementine and white chocolate scones a try!
Clementine & White Chocolate Scones
Ingredients
Clementine & White Chocolate Scones
- 2 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup of cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 3 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup of fresh clementine juice with pulp
- 1 tablespoon of fresh clementine zest
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon of citrus or orange extract (optional)
- 3/4 cup of white chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup of heavy cream (for brushing the scones)
- 2 tablespoons of coarse sugar (for sprinkle the scones)
Clementine Glaze
- 1 - 1 1/4 cups of confectioners sugar, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons of fresh clementine juice
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour with 1/4 cup of cornstarch, 1 teaspoon of salt, 3 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/3 cup of granulated sugar and 3/4 cups of white chocolate chips
- In a separate bowl, whisk 1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream, 1/4 cup of fresh clementine juice with pulp, 1 tablespoon of clementine zest and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- Add the heavy cream mixture to the flour mixture and gradually mix until no dry ingredients are visible
- Divide the dough in two equal portions and transfer the portions onto a parchment lined baking sheet
- Gently form the portions of dough into 2 flat disks about 6 inches across
- Transfer the dough into the freezer for 30-60 minutes
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
- Remove the dough from the freezer and slice each disk into 6 equal wedges
- Arrange the wedges about 2 inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheet and brush the top of each wedge with heavy cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar
- Bake on the middle rack of a 400 degree oven for 22-25 minutes or until the edges of each scone begin to lightly brown and the tops look set
- Transfer the scones onto a cooling rack to cool before glazing
- Make the glaze by whisking 2 tablespoons of clementine juice with 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and a cup of confectioners sugar until you have a thick drizzle consistency (add additional confectioners sugar if thickening is necessary)
- Drizzle the cooled scones with your glaze and enjoy!
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days
