One of our favorite breakfasts is scones, and since they’re best eaten fresh, I’ve learned various methods of keeping them that way. My favorite method is to make the dough, score it into triangles, freeze the triangles individually and bake as needed. Yesterday I used this freeze-ahead method for baking a batch of Oatmeal Cinnamon Scones from the Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook.
In the book, Kathleen King describes these as the closest she’s come to the wholemeal scones she used to eat in the UK. I can’t judge based on scones I had abroad, but I can tell you these are very good and different from other scones. They’re lighter, not quite as crumbly yet still flaky, and have a really strong oat/wheat taste from the oats and whole wheat pastry flour. They’re also very tender.
Below is the method I used for making them. Tate’s recipe makes 14 big scones, but I halved the recipe and made 6 slightly larger, triangular ones.
If you’ve made scones before, you know that the dough is similar to biscuit dough. This dough was too, but it was similar to a drop biscuit dough. It was so soft, cutting it into triangles would have been difficult, but freezing the dough allowed me to get the triangles I wanted.
The trick is to plop the soft dough onto parchment. In the original recipe, Tate's uses a floured surface and kneads the dough a little bit. You could use extra flour, but I didn't do that this time.
Shape the dough into a circle and score with a knife, then freeze the dough for a few hours or until stiff enough to separate. Separate the triangles and put them in a freezer bag.
To bake, you just put the frozen scone triangles on a baking sheet.
Preheat the oven, let the scones thaw and the oven preheat (that whole process takes about 15-20 minutes) then bake scones as directed.
Here’s the recipe as I made it. You can find the original recipe in the Tate's Bakery Cookbook.
Recipe
Oatmeal-Cinnamon Scones
Ingredients
- ½ cup whole wheat pastry flour 2.25 oz
- ½ cup all purpose flour 2.25 oz
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- ⅛ teaspoon salt double if using unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar light brown okay
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons half & half
- Topping:
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 3 tablespoons milk
- Cinnamon sugar
Instructions
- Mix the flours, oats, salt, baking powder and cinnamon together thoroughly. Stir in the sugar and mix well.
- Cut the butter in with a pastry cutter or your fingers (food processor would be okay too) until the mixture resembles small crumbs. Add the half & half and stir well. I used the full amount, but you might want to start with just ¾ cup to make sure the dough is still firm enough to handle. Dough should be soft, but not so soft that you can’t shape it into a circle.
- Dump though dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and shape it into an 8 inch circle a little less than an inch thick. Wetting your hands lightly very will help with this part. Score the dough into 6 triangles but don’t separate them yet. Put the circle of triangles on a plate and freeze for a few hours or until stiff. When stiff, separate the triangles and put in a freezer bag.
- When you are ready to bake the scones, remove from the bag and set on a baking sheet. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Rub scones with a mixture of egg and milk if desired or just brush with some half half. You can also sprinkle the tops with cinnamon sugar if you like.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
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Ashley says
I love scones mmm. What a great idea to freeze sticky scone dough. I usually end up just scooping it off the counter with a cookie/ice cream scoop and making them drop scones. I love that these are full of whole wheat flour and oats!
Marie says
Freezing the dough is a great idea. I do that all the time with cookies. I make a double batch, cook a couple of sheets of cookies and freeze the rest. I drop them on a cookie sheet; freeze them overnight covered with plastic wrap and then drop the scoops into a gallon ziplock the next day. We have fresh cookies quite often, in a snap.
Clara says
I have not had very many scones in my lifetime.. I will try these for a Sat. breakfast, since we are sort of laid back, to see if our 14 year old son would like to have them on a school day morning.. It does sound good, sounds similar to a oatmeal cookie Yummmmm !! Thanks, having the photos helps..
Kerstin says
I didn't know you could freeze them like that, what a cool tip! They look delicious 🙂
Stacie @ Imperfectly Healthy says
I'm a huge fan of scones, but I'm never had an oatmeal one, surprisingly! I'll have to try this one!
Jenn (Jenn's Menu and Lifestyle Blog) says
I've never been a fan of scones, but I like the oatmeal twist!
Jenn
vanillasugar says
gosh anna you are brave to freeze them. i tried that and it just never works for me. i know that if you use a vacuum seal it helps, a lot because obviously all the air is sucked out.
my best recipe for scones comes from Two Fat Ladies (remember them on Food TV?). well they have the best recipe for plain old scones, but i always add stuff to them. that new cooking channel runs old shows of two fat ladies on saturdays i think.
claire says
The freezing method sounds like a great plan...even if it is just to get the dough shaped. I have only made scones that i could shape easily once...and I've made scones many more times than that! Looks like a great recipe.
LisAway says
What a great idea! My kids have to leave for school at 7:30 so it's hard for me to get out of bed early enough to make a good breakfast for them. This is such a great idea for a make-ahead breakfast! And I love the idea of oatmeal scones! Thanks!
My Kitchen in the Rockies says
Great looking scones. Thanks for the tip with the freezing. I will give it a try.
Betty @ scrambled hen fruit says
These would be great to have in the freezer when my family visits this fall. Thanks!
Lisa says
What a great idea to freeze the dough so that you can always have scones when you need them. I've always just baked it first then froze it later, but I think I prefer your method since it'll allow me to have a fresh-baked result.
Krista says
I also love scones! But they go downhill so quickly after baking! I will definitely have to try your freezing method!
Julie says
Your freezing method is great--I've never done that. I just freeze the leftover fully baked scones and thaw at room temp. This is a nice recipe and fairly healthy! But I'd probably throw in cinnamon chips if I can find them in the stores for the holidays!
Camille says
This sounds awesome!
I may have to make it since I have all the ingredients lying around 🙂