Summer is in full swing, which means that fresh fruit is nearly everywhere you look. Mangos, oranges, lemons, and limeswe can't get enough of these refreshing summer flavors. While you can use fresh fruit in several different ways, one of our favorite ways to use it is in delicious dessert recipes. And more specifically, scones! A freshly baked plain scone is like hitting the dessert lottery, especially when it's infused with the citrusy flavors of oranges and lemons. To create a baked good that is over-the-top delicious, make one of the five fruit scone recipes listed below. We're sure you won't be disappointed.
Reasons to Love Summer Produce
Before we dive into our favorite summer scone recipes, let's first talk about the many flavors of summer and why we love working them into baked goods.
Consuming Seasonal Produce is Good For The Planet
Consuming in-season produce is much better for the environment than enjoying fruits and veggies that have been shipped from outside the country. This is because growing and transporting locally grown produce usually involves fewer chemicals, preservatives, and fuel. Additionally, purchasing local produce is a great way to give back to the community you live in and support small businesses. The next time you're searching for fresh fruit to add to your recipes, head to the farmers market instead of the grocery store.
Fruit Helps Keep You Hydrated
With summer comes warmer weather. While we all love to hang outside under the sun, hot summer days can leave you feeling a bit dehydrated. An excellent way to boost your water intake is by consuming fruits and veggies with a high water content themselves. Eating summer fruits like oranges, cucumbers, and watermelon is an excellent way to stay hydrated, especially when you've been on the go. Just as you can mix summer fruit into your scone recipe, you can also pair this baked good with a side of seasonal fruits for a wholesome and hydrating meal.
Fruits Provide Added Nutrients
At Bob's Red Mill, we're big on using whole food ingredients. So, while scones can be made from wholesome and healthy flours, adding seasonal fruit into the recipe will add a boost of nutrients that will keep your body fueled and energized for the day ahead. Each type of produce contains a unique nutritional content, and it's up to you to determine which vitamins and minerals your body needs most.
Seasonal Fruits Are More Flavorful
If you recently enjoyed a freshly picked fruit or veggie and noticed it tasted more flavorful than usual, it wasn't your mind playing tricks on you. Fresh and seasonal produce always tastes better. This is because they've had time to ripen in ideal conditions, allowing them to retain more complex and rich flavors. Local fruits also have a shorter distance to travel, which means they're still fresh when they hit your plate.
5 Fruity Scone Recipes to Make This Summer
More fruits at the farmer market and local health food stores mean that summer is finally here. The five following scone recipes are an excellent way to work these delicious fruits into your favorite baked goods, one dessert at a time. From lemonblueberry sconelemonand buttermilk currant, the flavors on this list are sure to satisfy your summer cravings.
Flavor Highlight: Currant
When it comes to consuming currants, there's a lot of confusion regarding this small fruit. Currants, often confused with raisins, are a fruit that's related to gooseberries. They are available in several colors and vary in flavors ranging from sweet to tart. This makes it easy to work into any dish.The vibrant colors of currants add a fun pop of color to whatever you mix them with, and because of this, they're usually enjoyed in fresh fruit salads, smoothies, or as a garnish on a dessert. When choosing which type to purchase, you'll want to have a recipe in mind first. Black currants are the sweetest variety and work great in dessert recipes.In comparison, red currants boast a much tarter taste. However, they have a slight sweetness that can be intensified depending on the ingredients they're mixed with.
Recipe Highlight: Buttermilk Currant Scone
If you're eager to use up the currants you purchased at the farmer's market, we have the perfect recipe in mind. This Buttermilk Currant Scone Recipe is full of seasonal flavors and is a biscuit that you'll be proud to share with others. Tender, flaky, and incredibly sweet, it's sure to take tea-time to the next level.While this recipe can be enjoyed with sweet toppings like butter, jam, and English clotted cream, it also works well when enjoyed as is. Made with our Whole Wheat Pastry Flour and a cup of currants, it's a recipe that doesn't need anything to help it shine.
Flavor Highlight: Raspberry
Add a berry twist to your plain scones recipe. Raspberries are a tasty fruit that's often enjoyed all summer long. Both sweet and tart, a raspberry's flavor depends on how ripe it is. When underripe, a raspberry's tartness will be similar to a blackberry. When ripe, it will taste much sweeter and boast a more intense flavor. Additionally, raspberry's melt in your mouth texture makes it the ideal fruit to bake with. Work them into everything from pancakes and pie to scones. Raspberries are a fruit that everyone can enjoy.
Featured Recipe: Raspberry Almond Spelt Scones
Sweet and filling, this Raspberry Almond Spelt Scone Recipe is the perfect treat to refuel with after a day spent outdoors. Made with hearty whole-grain spelt flour, fresh raspberries, slivered almonds, and sparkling sugar, they're just as beautiful as they are delicious.
Flavor Highlight: Orange
Oranges and summertime go hand in hand. When selecting an orange to add to your summer sweets, there are several to choose from. Navels, valencias, clementines, and tangerines are just a few of the many varieties you can enjoy this summer. When baking with this fruit, we suggest selecting a larger orange like navel oranges. Featuring a more robust and acidic flavor, navel oranges contain a lot more fruit juice than other types making them easier to extract for baked goods. Additionally, their larger size produces more orange zest that you can add liberally to treats like scones or even use as a salad topping.
Recipe to Try: Cranberry Orange Drop Scones
Switch up your traditional scones and treat your house guests to a delicious scone recipe this summer and whip up a batch of these Cranberry Orange Drop Scones. The perfect blend of sweet and tart flavors, this scone recipe uses healthy, wholesome ingredients like navel oranges, greek yogurt, organic coconut flour, and fresh cranberries. Cooked in under 30 minutes, it's a simple recipe that won't take much time to make.
Flavor Highlight: Lemons
Lemon is a flavor that you either love or despise. If you're wondering how such a bitter fruit can be turned into a dessert recipe, you're not alone. Lemons have a strong taste that features bitter, sour, and harsh flavors. While it's not usually enjoyed by itself, its strong flavor works well to enhance the flavors of other foods. If you're eager to create a baked good that's both refreshing and light, be sure to add some lemon to it.
Featured Recipe: Paleo Blueberry Lemon Scones
Move over oranges; we have a new citrus star in town. These Paleo Blueberry Lemon Scones are so buttery and delicious. Of course, you're sure to want more than just one of these blueberry scone pastries. Crispy on the outside and soft and flaky on the inside, these gluten free scones are flavored with fresh lemon and blueberries to recreate all the feelings of summertime in one dish.The tanginess of lemon is sweetened with golden monk fruit sweetener, creating a sweet and tart combo that's almost too good to be true. Make these traditional scones with a twist at the beginning of the week to ensure that you have something to snack on later on.
Flavor Highlight: Cherries
Soak up those long summer days with one of your favorite fruitscherries! Tree ripened and handpicked, cherries are nature's summertime dessert, and we're in love. When choosing a batch of cherries to enjoy, or bake with, look for a bunch that is uniform in color.The skin should be a bit shiny, and it should look juicy. Avoid cherries that look soggy or sunken in. Another way to check if cherries are fresh is by looking at their stems fresh cherries will have bright green ones! Because cherries are a delicate fruit, you'll want to handle them lightly and enjoy them promptly.While we recommend cooking with this seasonal sweet as soon as you purchase it, if you'd like to extend their shelf life, seal fresh cherries in freezer-safe bags and place them in the freezer to enjoy year-round. Just be sure to defrost them a little before baking with them.
Featured recipe: Cherry Almond Scones
Eager to add this summer fruit into your desserts? This Cherry Almond Scone Recipe is an excellent start. Made with tart cherries, sliced almonds, and cold cream, this gluten free scone recipe features a delicate crunch with a pop of flavor. Serve these scones up for breakfast, or enjoy one as a midday treat. They're delicious any time of the day.Use these five recipes for fruit scones to make this summer one to remember. From sweet citrusy flavors like oranges to tart raspberries, working summer flavors into your baked goods is an excellent way to celebrate seasonal fruit and support local farmers.You can also choose to make dried fruit to enjoy these seasonal flavors in your fruit scone recipes. You can decide to make dried apricots, berries, or even experiment and create a mixed dried fruit scone recipe.We can't wait to see what you whip up. From everyone at Bob's Red Mill, have a sweet and satisfying day!