whole wheat strawberry and ricotta scones

I have a problem when it comes to produce.  I think I can eat more than I actually can.  Last week, when I was at the market I saw the most beautifully ripe strawberries and I was in love.  Before my head had time to interject, my stomach was ordering one flat (one FLAT!!) of strawberries and my hand was paying the vendor.  Traitors!

I smelled the sweet scent of ripe strawberries during the drive home and started thinking of all the things I could do with them besides the obvious: shove as many in my mouth as soon as possible.  I ate as many as I could.  I fed them to my family who were as excited as I was to have these little tasty gems and we ate and ate and ate.  And guess what?  When I looked into the flat I still had half a box of strawberries to eat!

So, I started thinking of recipes to make with strawberries.  I made some strawberry-mint lemonade, strawberry vinaigrette, butter lettuce with strawberries and goat cheese, and then I remembered this recipe from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and I wanted to try it with my strawberries.

And I did.

And it was delicious.

And I ate more scones in the past day and a half than I have in the past five years.

You should make these.  And you don’t need to buy a whole flat of strawberries, just one basket will be fine.

whole wheat strawberry and ricotta scones

adapted from the smitten kitchen

makes 8

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

6 tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup strawberries, washed, cored and roughly chopped

3/4 cup fat free ricotta

1/3 cup 2% milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, sugar and salt.

With your hands, mix the cold butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.  Add strawberries to the flour mixture and stir to combine.

In a small bowl, mix together the ricotta and milk.  Add milk mixture to the flour mixture, and using your hands, softly combine the wet and dry ingredients together.  You will want to mix only until the flour and milk combine, taking care not to over-mix.

Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and gently press the mixture into a round about 10 inches wide and 1 inch high.  Cut the round into eight triangle shaped pieces.

Transfer pieces to a parchment covered baking sheet and bake for 18 minutes or until golden brown and just set in the middle.  Place cooked scones on a baking sheet and allow to cool for at least five minutes so they have time to set up properly.

notes:

Deb’s original recipe calls for whole milk ricotta and cream instead of 2% milk.  I liked the way these scones turned out with the slightly reduced-fat version of dairy products, but use what suits you best.

As Deb mentions in her post, these are at their best when just baked.  However, freezing a few unbaked and baking just a few is a good way to go.  Plus, it will keep you from eating all eight at one sitting.