Spring has sprung in Ohio. Flowers are in bloom. The temperature has warmed up. I’ve found myself going for quick walks around my neighborhood to soak in as much sunshine as possible before heading back indoors. Throughout the last few weeks, I have been spending a lot of time testing and retesting recipes in my home kitchen. I like to spend one or two days a week baking some sort of bread and sweet treat to enjoy throughout the week. During the last month, I prepared mostly large batches of pizza dough cycling among double zero flour, all-purpose flour, and bread flour. I try to use up whatever flour I have on hand before opening up another bag of flour. My pizza dough has been the perfect base to create pizzas, pretzels, garlic knots, and focaccia. Just take a look through the recipes on my site or my Instagram and you’ll see what I mean. When I want to take a break from my pizza dough (which requires the use of active dry yeast), I make my dumpling dough (which doesn’t require the use of active dry yeast). My dumpling dough has been the perfect canvass for pork dumplings, sour cream and cheddar potato dumplings, and scallion pancakes. Switch around the flour to water to salt ratio, swap in some cake flour, add the active dry yeast back, and I have my perfect steamed bun dough. Adjust the flour to water to salt ratio, add baking powder, sugar, butter or oil, and milk, and I have my lovely scone recipe. This week, my cravings for scones kicked in and I ended up transforming my basic scone recipe into strawberry milk tea scones. My love for scones goes all the way back to my experience at Alice’s Tea Cup. I fell in love with scones immediately after sampling my first scone at Alice’s Tea Cup years ago. Alice’s Tea Cup had a variety of sweet and savory scones and I often found myself ordering one sweet scone, one savory scone, and a pot of tea each time I visited the restaurant. Since my first experience, I’ve continued to meet up with friends at Alice’s Tea Cup whenever I return back to New York City. After moving away from New York City, I started experimenting with making my own scone recipe. My scone recipe evolved over time until I made the most amazing maize and blue scones and coconut chocolate chunk scones. I knew the two scone recipes were keepers when my family and friends would request for me to make them every time they visited. I continued experimenting with flavor combinations until I came up with the most scrumptious strawberry milk tea scones earlier this week featuring flavors from my favorite drink. Instead of butter and milk, I swapped in refined coconut oil and almond milk. To ensure the distinct tea flavor is infused into my scones, I soaked a tea bag in the almond milk ahead of time for just over 30 minutes. My strawberry milk tea scones merged eastern and western elements and became the perfect afternoon snack with or without a cup of freshly brewed tea on the side.
For the strawberry milk tea scones:
· 1 black tea bag
· ½ cup almond milk, plus additional tablespoon for brushing on scones
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 2 tablespoons baking powder
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ cup granulated sugar
· 5 tablespoons refined coconut oil
· 6 strawberries, hulled and diced
· 1-2 tablespoons turbinado sugar for sprinkling
Directions:
1) Soak the tea bag in the almond milk for at least 30 minutes before making scones.
2) When ready to make scones, preheat oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
3) In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add the refined coconut oil. Use a spoon to stir together the ingredients and then use your fingers to combine all of the ingredients until the dough resembles coarse crumbs. Slowly add the almond milk infused with tea. Gently mix the ingredients until the dough starts to form.
4) Lightly flour a working surface. Roll dough out and gently form the dough into a circle, taking care not to work the dough too much. Once the circle is formed, press the diced strawberries evenly throughout the dough. Cut the dough in half vertically and again horizontally. Then, cut diagonally on both sides until eight equal triangle pieces are formed. Arrange the scones on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper about an inch from one another. Brush the tops of the scones with the tablespoon of almond milk infused with tea and top scones with a sprinkle of turbinado sugar.
5) Bake the scones for 17-20 minutes until the scones are puffed up, golden brown, and cooked through.
Takeaways: The turbinado sugar is a must for adding a crispy, sugary crust around the scones. It also adds another layer of sweetness to the scones. For a more decadent treat, make a milk tea glaze by mixing some confectioners’ sugar with additional almond milk infused with tea. Drizzle the milk tea glaze over the scones after the scones have had some time to cool.
