It’s National Bundt Cake day, but I realized it too late and made scones. These are supposed to taste like Great Harvest scones, but I've never had a scone from Great Harvest so I can't really attest to that.
I changed the recipe a bit by adding vanilla and increasing the heat to 400 degrees. The original recipe said to bake the scones at 350 degrees, but I think scones have a better crust when baked at slightly higher temperatures. If you don’t need quite so many scones, you can halve this recipe and use 2 tablespoons of lightly beaten egg, which is what I did. I also cut mine into circles rather than baking them as triangles. The topping is a mixture of cinnamon and sugar, but that is completely optional….as are the chocolate chips.
Update: When I first posted this I'd never tried a Great Harvest scone. Now we live pretty close to a Great Harvest and I can get their scones any time. In my opinion, these aren't exactly the same as the ones from Great Harvest. These are very good scones, and a lot of people like the recipe so I'm keeping it here, but the Great Harvest scones are a bit softer and don't have much of a crust. They seem to be dropped from a batter, whereas the scones below are cut and baked as round. So now that I have tried the actual Great Harvest scones, I'll post an update with a recipe that is closer. For now, these are really good moist scones.
Recipe
Similar to Great Harvest Scones
Ingredients
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla OR 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for mat 500 grams
- 1 cup sugar (scant cup) 190 grams
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces butter cut into chunks, salted
- 1 cup chocolate chips or dried cranberries, or frozen blueberries, etc.
- Topping: 1 part Egg yolk mixed with 1 part milk or cream or use only cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sour cream, baking soda, egg and vanilla.
- In a food processor, mix or pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut or process in the butter until mixture is coarse.
- Dump the flour mixture into the bowl with the sour cream/egg mixture and stir until moist. Stir in the chocolate chips (or other add-ins). If dough is too moist, add more flour. If it is too dry, add a little milk or cream.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. Roll or pat dough into two 6 inch (approximately) rounds. Cut each into 6 wedges (8 wedges for smaller scones), and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with topping.
- Alternatively, pat dough into an inch thick slab and cut out 2 ½ inch (or whatever size you want) rounds.
- Bake 18 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown and cooked through. Check at 18 minutes, but it may take longer.
- Let the scones cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. This is important. They taste much better after they've cooled and set a bit -- less doughy.
Anna says
Hi Stephanie, My family didn't like the Great Harvest scones as much as the homemade versions, so I kind of stopped trying to duplicate theirs since no one cared for the texture. The ones I bought just weren't quite as good as homemade, but I loved the idea of putting cream cheese in scones and came up with this version.
https://www.cookiemadness.net/2020/08/31/blackberry-cream-cheese-scones/
Stephanie says
Do you have your updated recipe for the copycat of the Great Harvest scones?
Anna says
Judy, it's 1 teaspoon of salt. I think I deleted in the ingredient list when I re-worked it a little. Sorry about that!
Also, something weird happened with the link I had up. Instead of linking to the Great Harvest clone, it linked to something else. The Airbake with the parchment is fine.
Judy says
I made these scones and couldn't find amount listed for the salt that was to be added. I went with 1/2 tsp. and that tasted OK. Would more or less be suggested? Also, baked on an air cookie sheet with parchment paper. Sound OK?
Randi says
Thanks Anna, The traverse city cookie did not have oats, its was really light in color and tasted more like a snickerdoodle without cinnamon( if that makes sense).
Jenine says
Now if only I could locate some clotted cream in Austin. Can't find it anywhere. Most people have never heard of the stuff.
Anna says
We have at least one in Austin. It's not very close to my house, though. I don't go very far from my house anymore ;).
I couldn't find the Traverse City cookie, but I did find a Great Harvest Chocolate Chip copycat. I made these a long time ago and remember them as being very good....kind of soft, but still good.
GREAT HARVEST BREAD COMPANY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups brown sugar, packed
8 ounces butter, softened
2 cups rolled oats
2 eggs
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon milk
1 (12 ounce) pkg semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
Beat together brown sugar and butter until well combined. Add oats, eggs, molasses, and milk; beat well. Add dry ingredients to beaten mixture; beat until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop dough and drop about 3 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 to 13 minutes, until just starting to brown around the outside. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets. Remove and cool on racks.
Makes 24 giant cookies
Randi says
I have never heard of GHBC, until I went into one yesterday in Ann Arbor, MI. How weird to read your post. I also bought a pumpkin scone which I brought home. They have samples of all their breads out, I'd just had breakfast so I wasnt hungry to try anything but she told me the scones were good. I did try it and it was, so I bought it. I also bought an amazing cookie. Traverse city cherry. It was like a sugar cookie with dried cherries and dark choc. chips. I'd love to find a similar recipe. I bought a loaf of bread. I feel guilty about spending 5 bucks on a loaf when I could make it for pennies. Btw, while I was at Zingerman's and GHBC I heard that the price of flour has trippled!!! I think I better stock up before it trickles down to the consumer.
Cakespy says
I live by a Great Harvest, and I might say...biscuit-y? In terms of texture. These ones look more welcoming than the ones at the local Great Harvest though!
Anna says
Hi Lindsay,
With the addition of the vanilla, they had an interesting vanilla/sour cream flavor. I wouldn't call the texture cakey, but they were more cake-like than some other scones which are dry. They were light, but not fluffy...if that makes sense.
Lindsay says
I LOVE Great Harvest scones, although they are more like cake than scones I think (perhaps that's why I like them!) Were these scone-like or cake-like?