If you make a lot of fruit pies, you know they are not the easiest thing to take to work and share. Turning them into scones was the solution to that problem. Instead of giving friends single slices of sticky fruit pie, I cut the frozen pie into chunks and made Fruit Pie Scones. I might need to change the name, though, because pecan pie works too.
King Arthur Self-Rising Flour
Just this year I started using King Arthur's self-rising flour and have found it to be perfect for these scones. You can definitely make these with a homemade self-rising flour (1 cup flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt ), but King Arthur's self-rising flour is a little softer, has just the right ratio of baking powder. It's also a tad salty, which works well with the sweetness from the pie.
Make these with leftover cherry pie, apple or mixed berry pie. I made my last batch with a Frozen Cherry Berry Pie, one of our family's weeknight favorites. Even though the pie itself is sweet, the scones are not, so they are the perfect pairing.
Food Processor Clean-Up Hack
This recipe works best with the food processor, which I am using more and more once I discovered this tip. Lay a piece of plastic over the opening before attaching the top piece. This makes clean up so much easier since a major part of cleaning the food processor is cleaning the delicate plastic parts without breaking. Wish I'd learned this trick sooner.
Fruit Pie Scones Tips
With the liquid from the pie and the fruit itself, this dough can spread. To keep it from spreading, I make sure to use plenty of flour, freeze the scones before baking, set the scones pieces close to each other so they hold each other up as they bake, start at high heat and reduce.
Butter Amount
The butter amount listed is 4 or 5 tablespoons. I put a range because both amounts work and it's a matter of personal preference. With 4 tablespoons, the scones are a little less buttery and rich, but with 5 they feel decadent. So it depends on your mood.
Mini Scones
Since these are rich, they work well as minis. I use a slightly different shaping and cutting technique for mini scones, so I've added that to the directions. The ones in this photo were made with leftover caramel pecan pie. Their texture was rich, but slightly crumblier and dryer (in a good way) since their was no liquid oozing from fruit pie.
Recipe
Fruit Pie Scones
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups self-rising flour (King Arthur) (290 grams)
- 3 tablespoons sugar (36 grams)
- 4-5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (See note) (56 to 70 grams)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¾ cup heavy cream plus a little more if needed
- ½ cup small chunks of frozen fruit pie (or more)
Instructions
- Combine flour, sugar and butter in the food processor and process until crumbly.
- Add vanilla and cream and process just until mixture coarse and clumpy but holds together when you pinch it. Better it be too wet than dry, so add additional cream if you need to.
- Empty the clumpy mixture onto a pastry mat or clean work surface. Use your hands and a bench scraper to scrape and press the mixture inward and pat it into a slab somewhere around ½ inch thick 10x6 inches.
- Press chunks of frozen fruit pie into the slap of dough, then fold it over on itself using the bench scraper to scrape it off the mat. Pat and shape into a circle about an ¾ of inch thick (not precise) and around 8 inches in diameter. Scrape the circle up off the mat and onto a sheet of parchment paper, then put it in the freezer for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat oven to 450 F. You will be turning it down during the bake. Have ready a baking sheet or a large cast iron skillet.
- Cut the circle into 8 wedges and brush with cream. Sprinkle with a little coarse sugar if you have some.
- Set the scones about ½ inch apart, arranging in a circle. They are going to come together and touch each other as they bake.
- Bake at 450 for 8 minutes, then reduce the heat to 400 and bake for another 10-13 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
Mini Scones Shaping
- For mini scones, divide the dough into three parts. Mash down each part, press in the pie chunks, then shape each part into rectangle about 3 inches by 5 inches. Freeze as directed, then cut each rectangle into 4 small triangles. To bake the mini scones, put them in the hot 450F oven, but immediately turn it down to 400F and bake for about 18 minutes.
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