I first encountered the idea of frozen scones on vacation in Michigan. The Lake Street Market in Boyne City, MI sells rolls of their delicious apple walnut scones (and about a million other varieties) already frozen. What better for a summer lake house than a few scones in the freezer, just waiting to bake up and lure you to the breakfast table?
Scones are ideal to freeze because of their low moisture content: the dough is more similar to cookie dough than say, muffin batter, and freezes without undergoing too many funky changes. Scones work best frozen in individual portions — triangles, biscuit shaped, or whatever suits your mood. Now, what makes a frozen scone really blossom is the finishing touches. We always brush ours with a bit of cream and sprinkle with sugar so the tops brown and sparkle.
Freezing scones before baking makes for a fresher reheating experience than freezing them straight from the bakery. Depending on how many you plan on baking at once, freeze scones one by one in foil and plastic wrap, or freeze the whole batch on a baking tray and combine in a heavy duty plastic freezer bag once frozen.
Take scones out of the freezer when the oven is preheating. Place them on buttered baking sheets (or sheets lined with Silpat) and brush with cream and sprinkle with sugar. If the recipe calls for a glaze, keep with the instructions and hold off until they come out of the oven. By the time the oven warms, the scones will have lost some of their chill -- there's no need to thaw them. Bake as directed and keep an eye on them because the baking time will vary.
Here are some scone recipes just begging to be frozen for a rainy Sunday morning:
• Apricot Yogurt Scones
• Honeyed Grapefruit Oat Scones
• Banana Bread Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze
• Fresh Cranberry Scones
Related: Breakfast on the Go: Scones
(Images: Flickr user whitneyinchicago licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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You can do this with muffins, too. Line muffin tins, fill with muffin batter, freeze, then pop the frozen muffins out of the tin and put in a bag. What I love about this (and am sure I will love about the scones) is that I can make just what I need for one morning.
I do this with buttermilk biscuits, which is SO handy and great to have fresh-baked ones on a weekday morning. As noted above, I don't thaw--although I do find they usually take a couple minutes longer in the oven than the non-frozen baking time. My go-to scone recipe is for drop scones, and the batter is quite wet, so I only ever freeze those after baking. But very intrigued by Superdewa's comment above--great tip! I'll have to try that, both with muffins and my drop scones...
This is my FAVORITE breakfast - there's nothing better than getting the coffee started, hopping in the shower, and emerging with breakfast warm and toasty and waiting for you in the oven. Some coffee and fruit and I'm a very happy gal!
My favorite scone recipe is Smitten Kitchen's Oat and Maple Syrup Scones. It's hearty and freezes beautifully!
i would like to know what kind of scones are featured in the picture? they look delicious!
I love Lake Street Market! Each summer these are staples on the breakfast table of my friend's cottage. This year I ordered some to enjoy at Christmas. As I live nowhere near Boyne City I had them sent to my house. They were very nicely packaged, still frozen when they arrived. Delicious! I ordered 1 sweet (apple walnut) and 1 savory (ham and cheese)...Each log can be sliced into 6-8 pieces....My mouth is watering just writing about them!
awesome picture! these look so flaky and heavenly..
I freeze the unbaked dough - and bake later. "Prebaked" dough sounds to me like something that's been partially baked. which messes up cooking times no end.
After reading the article, the title is confusing - maybe it meant to say "pre-made?" I do the same as Aperocot when I make cream scones - make the dough, cut, and freeze, and just add a few minutes to the baking time when baking from frozen. They turn out perfectly. Muffins, on the other hand, I actually find turn out better if frozen after they're baked and just rewarmed as needed (same goes with any other quick bread).
I have to say that I prefer to freeze scones after baking. I've found freezing the dough unbaked really kills the texture.
I love this in theory, but whenever I make anything I want to eat it RIGHT NOW. I'll continue to be the kind of person who only fantasizes about having unbaked dough waiting in her freezer.