Where did the summer go? Last time I wrote we were heading off on vacation. We spent a week exploring beautiful Colorado and it was a fun, relaxing trip. Since then we went on another vacation (a Canada/New England cruise) and I accepted a position at a new company and switched jobs. Hopefully things are finally settling down, just in time for the craziness that is the holiday season - my favorite time of year!
I'm enjoying the cooler weather we're having in Minnesota. It's the perfect excuse to once again warm the house with my oven. Who needs those scented candles when you have the real thing?
Last weekend I decided to whip up some Double Chocolate Orange Scones. I'm not a huge fan of the chocolate and orange combination but it is subtle in this recipe and quite good. I received this recipe from my mother-in-law. Someone she knew had entered it into the Pillsbury Bake-Off a few years ago - here is the original recipe. My version has the same ingredients but the preparation is a bit different. If you do not have a food processor, go ahead and follow the original recipe's instructions.
Double Chocolate Orange Scones
Ingredients
2 cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup Hershey’s® baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cold LAND O LAKES® Butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup Smucker’s® Sweet Orange Marmalade
1 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup Hershey’s® mini chips semi-sweet chocolate
1 tablespoon raw sugar (turbinado sugar), if desired
2oz Hershey’s® semi-sweet baking chocolate or 1/3 cup Hershey’s® mini chips semi-sweet chocolate
First I combined the whipping cream, vanilla, and marmalade in a bowl. Then I cubed the cold butter and placed in another bowl and put both of those in the fridge. If you're making a double batch, go ahead and measure out several portions at this step and put them all in the fridge.
Then I measured out the chocolate chips and set aside. Again, measure out the extra batches' portions at this point.
Finally, I measured out the dry ingredients. I measured out the extra batches' dry ingredients into separate bowls and one batch right into the bowl of my food processor. Using a food processor is the major difference in my preparation. While not necessary, I think it makes making scones a breeze.
After giving that a quick few pulses to combine, I got my cold ingredients out of the fridge.
I added the cold, cubed butter to the food processor and pulsed until the butter was pea-sized.
Then I added the liquid mixture and pulsed until the dough was mostly combined.
Lastly, I added the chocolate chips and just gave a few quick pulses on the food processor to start combining them.
After that, I dumped out the contents onto a floured marble board, quickly kneaded to combine, and rolled into a rectangle.
This is where you can decide how big or small to make your scones. I like making smaller scones, 32 in this case.
Place the scones on a cookie sheet and use a pastry brush to lightly wet the tops.
Sprinkle the raw sugar on the scones.
Bake for 11 - 14 minutes depending on the size and let cool.
In the meantime, melt some chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl.
Spoon the melted chocolate into a Ziploc bag.
Drizzle over the scones.
Let the drizzled chocolate cool completely and then store in an air tight container.
They freeze very well so don't be afraid to make extra.
These scones were a good kick-off to another baking season! Here we go!
