Double Chocolate Orange Scones

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!

Cinnamon Chip Scones

You know why breakfast is awesome? Because there are so many breakfast foods that resemble dessert. Does any other meal have more foods that contain as much sugar as breakfast foods? Only if you count dessert as a meal.

Cinnamon rolls, syrup-covered waffles, pancakes, and french toast, donuts, pop-tarts, muffins. Pretty much all of these are a form of either cake or cookies dressed up in, what I like to call, their breakfast-suit.

Okay, okay. I know that most people don’t eat these things for breakfast ever day, which is good. But they are delicious, fun breakfast treats to have and today I want to share with you my favorite cookie-in-a-breakfast-suit: the scone!

Scones are like a thicker, fluffier, less sweet cookie. This is one of my favorite scone recipes. It is adapted from one that my step mom gave me. These are always a hit! If you try them out, leave a comment and let me know - I'd love to hear about it!

Cinnamon Chip Scones

2/3 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

8 tbls butter (1 stick)

½ cup sugar

½ cup cinnamon chips

¼ cup cinnamon/sugar mixture (if desired)

water

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. In a small bowl, mix buttermilk, egg, and vanilla

3. In a 7-cup (or larger) food processor, add flour, baking soda and powder, salt, and cinnamon. Pulse a few times to blend

4. Dice butter into small cubes, add to food processor

5. Pulse food processor until butter is pea-sized

6. Add sugar and pulse a couple times to incorporate

7. Add liquid mixture and pulse until everything is incorporated. Be careful not to over-mix or dough will become tough and elastic (disclaimer: this has happened to me and they still tasted delicious - so don't sweat it!)

8. Once wet and dry ingredients are starting to form a dough, dump onto a floured surface

9. Add cinnamon chips and kneed gently to finish incorporating ingredients

10. With your hands, or a rolling pin, form dough into a square approximately ¾ inch thick

11. Cut dough into 32 triangles as follows, place on cookie sheets

12. Wet tops of scones with water, sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture (optional)

13. Bake for 8-12 minutes

14. Scones are done when tops are firm when lightly tapped with finger

15. Cool 2 minutes on pan, remove to cooling rack

16. Enjoy!

What’s your favorite dessert in a breakfast-suit?