Bready or Not: Chocolate Chip and Walnut Scones
I have a confession to make. I kinda went crazy over the holiday season when all the stores had chocolate chips on sale. I stocked up. This is a good thing, really. I love making things with chocolate chips, and I love a good sale.
The problem is I live in Arizona. It starts to heat up in March and April. We keep the air conditioner on 82 degrees, but that still means that any chocolates in the pantry get too soft. I have to keep my chocolate chips in the fridge through the summer.
There's no way I can squeeze a dozen bags of chips in there, not if I want us to have, um, good food.
This means I have to make a concerted effort now to use up a good chunk of my chocolate chip stockpile. Darn.
Last summer I shared this strawberry scones recipe. It occurred to me that chocolate chip scone recipes are out there--I have even bought ready-made mixes, years ago--but that I could tweak my own recipe and make it work. It did.
And like the original recipe, these are totally freezable, either baked or unbaked. Some of these chocolate chips may end up frozen instead of merely refrigerated...
Chocolate Chip and Walnut Scones
Modified from my strawberry scones recipe
Ingredients:
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or other nut, or dried fruit)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup half-and-half or cream or cold buttermilk
Topping:
1 tablespoon turbinado or granulated sugar (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper, or grease a scone pan.
Combine sugars, flour, baking powder and salt. Add butter, using a pastry cutter or 2 knives to cut in butter. Stir in chips and nuts; then add cream/half-and-half/buttermilk all at once. Flour your hands, and gently knead and turn the dough to make sure you get all the dry bits from the bottom. Sprinkle dough with extra flour if it's too sticky to work with, or add more milk.
Form into scone pan, or form dough into a circle 3/4 inch thick. Cut circle into 6-8 wedges (or smaller), then transfer wedges to the cookie sheet, leaving at least 1/2 inch of space between them. It's imperative you leave space between the scones, as they will expand in the oven! Sprinkle the top with the extra turbinado sugar, if using.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until the tops are beginning to brown.
Store in a sealed container. Scones can be eaten at room temperature, or heated in microwave for 20 seconds or so.
OM NOM NOM.
The problem is I live in Arizona. It starts to heat up in March and April. We keep the air conditioner on 82 degrees, but that still means that any chocolates in the pantry get too soft. I have to keep my chocolate chips in the fridge through the summer.
There's no way I can squeeze a dozen bags of chips in there, not if I want us to have, um, good food.
This means I have to make a concerted effort now to use up a good chunk of my chocolate chip stockpile. Darn.
Last summer I shared this strawberry scones recipe. It occurred to me that chocolate chip scone recipes are out there--I have even bought ready-made mixes, years ago--but that I could tweak my own recipe and make it work. It did.
And like the original recipe, these are totally freezable, either baked or unbaked. Some of these chocolate chips may end up frozen instead of merely refrigerated...
Chocolate Chip and Walnut Scones
Modified from my strawberry scones recipe
Ingredients:
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or other nut, or dried fruit)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup half-and-half or cream or cold buttermilk
Topping:
1 tablespoon turbinado or granulated sugar (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper, or grease a scone pan.
Combine sugars, flour, baking powder and salt. Add butter, using a pastry cutter or 2 knives to cut in butter. Stir in chips and nuts; then add cream/half-and-half/buttermilk all at once. Flour your hands, and gently knead and turn the dough to make sure you get all the dry bits from the bottom. Sprinkle dough with extra flour if it's too sticky to work with, or add more milk.
Form into scone pan, or form dough into a circle 3/4 inch thick. Cut circle into 6-8 wedges (or smaller), then transfer wedges to the cookie sheet, leaving at least 1/2 inch of space between them. It's imperative you leave space between the scones, as they will expand in the oven! Sprinkle the top with the extra turbinado sugar, if using.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until the tops are beginning to brown.
Store in a sealed container. Scones can be eaten at room temperature, or heated in microwave for 20 seconds or so.
OM NOM NOM.
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