Orange and Dark Chocolate Buttermilk Scones!

Hi. I have a new obsession. They’re called scones.

It took me a while to love scones because scones are done badly way, way too often. They’ll be dry, crumbly, not sweet enough or too sweet that they’re not really a scone anymore.

A delicious scone has a hearty texture of a biscuit, that’s still flaky and tender. It’s less sweet than many breakfast goodies, but you want it to have a good flavor.

These scones caught my eye, even though the orange chocolate combination isn’t one I’ve tried before. There’s something that seemed warm and hearty about them. And oh, oh I was so right. These babies are delicious. Please make them the first chance you get. I doubled the original recipe below (so you’ll be making 8 instead of 4 like the pictures) because scones are WONDERFUL leftover. Wrap them individually in saran wrap and then eat them for breakfast… or an afternoon snack… or an evening treat:) You can pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to warm up before eating if you’d like.

Orange & Dark Chocolate Buttermilk Scones

from Joy the Baker

Ingredients:

• 3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon orange zest (about 3-4 oranges worth)
• 1 Tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 Tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
• 2 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup cold buttermilk (or 3/4 c. milk + 3/4 Tablespoon vinegar)
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place oven rack in upper third of oven. Line a baking sheet with a silpat mat or parchment paper and set aside.
2. Zest your oranges.
3. In a mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl – flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Add in orange zest.
4. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter, forks or your fingers until it looks like coarse meal with no huge pieces of butter remaining.
5. In a large liquid measuring cup or small bowl, combine egg yolks and buttermilk. Whisk lightly (you can use a fork if you’d like!)
6. Add liquid to flour mixture all at once. Stir to make a soft dough. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
7. Turn onto a very lightly floured board. You may need to use your hands to finish the mixing the dough together. Lightly knead dough about 15 times.
8. Roll or pat out into 1 inch or more thickness. You can roll it out to a circle and cut it like a pizza or roll it into a rectangle and cut triangles (see above.) Use a floured pizza cutter to cut scones out and put on parchment lined baking sheet.
9. Bake on 425 for about 12-18 minutes depending on thickness.