Chocolate Chip Scones

Some of you may be familiar with chocolate chip scones.  Others of you may never have had them, and for that, I’m sorry.  They’re awesome.  I’m not talking about any chocolate chip scones, I’m talking about the chocolate chip scones.  Michael and I both make them, but Michael’s are the best.  I’m not sure what his secret is, but his are better than mine.  It’s just true, although he does try to deny it.  I’m not upset about it – I’m happy to have him make scones for me.  And when he’s not available, mine are an acceptable (although definitely inferior) substitute. 

We’ve adapted a recipe from Biscuits and Scones, by Elizabeth Alston.  She’s got some other good stuff in there, too.  Michael made something called an apple slump or grunt or slouch or grouch or something last weekend, and it was divine. 

I’ll give you the recipe, then tell you how we do it.

Simple Sweet Scones

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 T baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

8 T (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut up

1/4 cup granulated sugar (use 1/3 cup for slightly sweeter scones)

2/3 cup milk

Heat oven to 425.  Put flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl; stir to mix well.

Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender or rub in with your fingers, until the mixture looks like fine granules.  Add sugar; toss to mix.

Add milk and stir with a fork until a soft dough forms.  Form dough into a ball, put onto a lightly floured board, and give 10 to 12 kneads.

To make triangular scones, cut dough in half.  Knead each half lightly into a ball and turn smooth side up.  Pat or roll into a 6-inch circle.  Cut each circle into 6 or 8 wedges.  Place wedges on an ungreased cookie sheet – slightly apart for crisp sides, touching for soft sides. 

Bake about 12 minutes, or until medium brown on top.  Put on a linen or cotton dish towel on a wire rack; cover loosely with the cloth and cool completely before serving. 

Ingredients changes:  we use whole wheat pastry flour and rice milk.  Also, you might have noticed that, for a recipe for chocolate chip scones, this one is surprisingly lacking in…chocolate chips.  We add 1/2 cup chocolate chips when the sugar is added.  Sometimes, because of the whole wheat flour, more milk is needed, too. 

Method changes:  we use a food processor.  I’m sorry.  It’s not the most authentic way to do it, but we need to make scones here, and we’ve got limited time, so we don’t rub the butter in with our fingers.   We’ve done it before, we can claim to know how, but it takes a long time.  The kids, actually, enjoy rubbing the butter in with their fingers, and I’m all for letting them do it on occasion, but usually that takes even longer, so we usually just do the food processor.  But don’t, for the love of chocolate chip scones, neglect to take it OUT of the food processor and put it in a bowl before you add the chips.  Otherwise, you will get chocolate little bitsy bits scones, and that’s not the same.

ALSO…we do not let the scones cool to room temperature before beginning to enjoy them unless it’s completely unavoidable.  Chocolate chip scones are delicious when warm.  We do let them cool enough that they don’t burn our fingers or mouths, though. 

I hope you’ll try these sometime.  They really are excellent.  They make a fantastic dessert when you don’t want something too sweet, and they can be enjoyed really any time…I should know.