Chocolate Chip Scones

My scones are getting a lot of love lately- in fact, it has become the flavor of the month or the favorite of the hour among my GP’s, friends and even my family.  They can’t seem to have enough of it so I find myself making them more often. They’re easy to make and there are so many flavors you can play around without being really fancy.

Scones should be a happy confluence of flavors and textures and that is achievable with fresh or quality ingredients and proper execution. Frozen butter, the right amount of moisture and minimal handling of the dough are key factors to successful scones.  Baking time is also crucial and placing the baking pan on the center rack prevents quick browning of the bottom of the scones. So I made them with chocolate chips this time just like this:

CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONES

Ingredients:

2 cups pastry or all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 stick frozen unsalted butter

3 tbsp granulated white sugar

half a package of cream cheese-softened

half a cup milk (2% fat or whole)

heavy cream to brush the tops

heaping half cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Demerara sugar or Florida Crystals

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Sift together flour and baking powder in a big and wide mouthed bowl

Stir softened cream cheese into the milk, set aside (don't worry about lumps)

Add in grated unsalted butter (freeze the butter for easy grating)

Cut through the flour mix using a pastry cutter or knives.  

Stir in chocolate chips 

Make a well at the center and pour the cream cheese mixture

Stir using a spatula or rubber scraper; fold the flour and cream mixture together to form clumps 

At this point, use your cold but dry hand to form the clumps together into a ball

Transfer to lightly floured work space and gently pat into a disk

Brush with heavy cream and sprinkle evenly with Demerara sugar or Florida Crystals

Using a sharp knife, divide into twelve wedges

Arrange in a baking pan lined with Silpat or parchment paper

Bake for 15 minutes then lower the temperature to 375 and bake for another 10 minutes

Remove from the oven and let sit in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a rack for cooling although it's best eaten straight from the oven 

When you see your scones rising up and not out then you are getting close to your goal.  When you bite into one when they're done and feel that brittle and delicious crust ending with the soft interior- then you did it! I made another batch using a cup of buttermilk with half a teaspoon of almond extract instead of cream cheese with milk and it was delicious too.  But I find the texture more to my liking when I stick to cream cheese and milk mixture.