Chocolate Chip Orange Scones
Scones are light and fluffy, almost flaky like a biscuit. This is because they are essentially biscuits - made using the same techniques as a biscuit just with sweeter ingredients and usually some dried fruit, nuts, or chocolate mixed in. If you have had dense or heavy scones, that’s not these. You should pick up a scone and be surprised by how light it is.
There are a lot of variations of scone recipes, and I’m building my recipe from a starting point of my pastry school (Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts) and modifying it to my tastes and creating fun flavors. These have a orange-vanilla flavor with semi-sweet chocolate folded in.
What Do I Need?
A pastry blender will help cut in the butter without using your hands and getting the butter warm. I usually do that for a bit, then use my fingers a little to break up any residual big pieces, then back to the pastry blender.
Line your baking sheets with silpat mats or parchment to keep the bottom from burning or sticking to the tray.
And as always, I weight my ingredients instead of measuring them by volume, so my scale is important to me.
As I describe below, for prepping I go through a lot of bowls. So I have a large set of stainless bowls and some little pyrex bowls I use for this.
What I use:
Tips and Tricks
My scone mise en place (with some experimental white chocolate chips)
In weighing my ingredients, I also measure out all my ingredients before I start mixing anything so its all ready to go. I use a lot of bowls in the process, but its easier for production and to stay focused and in the moment of the process. As I use baking as a mindful practice, this part is important to me. I can stay in the moment and focus on the sights, smells, and feel of the work I am doing.
This practice in the culinary world is called mise en place - everything in its place. So before you start combining, mixing, or anything else - all of your ingredients are measured and ready to be used and your tools are accessible.
When you cut in the butter, you want the butter to start cold and stay cold. Put it back in the fridge whenever it starts getting warm. This is important because the cold butter melts in the oven and releases steam, which is what puffs the scone up and make it light and flaky.
The butter will be cut until its pea-sized and well incorporated into the flour. You should see the little chunks of butter at the end of cutting and continue to see chunks throughout the process.
Mixing scones must be done carefully and gently. First, you don’t want to mix hard or overmix so you don’t get gluten to develop. That is what makes your scone seem more like bread that a light biscuit texture. Second, you need to work quickly and gently to keep the butter from melting or softening too much. Again, pop it in the fridge whenever it gets soft.
Because you are working the dough as little as possible, the dough won’t look like a smooth ball of dough when you are done mixing. This is exactly how you want it.
Once you have finished mixing in the bowl, you will gently bring it together on your worksurface. I work directly on my countertop which I sanitize before I start working.
To bring the dough together, you are going to fold it just twice, gently patting instead of pushing and pressing. The heat of your hands can melt the butter really quickly.
Now you can simply pat down the dough again until its 1” thick, cleaning up the edges into a neat circle by gently shaping them with cupped hands. Cut straight down into halves, then quarters, then eighths. Do not push the blade of your knife or bench scraper back and forth. This pinches the sides down and seals them, which keeps the scones from puffing up. Pull each cut scone onto a lined baking tray and bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes. I checked mine at 15 minutes and they were just barely browned, but it only took another 90 seconds for them to get perfectly baked, so keep an eye on them at 15 minutes.
Grab a cup of tea and enjoy!
These scones make lovely breakfasts, afternoon snacks, and after-dinner treats!
Chocolate Chip & Orange Scones
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Sift all the dry ingredients together into a bowl.
- Cut the butter into small cubes (cut into quarters for each tablespoon). Put back in fridge if the butter isn't still cold for about 5 minutes.
- Add butter to dry ingredients and cut it in with a pastry blender, a bowl scraper, or your fingers. Keep cutting until the butter pieces are pea-sized and coated in flour. If you use your fingers to break it up, put the bowl in the fridge for 5 minutes to get the butter cold again.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredient mix and pour in the eggs, vanilla, and milk. Mix gently with a rubber spatula or a bowl scraper until it just starts to look like dough.
- Add in the orange zest and chocolate chips, then mix just until the chocolate chips are evenly mixed in. The dough may still be a little raggedy, and falling apart a bit. Again, if the dough is warm, put it back in the fridge for 5 minutes.
- Lightly flour your workspace. Scrap the dough onto the floured work space and lightly push it together.
- Knead the dough by folding just twice. Gently pat down the dough until its 1 inch thick, then fold it in half. Turn it 90 degrees and repeat the patting and folding one more time.
- Shape the dough into a round shape using cupped hands and turning the dough as you gently press it in. Then pat it down to being 1-inch thick and gently shape it into a circle with your hands.
- Using a knife or bench scraper, cut the circle into 8 pieces. Press straight down, do not saw into it. Scones are like biscuits, and you want them to puff up. Sawing motion pinches the sides together and keeps the scone from puffing up.
- Transfer all 8 pieces to a baking sheet prepped with parchment paper or a silpat mat.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes.
- Remove from oven, let cool on the pan for 1 minute and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Try it and let me know what you think in the comments!
Cheers!
