I think it’s time for me to start baking some classics. Every baker should have a handful of go-to recipes in their repertoire to pull out of the bag when required. I’m talking vanilla sponge, chocolate chip cookies, banana loaf, pancakes (I know, not really baking) and….scones!
Well, that was my intention. I ended up adding orange zest and dark chocolate chips to these scones. They taste really good, so I don’t actually feel too bad about it. All the properties you want in a classic scone are still here, slightly crispy golden tops that are fluffy and moist inside, with the added bonus of chocolate!
I am no scone expert but I’m getting there and these were a definite success. So good that the cat I was looking after stole one from under a tea towel in my kitchen and carried a whole scone through to the living room!
One of the best ways to intensify the fragrant orange flavour is to rub the zest with the caster sugar before adding it to the mix. This helps to release the oils and you end up with very pretty orange sugar.
The butter is rubbed together with the flour and the baking powder until you have rough breadcrumbs. Stir in the egg and milk mix.
You want a sticky dough here. It is annoying to handle because it sticks to your fingers quite a bit but it does mean you will get a good rise and light scones, so a small sacrifice!
Make sure you have a well floured board then tip out the scone dough and well floured hands for handling.
You also want a well floured cutter.
I floured the tray too. There was a lot of flouring involved in this recipe!
Chocolate Orange Scones
adapted from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible
makes 12
50g caster sugar
zest of one orange
450g self raising flour
2 rounded tsps baking powder
75g softened butter
2 eggs
225ml milk
50g dark chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Grease 2 baking trays and set aside.
On a board or in a bowl, use the back of a spoon to rub the orange zest in to the sugar until fully incorporated. Set aside.
Add the flour and baking powder to a large bowl. Rub the flour mixture together with the butter to form bread crumbs. Some bits will be fine others about pea sized. Stir in the sugar.
In a jug beat the eggs. Add the milk to make up to 300ml. Reserve two tablespoons of this mixture to glaze the scones.
Stir the milk and egg mixture into the flour. The batter will be a bit wet and sticky, this is annoying but will result in better scones at the end. Stir in the chocolate chips, try not to over mix but make sure they are spread evenly throughout the batter.
Turn the dough out on to a well floured board and gently knead, just enough to bring it together in a disk. Roll out the dough until it is 2cm thick. Using a straight or fluted cutter, cut out the scones and transfer to the prepared trays. If you have to, bring the dough back together and re-roll until it is all used.
Using a pastry brush, glaze the tops of the scones. Be careful to just glaze the tops, as too much on the sides will stop the scones rising evenly.
Bake for 12-15 mins, until lightly golden on top, then allow to cool on a wire rack. Cover the cooling scones with a clean tea towel to keep them moist.
Enjoy!