Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Chocolate Chip Scones

Yesterday I recieved my new to me copy of Martha's Baking Handbook in the mail. I had never really been a big Martha fan. Frankly, I find her annoying and pretentious (which she is certainly entitled to). However, she is freaking amazing at what she does and I had heard great things about this book. I picked it up at the library a few weeks ago and decided I needed my very own copy. I flipped through it and read a few recipes and I still find her annoying and pretentious (even her recipes make you feel like she's looking down her nose at you, or at least I get that impression). I decided that I had most of the ingredients needed for the chocolate scones. I made a few changes because I don't keep Dutch-process cocoa powder or a bar of semi-sweet chocolate in the pantry. Nor do I own a pastry blender, I will soon though, or a cake tester. I do however, have semi sweet chocolate chips, a fork and a toothpick.
Here's the recipe with the changes I made...
2 1/4 c all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3 T. Dutch-process cocoa powder (I thought about using some of Brielles Ovaltine but decided to just skip it)
1/2 c plus 2 T sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces. (I used salted and meant to leave out the salt, but forgot. They turned out just fine)
5 oz semisweet chocolate chopped into 1/3 inch to 1/2 inch pieces (1 cup) - (SERIOUSLY??!! Even if I had chopable chocolate am I supposed to measure it? I used 1 cup toll house chocolate chips)
1 large whole egg, pluse 1 large egg yolk
1/2 c plus 2 T heavy cream (I didn't have any and didn't realize it until I started so I used 1/2 and 1/2)
Sanding Sugar, for sprinkling optional

Line a baking sheet with parchment; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few larger clumps remaining. Fold in chocolate.
Whisk together the whole egg and 1/2 c plus 1 T cream. Add egg mixture to the flour mixture; using a rubber spatula, fold in, working in all directions and incorporating crumbs at the bottom of the bowl; until dough just comes together.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, and gently pat into a 18-by-3 inch rectangle about 1 inch thick. Using a sharp knife or a pastry wheel (guess which one I used) cut the rectangle into six 3-inch squares. Place the squares about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze unitl the dough is very firm, at least 1 hour or overnight. At this point, you can freeze the unbaked scones in a resealable plastic bag until ready to bake, up to 3 weeks.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In small bowl, lightly beat egg yolk with the remaining tablespoon heavy cream; brush over the tops of the scones and sprinkle generously with sanding sugar, if using. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, until the sugar on top of the scones turns golden all over, or a cake tester inserted in the center of a scone comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. They are best eaten the day they are baked.

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