Chocolate Orange Scones

My Husband is fishing and the little one went to grandma's house for the day. So I'm snuggled up on the couch sipping English breakfast tea, eating yummy scones, and enjoying the peace and quiet.

Around Christmastime we received a large box of citrus fruits. Now, nearly a month later, I am so sick of eating oranges. Yet they are still overflowing out of my refrigerator. Since baking the perfect scones was one of my New Year's Resolutions, I decided to kill two birds with one 'scone' by making chocolate orange scones.
I scoured Pinterest for the perfect recipe, but none of them were quite what I was looking for. Most  of them used too many warm spices, or contained ingredients (like buttermilk) that I just didn't have on hand. I wanted to keep these scones simple. So I combined several recipes. They are some of the best things that I have ever baked. There's hints of orange and chocolate chips in every bite. Don't let the orange flavor scare you away from trying them. It's really really light. I promise that even if you don't like orange, you will like these scones.
Before you bake, you will want to plan ahead. One stick of butter needs to be frozen. Also, make sure you have all the ingredients. Just in case you used something up for holiday baking, and forgot to buy a replacement. Which happened to me. I ran out of baking powder and had to postpone scone baking  until after I could dash to the store (Major Bummer!).

Here's the Recipe,

Scone ingredients:

2 cups of all purpose flour
1/3 cup of sugar
1 frozen stick of unsalted butter
1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 medium oranges zested
4 oz sour cream
1/2 tsp salt

Glaze ingredients

1 Cup of powdered sugar
3 tbs melted butter
2 Tbs fresh orange juice (juice the zested oranges)
1/2 tsp Vanilla

Move oven rack to center
Preheat 400F


First combine the four, Sugar, chocolate chips, baking powder, soda, and salt in a large bowl. Zest the oranges over the top and mix it all evenly. After that comes the fun part, grate the frozen butter onto your dry ingredients. It might be a little hard so be careful!

Work in the butter with your hands. Then whisk the sour cream and egg together in a small bowl before adding it to the scone batter. Dig in and form the dough into one large ball. At first I was concerned that it didn't seem to be coming together like I predicted. After expressing my worry to Mike, he rolled up his sleeves to help. It turns out that the frozen butter just doesn't bind as quickly as thawed would. So squeezing it a little rougher doesn't hurt. Stop as soon as it's all combined and not sticky. Set the ball onto a large sheet of parchment paper, and flatten until 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Then slice it, like a pie, into eight equal triangles.

Transfer your triangle scones onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Remember to space them out.

Finally pop them in the preheated oven for about fifteen minutes.

Meanwhile, combine your melted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and orange juice. 

When your scones are done in the oven, let them cool (and probably taste test one) before glazing.

Enjoy! 

Goals for 2016

Hello!
How are your New Year's resolutions going? Did you make any? I made two.

1) Go outside more.
This one is pretty self explanatory. I'm going to try to get outside every day. Weather permitting, of course.

2) Significantly improve my cooking and baking skills. I hope to master a lot of basic techniques this year. As well as several of my favorite restaurant and bakery foods like;

__ Dumplings

I fell in love with Jao Zi during my trip to China but have never made a succesful batch at home. I'm determined to change that in 2016.

__ Glazed Scones

I could have just said scones, but let's face it, all the best scones are glazed so they don't get too dry. Besides, does anyone actually mind an extra layer of sugar?

__ Croissants

Way more elegant than plain ole bread. When I bake croissants in 2016, you are going to envy all my future breakfasts and sandwiches. I guarantee it.

__ Pita Bread

Deceptively simple, Pitas are something I've already failed at once, years ago. This year, with the help of my flat griddle, I will succeed.

__Crepes

Savory crepes are my fave! What fillings do you like?

__Macarons
Yummy! Unless someone flies me to France so I can experience the world's best macarons, I will have to settle for making the best in Dodge County.

Those all are my most important goals in 2016. Progress is going well, so far. I've made time to go outside with the family every day. As well as baking a classic apple pie using a cookbook I got for Christmas.  The picture is below. Doesn't it look delicious? Hope all of your goals are going just as well!