Chocolate Pecan Scones
Another day, another chance to bake a different batch of scones. This morning’s recipe is an off shoot of the delicious Lemon Blueberry Scones I made a couple of days ago. I went with the basic recipe, made a few tweaks and added some of my favorite flavors. Happy to say I ended up with some tasty Chocolate Pecan Scones.
In the future I hope to portion out the dough differently so that I end up with smaller scones. This recipe as well as the other one I made recently has you pat all of the dough into an 8 inch diameter disc before cutting into 8 wedges. Next time I’ll portion the dough into two 4 inch rounds and cut into wedges. Doing this will probably require that I reduce the baking time, as the scones will be be smaller, therefore cook quicker.
I also want to tinker with the baking temp and type of bake. I’ve been setting my oven on convection bake. Generally speaking, if your oven has a convection bake option, this is great for things like scones, biscuits and other types of pastries. However my scones seem to get to the browning stage quickly. So I may need to reduce the temperature and/or shorten the cooking time a bit.
One of the most satisfying things about cooking is the experimentation involved. When I’m trying something new I usually do my best to follow the recipe to the letter. This is especially true when baking, where proportions really matter. But pretty soon I end up adapting, adjusting and tweaking the original to fit my style. Don’t be afraid to try something new. It it flops, just chuck it in the bin as the bakers on The Great British Baking Show often do in competition. They shrug off the mistakes and try it again.
Chocolate Pecan Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick frozen butter, grated
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup half n half
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons half n half
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In large bowl whisk together (flour, sugar, baking powder and salt).
- Add 1 stick (1/2 cup) of grated frozen butter, chocolate chips and pecans. Stir gently to combine.
- In separate small bowl whisk together the half n half, egg and vanilla.
- Pour liquid mixture over the top of the flour mixture.
- Gently stir until mixture just holds together. Form into a ball and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Using hands, gently press dough into an 8 inch wide circle. Will be about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 8 equal wedges.
- Carefully place wedges of dough on parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 400 for approximately 18-20 minutes. Watch carefully so that they become just slightly golden brown, but cooked through. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before topping with glaze.
Glaze
- Mix 1 cup powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of half n half and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.
- Drizzle glaze over slightly cooled scones.
Notes
- FREEZING the butter is a must. To speed things up shred it using a food processor. If you don't have one you can use a box grater.
- Do not overwork the dough, either when mixing the ingredients together to form a ball of dough or as you form it into a disc for cutting.
- The less you handle the dough with your hands, the more likely the butter will stay very cold, which helps creating a nice open texture rather than a dense, heavy scone.
- Instead of half n half you could sub in whole milk or heavy cream. Avoid using any milk with a low fat content.
