It is time to share another of my favourite recipes, Ginger Chocolate Scones today, yummy! Put on the coffee or tea as soon as you take these lovelies out of the oven.
I love to have a bag of scones of some type or other in my freezer for those times when you need a little something with your afternoon break and veggies just won’t do it. The basic recipe for these can be changed up to make them fit your taste. Remember to eat them the same day as you are baking them or freeze them to maintain that wonderful fresh scone flavour. A quick minute in the oven will make them taste fresh again.
There is a little prep to be done before mixing of the dough so be prepared for that before you start.
Preheat the oven to 425F. Prepare a sheet pan with parchment paper or grease it lightly. Normally you don’t need to grease the pan for scones but the chocolate can stick when melted. You will also need a round cutter of a knife to cut the dough and a little extra flour for the cutting board or counter.
Ingredients:
4 c flour
¾ c sugar
2 Tbsp plus 1tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp powdered ginger
1 c butter softened, most scones ask for cold but I like to use soft butter for a speedy mix
3 eggs
1/3 c 10% cream or whole milk
1 c buttermilk
1tsp vanilla
¾ c candied ginger
1 ½ c chocolate chips or pieces, I used Ghiardelli and used the whole bag.
Before you start to measure and mix your dough, chop or snip the candied ginger into little pieces and set aside. Kitchen scissors are the easiest to use. This is the prep done that I warned you about before.
Measure out the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and the powdered ginger into a large mixing bowl. Stir a little to combine everything. Break up the butter and add to the bowl. With your hands, gently rub the butter into the dry stuff until it resembles coarse crumbs. It is important that you use a light hand here and don’t over mix or your scones will be heavy and a bit tough. When the butter is mixed in, prepare your wet ingredients.
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs a little, mix in the cream, buttermilk, and vanilla. Stir well to combine all of the egg into the milk.
Add the candied ginger and the chocolate to the dry/butter mix and stir gently to distribute. Make a well and pour in the wet ingredients. I like to use a table fork here and lift up the dry from the sides of the bowl toward the centre while I am turning the bowl. Just make sure that, as with the butter, you do not overmix the dough. Once you have as much liquid in with the fork as you can, use your hands and gently turn the dough over and over to mix in the remaining dry part. You might have a couple of Tbsp left in the bowl and that’s okay.
Turn the dough out onto a floured board or counter and pat it out to about ¾ inch thick. Cut the scones out with a round cutter and place them on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. You can pat the dough into a square and cut out squares or wedges with a knife if you prefer those shapes.
Put in the sheet pan into the middle of the oven and bake 15 to 20 minutes until they are golden on the top.
If ginger and/or chocolate (what’s wrong with you on the chocolate?) is not your thing, you can snip up some dates or other dried fruit and substitute. I love these made with fresh dates and also with dried apricots. Fresh blueberries are yummy too! Just make sure that you dry them after washing them before adding them to the dry mixture.
Have you got the coffee started? These are seriously and sinfully good for breakfast too!
I hope that you enjoy my recipe and have fun making these scones to share with friends and family. Have a happy week and stay warm for those of you in the northern part of the world.