Chocolate Chunk Buttermilk Scones (with variations)
I absolutely love scones. Most scone recipes out there can be put into a few general categories; they can be made with just cream, with just butter, with cream AND butter, with butter and buttermilk, with an egg or without an egg. I personally don’t think something should be considered a true scone unless it has butter, cream, or both. But within this group I don’t discriminate, they’re all good if made well!
I had tried this recipe a few months back and wasn’t blown away, but thought that with a few tweaks they could be really good so I decided to try them again this week. I’m glad I did as they turned out really well. The instructions in the original recipe was a little finicky in my opinion, calling for you cut the butter into only half of the dry ingredients, and then transferring to a new bowl and adding the remaining dry ingredients followed by the buttermilk. I didn’t find that this seemed to help at all, and I prefer to dump everything into the food processor at the beginning, cut in the butter, and then add the buttermilk before transferring to the counter to finish up the mixing and shaping.
I also made some changes to the recipe itself. I did only make half a batch of the original recipe so that is reflected below. I increased the sugar by about 50% because I like a sweeter scone, and also decreased the salt. The original recipe called for 2.5 teaspoons of kosher salt which is way to much my opinion. I ended up only using 1/2 teaspoon for the half batch (so 1 teaspoon in the full batch) which is significantly less than called for but I much preferred this amount of salt. I want to state that I am NOT afraid of salt, I love salt, I typically like a little more salt than is called for in a lot of recipes but not in this one. I think the decreased amount of salt is much better, but do as you will.
The original recipe is for a triple ginger scone with chocolate chunks and included ginger (ground, fresh grated, and crystalized), nutmeg, orange zest and black pepper along with the chocolate. I decided to skip the ginger and spices and just included chocolate chunks and a little cinnamon. In the end it doesn’t really matter what put in the scones. When you start with a good base you can customize however you would like and it should turn out just fine!
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Chocolate Chunk Buttermilk Scones
Adapted from 177 Milk Street
Ingredients
Scone Base:
227 grams/8 ounces (1.75 cups plus 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
50-67 grams (1/4 -1/3 cup) sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (I used Mortin)
128 grams/4.5 ounces (9 tablespoons) butter
142 grams/5 ounces (5/8 cup) buttermilk
Additions:
3/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (added with the dry ingredients)
80 grams/2.8 ounces (about 1/2 cup) chocolate chunks
Topping:
1 egg, lightly beaten and thinned with about 1 tablespoon water, for brushing on top
Sparkling sugar, for topping
Directions
Heat the oven to 375°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with kitchen parchment. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until it is in large pea-sized pieces, 10-12 pulses.
Add the buttermilk and run only until everything is evenly moistened and an even sandy texture. It won’t completely come together into a cohesive dough but will still be quite crumbly, this is okay. Transfer the loose dough to the counter and scatter the chocolate chunks on top. Knead a few times to bring everything together and evenly distribute the chocolate.
Shape the dough into a circle (approximately 5 inches in diameter and 1 1/2 inches thick). Cut into 6 even wedges with a pastry scraper. Transfer scones to the baking sheet and brush with the egg wash. Cover each scone with a nice sprinkling of sanding sugar.
Bake until the scones are deep golden brown, 27 to 30 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Cool on the baking sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes, then transfer directly to a rack and cool for at least another 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Variations:
Lemon Lavender Buttermilk Scones
I personally found this a little too lemony which is saying something for me. I do love lemon. But I added the zest of an entire lemon which was too much for me. It wasn’t bad in the least, I just would have preferred less. It really reminded me of a lemon poppyseed muffin so if you like those then you will love these! So add as much lemon zest as you’d like!
The tablespoon of lavender was subtle but perceptible. Maybe with a little less lemon you’d taste more lavender. I thought it was a nice subtle lavender flavor. A little more wouldn’t be bad though. To the base add:
Zest of up to 1 lemon (see note above)
1 tablespoon dried lavender
Date Walnut Buttermilk Scones
This one turned out great! The buttery and nutty walnuts melt into the scone and give it such a nice rich flavor. The dates are just tiny pockets of sweetness that you almost don’t notice! I would have added more dates but I only had about 8-10 Deglet Noor dates in the pantry. I plan on making these again with Medjool dates and adding even more. I’d add more walnuts too. I didn’t measure either of these, but probably no more than 1/2 cup total. I want MORE! :)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of cardamom
Chopped Dates, to taste
Chopped walnuts, to taste
Lilac Almond Scones
I went foraging in my neighborhood and came home with a bag full of lilac blooms. They smell soooo good, but don’t last long. I’ll be honest, the flavor is so so mild that I actually didn’t taste it a whole lot in these finished scones, but they were still delicious and beautiful! It can be a little tedious to pull the lilac flowers off the blooms but it’s also relaxing and methodical. For a glaze, I mixed powdered sugar and water. No specific measurements, you just want it to be very thick so add water VERY SLOWLY! Drizzle and spread the first layer of glaze on the scones right after they come out of the oven and are still hot. This will help the thick glaze spread a little. You do have to play with it a little to spread out and cover the top. Then repeat the glazing a few more times as the scones slowly cool until you have the amount of glaze you desire. There’s no right or wrong. For these scones, add the following to the scones base:
1 cup fresh lilac flowers
1/2 cup slivered almonds
Powdered sugar and water (to glaze)
Lavender Honey Scones
I had this combination at a local coffee shop a year or two back and loved it! They unfortunately no longer make it, so I’ll just have to make it for myself! One tablespoon of the lavender was perfect for me. A strong lavender flavor, but not overpowering or “soapy”. If you’re not so sure about lavender then add a little less. If you want to see how far you can push it then add a little more (at your own risk!). I topped these with a simple glaze that contained a little honey. I don’t have exact measurements because for glazes I just go by feel and looks. You want this glaze to be very thick to start as it will melt and spread on top of the hot scones. I add the glaze on top of the scones immediately after they come out of the oven. It’s easiest to do this in layers. The first couple of layers will melt a little more and spread out over the top as the glaze heats up. As the scones cool, the next layers will stay thicker and more opaque. It’s completely up to you how much you add, and how thick the glaze is.
1 tablespoon dried lavender
2 tablespoons honey, powdered sugar and water to glaze (just eyeball it, and make it THICK!)