Bake some holiday scones and invite the neighbors.

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November 2007

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Breadstuffs

Chocolate Cranberry Scones Recipe

Holiday Scones For Your Family & Guests

San Francisco artisan chocolatier Michael Recchiuti loves to bake, and he enjoys starting the day by whipping up a batch of hot scones. These can be served warm or at room temperature with a pat of unsalted butter. Because there’s so much sweetness inside—from the cranberries, chocolate and orange zest—preserves would be overkill.

This holiday recipe is so festive, why not gather some friends to enjoy them with some good coffee or tea before the season gets too busy.

Yield: 1 dozen scones

Ingredients

• 1½ cups buttermilk
• 1 extra-large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, preferably Madagascar Bourbon or Tahitian
• 5 tablespoons granulated cane sugar
• 3½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon orange zest, about 2 oranges
• ½ cup unsalted butter, very cold and cubed
• 1/3 cup 65% cacao chocolate, coarsely chopped
  (If you can’t find 65%, find the closest percentage in either direction—
  anything in the 60%-70% range will work)
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup heavy whipping cream (used for brushing tops of scones)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line the bottoms of two 12" X 18" sheet pans with parchment paper.
2. Combine the buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract in a medium bowl and whisk by hand until well mixed.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add the sugar, salt and orange zest. Beat on low speed until combined.
4. Carefully add the cold butter and beat on medium speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
5. Switch the mixer to low speed. Add the liquid mixture and beat until just combined.
6. Turn the mixer off. Add the cranberries and chocolate. Pulse until just incorporated. Do not over-mix.
7. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and press it into a flat square about ¾ inch thick. Cut into 2-inch squares and place onto the prepared pans, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
8. Brush the surface with heavy whipping cream. Bake on the middle shelves of the oven until the tops are golden and have a little spring when pressed with a fingertip, about 20 minutes.
9. Serve warm or let cool on the pans on wire racks.

Buy Michael Recchiuti’s Book: Chocolate Obsession   In this beautifully-photographed book, Michael Recchiuti divulges his professional secrets and techniques, allowing home cooks to reproduce his exquisite confections in their own kitchens. Including a complete discussion of chocolate from bean to bar, the book offers detailed instructions for dipped chocolates, truffles and molded chocolates, including Recchiuti's signature ganache flavors: Earl Grey tea, burnt caramel and tarragon with grapefruit. Also featured are recipes for such sinfully delicious treats as Chocolate Shortbread Cookies with Truffle Cream Filling, Double Dark Chocolate Soufflés and Rocky Recchiuti Brownies. With more than 60 recipes in all, this book will satisfy even the most obsessive chocolate lovers among us.

Chocolate Obsession, by Michael Recchiuti. 200 pages, $22.05. Click here to purchase.

Recipe © copyright Michael Recchiuti. Additional material Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved.