Chocolate Chip Cream Scones
For Jack Herlocker and Debra A Herlocker
“How do you make exactly ten scones going into the oven and end up with “about” ten coming out?” Jack Herlocker and his wife with whom he converses were following the directions on the back of a box of scone mix. Those directions were confused as to whether they yielded 10 or about 10. I promised Jack and Deb I would post my scone recipe, which produces exactly 12. Every single time.
When I owned a bakery-restaurant in Northern California, I used to joke that I could have run the pastry case with nothing but scones and cinnamon rolls in it. I might not have been far off. We would sell out of both every morning. Customers started calling in and reserving them in advance. The area’s Highway Patrol force showed up most mornings to fill up on coffee and a communal plate of each. 9:30 a.m. would have been a safe time to break a traffic law or two.
But this is about scones.
CHOCOLATE CHIP CREAM SCONES
1 pound all-purpose flour (3 2/3 cups)
3 ounces granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 ounces butter, cut into 1/2” cubes
2 large eggs
11 ounces heavy cream
3/4 cup chocolate chips
- Set your mixing bowl on your scale and set a sieve in the top. Measure each of the dry ingredients directly into the sieve, taring the scale between each. Sift the dry ingredients into the bowl.
This is why we sift. Flour clumps. Lumps result in uneven hydration or over mixing. Push them through with your fingers.
2. It is entirely possible to mix this dough with a stand mixer. Use the paddle and follow the mixing instructions here. I used a pastry blender because, like many of us, I have some time on my hands. Besides, I love my pastry blender. I found it in a second-hand shop on Haight Street in San Francisco in our pre-children years. Pre-marriage years, for that matter. I may have paid a dollar for it. Work it through the butter and dry ingredients until the butter is about the size of garbanzo beans.
3. Crack the eggs into the bowl and add the cream. Scrape out the measure with a spatula. Waste not, want not, especially now. Add the chocolate chips. With a large spoon, stir everything together, mixing only until all the dry ingredients are hydrated.
4. Scatter a couple of tablespoons of flour on your board. Turn the dough out onto it, and gently press it into a mound. Do. Not. Knead. It.
5. Pat your hands in flour when you need to. With a bench scraper or a knife, divide the dough into two equal halves. Gently shape each into a smaller mound, then softly flatten them into discs 6–7” in diameter and 1” thick. Wrap each in plastic (save the pieces and reuse them) and set them in the refrigerator — not on top of each other — for 30 minutes.
6. Just before you remove the dough from the fridge, set your oven to 375 degrees.
7. Unwrap one disc at a time and set it on your board, which should still be adequately floured. If not, scatter a bit more. Use a bench scraper or knife to divide the dough into 6 equal sections: first divide in half from 12:00 to 6:00, then from 10:00 to 4:00 and 2:00 to 8:00, basically a large X bisected. Arrange the scones on a sheet pan lined with parchment. Repeat with the second disc. You could geometrically fit them all on one sheet pan. However, crowding them means that they take longer to bake, and they tend to grow together and not brown well without being over-baked. So don’t do that.
8. Pour a couple of ounces of cream into your liquid measure. Brush each scone with some of it. Scones are typically finished with a sugar known alternately as AA, coarse, or sanding. They’re all the same thing. I am out of it at the moment, so I used some Demerara sugar instead. If you don’t have that, use a light sprinkling of plain white sugar.
9. Bake the scones for 24 minutes, until they are well risen in the center and lightly browned. Rotate them front to back, top to bottom halfway through. When done, they should be firm yet springy to the touch. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before breaking one open. If you can.
You can certainly look on Amazon for the white plastic scraper, bench scraper, and AA sugar. However, if you go to a local restaurant supply store (an account is NOT required), I guarantee that you’ll find the first two for significantly less. A white plastic scraper might cost a dollar or two, and may be the most useful tool ever. Similarly, a bench scraper probably won’t cost more than five or six dollars, and you’ll be glad you spent each one of them.
You’ll find a good price on AA sugar at a crafts store such as Michael’s. (Resist the urge to find good prices on all sorts of other stuff you don’t need.) Often grocery stores sell it in 1-pound bags under the Bob’s Red Mill label. It’s lovely for a sparkly, crusty topping for muffins, too.
Full disclosure: I am not sponsored by any of the above businesses. Certainly not by Amazon.
All text and photos ©️ by The Solitary Cook, 2020
