Recipe: Chocolate Chip Pecan Scones

On Friday, Tia tweeted a challenge: make some scones. Of course I did. I modified a few recipes I found according to what I had. Since I've never made scones before (and I'm not so sure I've ever even eaten any...), I decided to make 1/2 the batch plain, 1/2 chocolate chip pecan. I've adjusted this recipe to make a whole batch of chocolate chip pecan scones. These tasted a lot like tea biscuits: light yet rich, almost crunchy on the outside & soft on the inside. They'd be very easy to modify too - slightly sweet for breakfast or dessert - or savoury to accompany a meal.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Scones

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1/4 each chocolate chips & chopped pecans

Methods:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Mix the dry ingredients. Cut in the butter (I used my hands) until grainy.

3. Blend in the egg, vanilla & cream. Mix well, adding in a bit more cream or flour as needed, until you get a sticky dough.

4. Lightly flour your counter. Knead the dough for 30 seconds or so.

5. Gently knead in the nuts & chocolate chips.

6. Most recipes said to roll out the dough & cut into triangles (go for it if you want!). Since I already had the dough halved, I decided to separate the dough roughly into 12 equal parts (6 plain & 6 choc/pecan for me). Then I just rolled each piece & flattened it, shaping it into a triangle - about 1/2" thick.I topped off a couple with a whole pecan.

7. Place triangles onto parchment paper-covered cookies sheets.

8. Bake for 13-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Options: Obviously, feel free to omit the chips & nuts. Or why not try your favourite nuts, dried fruit or berries, maybe some orange/lemon zest? You could also omit the sugar for a more savoury biscuit (use less cream though). You could then spice it up with some chopped or dried herbs, cheese, ham, bacon or anything you want! Let me know your favourite combination!