Last weekend Suburbia Man and I were at the Mall of America doing some Christmas shopping. MOA had slightly died down from the masses of people herded up at the Pioneer Woman book signing. We had been lapping the mall and our blood sugar was dipping when we happened to pass by the Godiva store with a sign out front that said 20 percent off-it caught my eye, I love a deal….even a mini-deal! But, then the cheerful gals behind the counter beckoned me in with an offer of a cup of hot chocolate! Let me tell you, that was one great pit stop….first of all they offered me a free cup of hot chocolate, dark hot chocolate…it was amazing. And then, free chocolate dipped strawberries! I’m serious! I was like, this is the best pit stop ever!! How does this relate to the scone picture? Well, I think this scone recipe would be the bomb with this hot chocolate! What? You say your snowed in like me and can’t get yourself to the nearest Godiva store? Well then you’re in luck, because I bought one for me, and one for one of you! Dark chocolate. Smooth. Creamy. Delicious. And, I got the tip of the day from the Godiva Girls. Blenders. Make the hot chocolate and then whip it around in the blender. It goes to new heights of smoothy-ness!! That’s a fact.
Which leads me to the scones. Last summer my friend Kelli had me over for coffee and baking and she made these scones substituting in plump summer cherries and almonds. This is her recipe using cranberries.
Cranberry, Orange & White Chocolate Scones
1/3 Cup dried Cranberries
3/4 Cup Buttermilk
2 Cups Flour
2 Tbsp. Sugar
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. grated Orange Rind
1/3 Cup cold Butter
1/2 Cup White Chocolate Chips
Milk (to brush tops of scones)
Sugar (to sprinkle at the end)
(Another option is to substitute 1/2 Cup pitted and halved fresh cherries for the cranberries and to add 1/2 sliced almonds.)
Combine cranberries & buttermilk in a small bowl. Set aside.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and orange rind.
As you cut butter into small shaving, let it drop into flour mixture.
Use a pastry blender to work it through the dry ingredients.
Add white chocolate chips, cranberries, and buttermilk.
Turn dough out onto floured surface.
Knead & pat into a circle with 3/4 inch thickness.
Using a large knife, cut it like a pie-into 6 or 8 pie wedges.
Place onto a stone or lightly greased baking sheet.
Brush scones with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake at 400 degrees for 18 minutes or until lightly golden.
These are Kelli’s secrets for flaky scones:
*Work quickly.
*The colder the butter the better
*Cut it in & get them into the oven fast.
(Or….try Kristin’s Cranberry Muffins! One reader I recently bumped into tried them and loved them!)
OK, so here is the deal because I share and I’m snowed in… one of you gets to win the Godiva Dark Hot Chocolate! Just leave a comment here with your best cabin-fever tips or what you like to add to spruce up your hot chocolate!! This LoveFeast Table GiftAway will end Thursday at 10pm and the winner will be announced over the weekend!
