Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Scones with Orange Drizzle Glaze

 

Scones are one of those things that can be thrown together pretty quickly and easily.  So, I often make my Blueberry Scones with Lemon Drizzle Glaze for us for breakfast or to have to snack on during the weekends.  The problem is that my teenage daughter, Allanah, hates blueberries, so I set out to make a scone with ingredients that she would like.  The result?  Make 'em with chocolate!

Pair that with some oats for texture and some orange zest and juice for a refreshing, subtle citrus kiss ... and I think we've got ourselves a winner!

Making scones is pretty much like making biscuits.  The less you "work" the dough, the better!  When you first pour out the dough onto your floured surface, it may look like it will never come together.  I promise it will!  And, you want to leave lots of chunks of cold butter in the dough to create the flaky pockets like we all adore in the best biscuits, too!  I place my scones in the freezer for about 5 minutes prior to baking ... just to ensure that the butter flecks/chunks are very cold before baking.

This one is for you, Allanah!

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup sugar (plus more for sprinkling on scones before baking)
1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons butter, chilled and diced into small cubes
2 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk*
2/3 cup chocolate chips

*If you don't have buttermilk or don't want to purchase any, go HERE for instructions on making your own quickly using only milk and vinegar.  I do this often.

(NOTE:  You'll need powdered sugar and the juice of an orange for the glaze, if desired.  See directions below.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugar, orange zest, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

Cut in the butter cubes using a pastry cutter or fork just until the mixture reassembles a chunky course meal.

Set bowl of butter/dry ingredients mixture in freezer for about 3 - 5 minutes to ensure butter is very cold before proceeding.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs with the buttermilk.

After removing the dry ingredients/butter mixture from the freezer, make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg/buttermilk mixture.  Gently fold in the egg mixture by pulling down the dry ingredients with a fork as you go ... until it is fully incorporated.

Fold in the chocolate chips.  (I used mini chips.)

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.

With floured hands, pat out and form dough into 1-inch thickness.  I patted mine out into a square shape because I planned to use a cute, new scalloped biscuit cutter.  Traditionally, the dough for scones is shaped into a circle and cut into equal triangles (like a pizza).  You can do it either way.  Cut out your scones using a floured knife or floured biscuit/cookie cutter.

My dough yielded 12 square scones with a little dough left over to shape into two small circles (those were my little snacks).  How many scones you get will depend on how large you cut them or the size of your cutter.

Place scones on baking sheet and sit in freezer for about 5 minutes.

Remove and sprinkle tops with a little sugar.

Bake for 14 - 16 minutes until golden.

Allow to cool on a cooling rack.  These can be served as they are or you can make a quick powdered sugar glaze to drizzle over top, if desired.

Mix about 1/2 of a cup of powdered sugar with all or some of the juice from the orange until a pourable glaze is created.  Drizzle over cooled scones.