Coconut Chocolate Chip Scones
Coconut Chocolate Chip Scones
I like to bake, this is generally well-known. The problem with liking to bake is that you end up baking a lot, and when there's only two of you, you've got two choices: either you resign yourself to eating every last crumb and feeling like a pig, or you force everyone else to do it for you.
I subscribe to the latter concept. Co-workers (both mine and Bill's) reap the benefits. I also take requests.
This recipe is the result of one of those requests: one of Bill's co-workers requested chocolate chip scones. Easy enough, but I thought they'd be a little...well...bland. So I decided to liven it up with coconut milk. The result was fantastic: moist, rich, and tasting exactly (as one guinea pig taster put it) like a giant chocolate chip cookie.
Ingredients
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
10 tablespoons/5 ounces unsalted butter, cut in pieces
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
6 ounces coconut milk
vanilla sugar (optional)
Instructions
1. Place the oven rack in the top third of the oven and preheat to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and garam masala in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender. (Failing that, use two knives. But seriously, invest in a pastry blender, they're generally around $3 and very worth it.) Work in the butter until the mix resembles a bunch of large crumbs.
3. Add egg and mix in gently with a fork.
4. Add the chocolate chips.
5. Add the coconut milk all at once. If you've never played with canned coconut milk before, make sure you shake the can first - the milk tends to separate, which is fine if you forget, but it's SO much easier if you remember.
6. Work in the coconut milk - it won't look like enough at first, but trust me, it does eventually get the whole dough damp. You may want to flour your hands to work the dough into a cohesive whole.
7. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface; cut in two. Work each piece into a round of about 8" in diameter and 1" thick. Cut each round into 8 wedges. Move onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I like to keep the rounds together, with a little bit of space between each wedge; you can also separate them, like cookies, but take 2 minutes off the baking time. Sprinkle the scones with the vanilla sugar.
8. Bake 22-23 minutes.
9. Cool on a wire rack. Eat. Yum. Makes 16 scones.
Notes:
Basically a giant chocolate chip cookie. I think this might be my favorite version of the scones.