ABC: Dark Chocolate and Orange Scones

This month's recipe for ABC is for yummy buttery scones found in Abby Dodge's book The Weekend Baker.  Scones seem to be a very popular breakfast item the world over but I must say that I've baked and eaten scones only once in my life (many years ago) and this would be the second time since then.  Abby's recipe certainly showed me how easy they are to make by giving steps that you can do in advance like creating a big batch of scone mix by combining all the dry ingredients and storing them in a large container ahead of time where you can simply get a portion from it to make a single batch of 8 scones.  She also provides a few flavor options which all sound really delicious as well as a recipe that only makes a single batch which is what I used here.

I decided to go for an orange and dark chocolate combo--one of my favorite combinations--where I added the zest of one navel orange and about 3 ounces of dark chocolate chunks.   In an effort to incorporate more whole grains into our diet, I substituted the AP flour with almost equal portions of white whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour which, to my delight, still yielded a very moist and tender crumb.  And since I didn't have any buttermilk on hand I used the same amount of yogurt instead which worked really well.    I also brushed the tops of the scones with beaten egg yolk diluted with a little water which I think helped give the scones a nice golden color.

I actually ate 2 of these today one plain and the other with orange marmalade--both were really good and it's also great that my kids loved them as well (hubby just can't eat sweets in the morning).  I'm actually tempted to make the big batch of dry mix and try out the other suggested flavor combinations as well as create my own sweet and savory ones.  I just love how versatile this is....really, any flavor combo is possible!  And given how easy they were to make, I foresee these being made quite often for breakfast or as a school snack for my kids.

If you would like to join ABC or just check out the other posts of my fellow ABC bakers, head on over to the ABC blog!