Books to Bake: Chocolate Chip Scones!

I woke up this morning with the usual urge to bake, and not just anything. I wanted to bake some scones. I love scones. In addition to baking, I am addicted to Masterpiece Theatre and I like to watch TV (online) while I bake because I don't have much time otherwise. I chose a not-very Saturday morning cartoon esque crime drama called Place of Execution from Masterpiece contemporary. I only finished the first episode (so don't give it away) but it's quite the page (or browser?) turner.

I have to admit that I chose the recipe because I had all of the ingredients and I didn't want to run to the store to buy buttermilk or heavy cream. So I went hunting for a recipe and I found this one at allrecipes.com. As I started making it I realized that it was far too dry and ended up adding another tablespoon of butter and two additional tablespoons of orange juice until it finally held up. The recipe below reflects the changes. The scones are not too sweet and quite flaky (probably because of we used orange juice instead of milk or cream). The recipe could probably be adapted quite easily to become a vegan breakfast favorite if you use vegan chocolate and margarine instead of butter.

Chocolate Chip Scones:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
5 tablespoons orange juice

1. Pre-heat oven to 400F and grease a baking sheet with either non-stick cooking stray or butter.

2. Add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl and whisk together. Then add the the cubed butter. Cut into dry ingredients with a pastry blender or a fork as I did until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add orange juice two tablespoons at a time (you don't want to make the dough too damp) and then mix in the chocolate chips.

3. Transfer dough to a pre-floured counter top and shape dough into a circle about half an inch thick and about nine inches in diameter.