Chocolate Chip Scones for an Irish Luncheon

I attended an Irish Potluck this past weekend. I wanted to bring something different so I searched through all of my bread books and even went on Pinterest to find inspiration. The luncheon was on Sunday, and I was down to the wire Saturday afternoon when I finally found my inspiration on the Irish Breads Board on Pinterest. 

I saw so many wonderful Irish breads, but I wasn’t in the mood to make Irish Soda Bread or Irish Freckle Bread or Barm Brack. I didn’t have any potatoes to make potato bread so my options were dwindling. I finally happened upon these Skinny Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones from Gina of SkinnyTaste.com. Chocolate chips and scones; what a great idea! 

 

Although I used her idea as my inspiration to make scones, I didn’t use the recipe. I adapted a different Buttermilk Scones recipe to suit my tastes. My version is made with soured almond milk instead of buttermilk and includes a mixture of Spelt and Einkorn flours instead of all-purpose flour.

If you prefer, you can substitute all-purpose flour for the Spelt and whole wheat flour for the Einkorn pastry flour. Or you can do half all-purpose and half whole-wheat. You can also add raisins instead of the chocolate chips.

 

Chocolate Chip Scones with Spelt & Einkorn

Makes: 12 Large Scones or 18 Smaller Scones

Adapted from: The Best of Irish Breads & Baking from Georgina Campbell

Ingredients:

• 3 cups white all-purpose Spelt flour
• 1 cup Einkorn pastry flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 stick butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 cup (approx.) almond milk, soured with 1 tablespoon lemon juice

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease two baking sheets.

1) Sift the flours, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl.  Cut in the butter and rub it until the mixture is crumbly. Add the sugar and mix well.  Make a well in the center and add the egg and the sour milk or buttermilk and mix to form a soft dough.  You may need to add more or less milk so adjust accordingly.

 

2) Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and mix in the chocolate chips while kneading it gently.  Roll it out to about 1/2” thick. Cut out 12 large or 18 small scones.  I used a pizza wheel to cut my scones. I ended up with 16.

 

3) Arrange the scones on the baking sheets. Be sure to leave space between the scones so they have room to rise while baking. Brush them with almond milk.

 

4) Bake the scones for 15-20 minutes, until they are well risen and golden-brown in color.  Turn the baking sheet partway through baking to ensure even baking.

5) Remove the scones to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving. 

6) Cool completely before storing. I wrapped them in plastic wrap and transported them the next day to the luncheon. I served them at room temperature because there wasn’t anyway to heat them up. These scones definitely taste better warm, but they were actually pretty good at room temperature. 

 

I really liked these scones and they went over well at the luncheon.  I forgot to mention that these scones were made with Spelt and Einkorn flour, but nobody seemed to notice. Someone commented that they liked the texture of these scones better than some others that they had tasted because these weren’t as dry. All I know is that I liked them and I’m glad there was a couple left over for me to enjoy.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy