Chocolate Orange Scones

My husband grew up finding one of those break-apart chocolate oranges in his stocking each year. As is tradition, I now receive one too. Alex eats his, but I'll let you in on a secret - I don't actually eat much packaged candy like this. So instead, I whack it, chop it up, and tuck it into this Chocolate Orange Scones recipe instead.

You can use a milk chocolate or dark chocolate orange; both are delicious in a simple vanilla scone dough. The edges of the scones brown and crisp nicely, contrasting perfectly with the tender, moist interior!

The scones come together quickly, and the unbaked dough freezes extremely well, meaning you can not only have chocolate orange scones now - you can have festive scones in the depths of winter, when you really need cheer!

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Jump to:

• What are Scones?
• How to Make Scones
• Substitutions
• Make ahead
• Serving
• 📖 Recipe

What are Scones?

In the United States, scones and biscuits are very similar; they're side-by-side in most cookbooks. They're usually made by cutting solid fat (butter or shortening) into flour, mixing it with a liquid (usually milk or cream) to make a dough. The dough is patted out and cut into rounds or triangles, and use baking powder or baking soda to rise during baking.

Bakers tend to have strong opinions on what makes them different. I tend to think of biscuits as savory or neutral, and scones as sweet. Biscuits are more flaky, while scones are more crumbly. I've been working my way, slowly, through Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours (affiliate link); her scone recipes include egg, whereas her biscuit recipes don't.

I prefer biscuits to be neutral so I can layer on honey or jam. In my opinion, the best scones have add-ins (like chocolate!), and are a pleasure to eat all on their own, with no other adornment. Not to say that you can't eat a biscuit on its own, but it's like comparing sandwich bread to French bread. They're both good, but fill different food niches.

This article from the Kitchn goes into a lot more detail about biscuits versus scones, if more reading is your thing.

How to Make Scones

First, combine your flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a big mixing bowl. Use a pastry cutter (affiliate link) or two knives criss-crossed to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it's in very small pieces - all smaller than peas. You can also use your fingertips to do this - just work gently.

Cold butter helps the scones rise optimally, but is hard to work into the flour, even with a good pastry cutter. I usually take my stick of butter, cut it lengthwise into quarters, then dice them into several smaller pieces before I dump them into the flour.

Next, stir in your chopped up chocolate orange. It's easier to add it right now than it is after the dough is made.

Add milk, a lightly beaten egg, and vanilla to the flour mixture. Use a fork to gently toss or push the ingredients together. You don't want to stir too vigorously; you just want everything moistened.

Why a fork instead of a spoon? Dough sticks much more to a spoon, while a fork rakes the flour around through the liquid. You want to handle the dough as little as possible.

Once most of your flour is moistened, you should have just a few crumbs left in the bottom of the bowl. Next, gently knead the dough in the bowl 6-7 times.

To knead: use your hands to gently fold the dough in half over itself. Sprinkle the crumbs from the bottom on top of the dough as you go, so you get that goodness in as well. Don't push on the dough too much; rather, pat it along as you go if you must.

You should be able to lift your dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. (The dough may be rather wet.) Pat it out into a 1-inch tall circle, about 7-8 inches in diameter. Use a knife or a bench scraper (affiliate link) to cut the dough into 8 wedges.

Bake immediately on a silicone mat (affiliate link) or parchment-lined baking sheet.

Substitutions

Both dark chocolate and milk chocolate oranges are great in this. They add the citrus flavor to the scones without you having to zest or juice anything! Terry's Chocolate Orange is perhaps the best-known one, but there's other brands as well. Below is an Aldi-brand one.

If it's summer and you don't have those chocolate oranges, you can use a 3-ounce bar of orange-flavored chocolate like you find in the candy section of the grocery store; I know Aldi has some as well.

I would expect that other flavors of chocolate will also work, if you can find them. I think there's mint chocolates out there. I vaguely remember a whackable raspberry chocolate orange from several years ago; that was my favorite.

If you really can't get flavored chocolate, use chocolate chips and zest about half an orange directly into the flour mixture.

In the scone dough, you can use half-and-half or cream instead of milk; however, your dough may end up a little more dry.

Allergic to eggs? Skip it. You'll need about an extra ¼ cup of milk; add it tablespoon by tablespoon. And consider using half-and-half or cream instead.

Make ahead

Scones are a perfect breakfast treat to make ahead. Simply make and cut the dough. Separate them and place them on a lined baking sheet; lining the baking sheet with parchment, waxed paper, or even plastic wrap helps you remove the frozen dough from the sheet. Place them in the freezer.

Once the dough is frozen to the touch, place in a plastic freezer bag. Be sure to label it with baking instructions! Bake directly from the freezer, without thawing, for an extra 2-3 minutes. Your scones will be a bit golden at the edges, but a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean.

Serving

My personal preference: scones are best warm, about 5-10 minutes out of the oven. That said, they're also delicious at room temperature. Either way, serve with tea or coffee.

Store leftovers in an airtight container. However, they will soften, and you'll lose the contrast between the crisp exterior and tender interior. Bake only what you will eat that day, and freeze the rest of the dough to bake in the future.

If you do have leftovers that aren't at peak texture, just microwave them for about 8-10 seconds to warm them up.

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Want other delicious scone recipes? Check these out!

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