TWD: Chocolate Chip Cream Scones with Maple Coffee Glaze

If you’re a Facebook follower, then you probably already know it’s been a busy few days.  If not, here’s a quick recap.  We woke up (really, really) early on Sunday morning to head down to Providence for the Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island.

Shane competed in the event last year as well, though this year’s course was completely different.  The race starts with a 1.2 mile swim, which is followed by a 56 mile bike ride and finally a 13.1 mile run.  I watched the race with Shane’s parents (photos courtesy of his dad) and we were lucky to see Shane quite a few times along the course.  The weather was HOT – 5 minutes in the sun and I was looking for the nearest shady spot to take cover.  Despite the heat, Shane finished in just over 6 hours, an improvement of almost 40 minutes over last year’s time.  Go Shane!!

Shane took the day after the race off from work, but instead of letting him rest on the couch, I dragged him to Ikea 🙂

The nearest location is only about an hour from our house, but a trip to Ikea is almost always an all-day event regardless.  There’s just so much to see, and since we probably don’t get there more than one or two times a year, I like to browse each and every inch of the store to make sure I don’t miss any hidden treasures.  We picked up stools for the island in our kitchen, a bookcase (to try and contain/organize the magazine issue) and some miscellaneous small stuff.  Oh, and of course there were Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and lingonberries for lunch!

All in all, a really great weekend, but it didn’t leave much time for baking this week’s selection for Tuesdays with Dorie, which was cream scones.  Instead, I got up this morning and got to work; fortunately, these scones can be thrown together pretty quickly.  The recipe called for the addition of currants, but that didn’t excite me, so I went with mini chocolate chips.  Also, instead of cutting the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter, I grated it using the largest holes on my box grater.  It’s a trick I read about in an issue of Cook’s Illustrated a while ago (and never tried) but lots of the TWD bakers have been raving about it lately so I gave it a shot.  It worked like a charm, my only recommendation is to start with frozen butter.  I halved Dorie’s recipe and cut the dough into 4 tall-ish scones, which baked up perfectly in about 15 minutes.

I know some will disagree, but I think scones require a glaze.  For these chocolate chip scones, the combination of coffee and maple syrup (plus some confectioners’ sugar of course) sounded like just the thing to drizzle over the top.  The recipe I used is below – I made just enough to glaze my 4 scones so you’ll probably need to double or triple it if you make a full batch.

Normally, scones would not be one of the first things I’d choose in a breakfast spread.  I like them, but they’re not a favorite.  These scones, however, were really fantastic!  Moist and tender with a fluffy texture and pockets of chocolate, they were hard to resist.  If you’re looking for a go-to scone recipe, I highly suggest giving this one a try.

Many thanks to Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu who selected the scones this week!  She shared the recipe on her blog, or you can find it on page 27 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Maple-Coffee Glaze
adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon brewed coffee
1/4 teaspoon maple syrup

Combine the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth.  Drizzle over the scones, and let set for about 10 minutes.